Railroads continue to play a significant role in North America’s economic infrastructure. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, the U.S. rail freight network covers almost 140,000 route miles and is generally considered the largest, safest, and most cost-efficient freight system in the world. In addition, says the FRA, the almost $80 billion rail freight industry creates more than 167,000 jobs across the country.
In essence, rail freight companies charge businesses to carry cargo across their network of rails. Their rates are overseen by the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates financial aspects of surface transportation. Major railroads in North America include Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway.
Keep up with the latest news, trends and reports concerning rail freight transport here!
Lawsuits between two Class I railroads and three unions have been consolidated into one proceeding in federal court, with a request to fold an additional lawsuit from BNSF into the proceeding.
CN hasn’t been able to reopen its rail main link to the Port of Vancouver due to weather issues as large backlog of vessels continues.
New Fortress Energy subsidiary Energy Transfer Services’ permit allowing the transport of liquefied natural gas in special tank cars is set to expire next week, according to environmental group Delaware Riverkeeper.
The STB is allowing the merger application of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to proceed as is, rejecting Union Pacific’s concerns over the application’s completeness.
CN’s line between Kamloops and Vancouver has been shut down since Nov. 15 following extensive flooding and mudslides. Canadian Pacific reopened its line to limited traffic on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded grants for a number of projects across the country that involve Class I and short line railroads, including G&W subsidiary Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad.
Canadian Pacific says it will reopen its rail link with the Port of Vancouver on Tuesday, vowing to clear backlogs to “get the supply chain back in sync.”
The railroad says CP’s and KCS’ traffic diversion analysis is incomplete, and so the board should compel CP and KCS to revise its merger application.
The board of commissioners for the Virginia Port Authority unanimously approved a $61.5 million construction bid for a project that would increase on-dock rail capacity to 1.1 million containers a year.
CP and CN rail service at the Port of Vancouver could resume this week as mounting congestion and backlogs continue after devastating floods and landslides.
An anticipated rebound in volumes as supply chain kinks smooth out will be a theme in 2022, while customer-friendly technological applications will drive rail technology long term, Class I rail CEOs said in recent conferences.
A consultant’s figure exhibits the problem: Rail’s share of freight is where it was 12 years ago.
The state-of-the-art terminal has rail-to-truck transfer capacity domestic and international containers and deploys automated container handling.
Railway Supply Institute will install a new president after Thanksgiving, while two rail advocacy groups release survey results showing public support for rail.
The nation’s key railroad lobbying group did not like the original House infrastructure bill but has praise for the final product.
Rail-related provisions in the newly signed infrastructure bill span from federal grants to support infrastructure projects to studying the impacts of positive train control and train lengths.
The Port of Vancouver warns of terminal disruptions and vessel delays after flooding in British Columbia cuts off CN and CP rails.
The Surface Transportation Board is advancing two rulemakings on small rate disputes concurrently to determine how best to address such disputes. The railroads prefer one rulemaking while shippers prefer another.
Although customers may have pulled back from ordering in the third quarter, that pullback is temporary and customers will still need new railcars eventually, FreightCar America executives said during Monday’s third-quarter earnings call.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Georgia port officials are pulling every lever possible to reduce shipping delays that are having a national impact.
The board has said it plans to seek input on the environmental impacts of the CP-KCS merger; CSX’s planned acquisition of Pan Am Railways; Amtrak’s plan to restore its Gulf Coast service; and reciprocal switching.
The suspension would allow the July 2020 rule to be aligned with a separate and companion regulation currently being worked on by federal regulators.
FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller provides analysis regarding the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
SC Ports and the Virginia Port Authority are benefiting from customers seeking less congested ports, they said.
CSX defended its service record and its responsiveness to customer concerns to the Surface Transportation Board, which had sent CSX a letter in October saying that the board received complaints over the railroad’s recent performance.
Growing headcount and relieving supply chain congestion dominated Class I railroads’ third-quarter 2021 earnings commentaries — and these issues look poised to persist in Q4 and into 2022.
BNSF is suing four railroad unions over its ability to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. BNSF says it needs to comply with President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.
BNSF’s third-quarter net income rose 14%, to $1.5 billion, despite supply chain disruptions.
CSX and Norfolk Southern are asking the Surface Transportation Board to deny Amtrak’s request to restore U.S. Gulf Coast service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans unless the passenger railroad agrees to pay for capital improvements to facilitate rail moves.
Congress approves provisions allowing under-21 truck drivers – as well as guidance on truck brokers and freight dispatchers – in a five-year highway bill that is part of a larger $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.
The Canadian railway is purchasing battery-electric freight locomotives from Wabtec and it is testing renewable fuel blends with Progress Rail.
Trinity is selling its highway products business for $375 million in cash.
STB has allowed agri-food shipper Sanimax to proceed in its complaint against Union Pacific over service issues.
Rail technology company Intramotev is developing hardware and software to enable battery-powered railcars to make short-haul movements without a locomotive.
The proposed schedule will provide room for rebuttals and responses, STB said.
The grant from Emissions Reduction Alberta will help CP convert two more locomotives to hydrogen power and add more hydrogen production and fueling facilities.
A private investment firm’s acquisition of a MOW services company, AAR’s environmental nods and Lineage’s new cold storage warehouse round out the rail roundup.
BLET, SMART-TD and Norfolk Southern continue to fight in federal court over the vaccine mandate and NS’ practice of using train engineers as conductors.
Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern submit a joint application before the Surface Transportation Board asking to consolidate the two railroads while CN adds a rail and technology expert to its board.
Underneath the supply chain disruptions and the chip shortage are customers that need Wabtec’s components to improve their rail operations, executives said during the third-quarter earnings call.
Inventory restocking and demand for domestic intermodal service will support Hub Group into next year, executives said.
Although macroeconomic factors and lower train speeds support railcar leasing, the growth trend might be choppy as the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions still weigh on the market, Trinity Industries and GATX said during their third-quarter 2021 earnings calls.
Current Chief Operating Officer Lorie Tekorius will be railcar manufacturer Greenbrier’s next CEO in March 2022. Tekorius and others discussed 2022 market headwinds during Greenbrier’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.
The Port of Long Beach is trying to innovate its way out of container gridlock. The latest move is regular shuttle trains to Utah to reduce less efficient truck moves.
Like its Class I peers, Norfolk Southern encountered supply chain disruptions brought on by a lack of workers in dray and warehousing.
The Jacksonville Port Authority handled more than 1.4 million TEUs in its 2021 fiscal year, an all-time annual record, and it says it’s ready to take on more for those wanting “congestion-free” service.
To make room for more containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, UP and BNSF are offering incentives to ocean carrier customers to move out the containers already there. UP is also temporarily pausing westbound marine container movement to its Long Beach facility.
The Clure Public Marine Terminal now can handle “international shipping containers transported by vessel.”
Following UP’s recent actions, Norfolk Southern takes the unions to court over its ability to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine.
Amtrak has petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to compel CSX and Norfolk Southern to allow access to their Gulf Coast networks as part of a broader plan to restore passenger service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans.
News items detailing new facilities, new faces and an environmental nod.
Railcar order backlogs can help the freight rail industry understand where the railcar market is in the supply-and-demand cycle, according to this AskWaves article.
Union Pacific could’ve handled more intermodal volume in the third quarter were it not for longer chassis dwell times and a shortage of dray drivers, executives said during the company’s earnings call.
CSX has been aggressively pursuing new employees in order to meet network capacity needs, executives said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
The railway is working with customers and steamship lines to find opportunities to divert traffic from Los Angeles and Long Beach, executives said during CP’s third-quarter 2021 earnings call.
In a quarterly earnings call, outgoing CEO JJ Ruest insists CN’s board of directors will conduct an extensive search for his successor. An activist investor is seeking to install its own CEO choice.
JJ Ruest, who has been criticized recently by an activist investor over CN’s attempt to merge with Kansas City Southern, has served CN for more than 25 years and will depart in January or whenever a successor is found.
The railroad won’t give new guidance because of uncertainties surrounding chip shortages and events in Mexico creating limited visibility.
TCI Fund Management continues to press CN shareholders to install a new CEO and four new board members.
Union Pacific and several rail unions are arguing that the other party has failed to properly negotiate how UP should comply with President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has determined that there is no link between July’s devastating fire in Lytton and sparks coming from CN or Canadian Pacific trains.
Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: The TexAmericas Center looks to expand its rail transload business; Mexico’s exports of commercial trucks fell 11.3% in September; Bridgestone completes a $100 million expansion in Mexico, creating 150 jobs; and a cold storage facility is set for Southern California.
Union members say precision scheduled railroading affects the ability to conduct thorough safety inspections.
The plan, which goes to 2055, seeks to restore and develop intercity passenger rail along four “cornerstone corridors.”
A top Biden administration official believes securing data among supply chain competitors will be the key to rolling out a nationwide 24/7 strategy.
The Association of American Railroads applauds the 24/7 approach to container operations, which the association says is similar to the way freight railroads function.
Tiger Cool Express is acquiring a cold storage warehouse in the Pacific Northwest, while Greenbrier’s leasing subsidiary is exceeding the target for the value of its first-year leasing fleet.
The platform will help improve supply chain visibility for shippers, KCS said.
Intermodal rail volumes were lower again year-over-year in September as the ability to process containers and imports is stymied by ongoing supply chain capacity constraints.
Officials say a proposed inland port near where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet will have ample capacity to serve Midwest customers seeking export access via barge, rail and truck.
The Transportation Security Administration will begin requiring U.S. air and rail operators to report cybersecurity incidents under new directives, the Department of Homeland Security secretary says.
The NS terminal will serve “strong growth in the Louisville intermodal market.”
Canadian railway CN and shareholder TCI Fund Management are publicly squabbling about who should run the company as CN sets a March meeting date to address TCI’s board candidate picks.
Two rail unions contend that NS is forcing some locomotive engineers to perform train conductor and brakeman duties following NS’ efforts to reduce its workforce.
CN and CP unveil their annual winter operational plans, which include expectations that grain shipments will be down this year and that a La Nina event could mean lower winter temperatures for western Canada.
FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller analyzes inflation in the supply chain.
The board affirms its previous approval of Canadian Pacific’s voting trust application.
Industry observers grapple with the complexities of implementing reciprocal switching on U.S. rail networks.
Despite flat-to-higher rail volumes in August both year-over-year and sequentially, the number of employees working at the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads fell slightly.
The East Coast ports of Savannah and Jacksonville are adding more container capacity amid long-term plans to serve as an alternative to West Coast ports.
The railroads have been facing a number of headwinds in recent months, all of which could put pressure on their financial outlooks for 2021, according to investment firm Cowen.
AskWaves answers why rail industry observers like to keep track of the number of railcars in storage. Hint: It has to do with broader economic trends.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against BNSF over alleged sexual harassment at BNSF’s rail yard in Alliance, Nebraska.
A compilation of the past week in social media images features Northeast flooding, late summer Rockies snow and a white-knuckle helicopter landing.
FRA Deputy Administrator Amit Bose testifies on crew size and LNG by rail at his nomination hearing.
Elevated steel prices are driving railcar owners to scrap outdated equipment, according to a Greenbrier manager.
The Transportation Technology Center Inc. appoints a new president while truckers recognize TRAC Intermodal for its performance.
2022 could be a busy year for the Surface Transportation Board if it decides to tackle a number of long-standing, hot-button issues.
INRD’s expansion will benefit Indianapolis-area intermodal customers seeking access to the Asian market.
CN is seeking to generate CA$700 million in additional operating income in 2022 through cutting labor and operational costs and seeking pricing opportunities.
Expanding intermodal, grain and automotive offerings would be part of the growth strategy pursued by a merged Kansas City Southern-Canadian Pacific.
Recent rail news includes investments, technology purchases and cleanup fees.
The Department of Transportation seeks “practical solutions” from the freight industry to alleviate container shortages and supply chain chokepoints.
Kansas City Southern returns to its old flame and opts to merge with Canadian Pacific. Rival railway CN acknowledges its merger plans have been scrapped.
August was a record month for the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, and the trend of higher year-over-year volumes could persist through the rest of 2021 as peak season approaches.
The three have signed agreements committing to work together on developing advanced locomotive power technologies.
August data from Cass shows freight expenditures extend their torrid pace. Freight demand remains high but a lack of capacity is constraining shipment growth.
Major CN shareholder TCI Fund Management wants CN’s board to have more operational experience. The company is also still pushing for the removal of CN’s current CEO.
Kansas City Southern is returning to its original merger partner after federal regulators rejected CN’s proposed voting trust, which would’ve been used to acquire KCS.
Labor and chassis shortages, as well as congestion in the wider supply chain, have contributed to lower U.S. intermodal traffic compared with a year ago.
