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!
Disaggregation, or a shift toward smaller, faster, more flexible forms of freight transport, can help decarbonize the freight industry, remove logistics bottlenecks and increase resilience of domestic supply chains.
Congress must prevent a rail shutdown. Otherwise, factories will close, food and fuel supplies will dwindle and inflation will soar.
Three more railroad unions have reached tentative agreements with Class I railroads on new labor contracts.
Uncertainties over whether union members will go on strike next Friday are causing the U.S. Class I railroads to embargo certain shipments and tell customers to expect delays.
The CEOs of Union Pacific, CSX and Norfolk Southern anticipate rail volumes to grow amid service improvements and despite macroeconomic uncertainties, according to their comments at an investor conference this week.
The Association of American Railroads estimates that a nationwide strike could cost about $2 billion each day, while shippers groups rally Congress to intervene in the event a strike seems imminent.
KCS has sites in the southern U.S. and in Mexico that are primed for the construction of warehouses and manufacturing facilities.
Thanks to a federal grant, the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University will be working with four other colleges to develop climate-resiliency strategies and tools for U.S. freight and passenger railroads.
Two more unions, whose membership totals about 6,000 freight rail employees, have tentatively agreed to a new labor contract that calls for substantial wage increases.
Peak harvest season begins in the U.S. soon, and grain shippers are hoping rail service will be able to meet market demand.
The soybean associations say helping offset construction costs of AG Procressing’s terminal expansion at the Port of Grays Harbor will help soybean exporters in the long run.
Two of the larger unions, BLET and SMART-TD, were unable to reach a tentative labor agreement last week. But both “remain committed” to reaching one.
Three railroad unions plan to send their members a tentative labor agreement for ratification. However, there are still nine unions that have yet to strike a deal.
Transport Canada says it is initiating the first steps toward implementing a version of positive train control in the country.
This week in Borderlands: Kansas City Southern set to build second rail bridge in Laredo; Texas firm constructing a truck and trailer parking facility near Houston; Omni Logistics opens new shipping hub in Dallas; and New Mexico port expanding with help from federal grant.
The Utah Inland Port Authority, short-line operator TNW Corp. and the Surface Transportation Board have announced appointments and promotions.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada wants the country’s major railways to install enhanced train-control technology similar to positive train control in the U.S.
Railroad union representatives have been reticent publicly about how they plan to proceed with contract talks following last week’s recommendations from an independent board.
The American Chemistry Council says freight rail service still leaves much to be desired, despite the railroads’ efforts to improve.
The Mojave Inland Port could reduce congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The Surface Transportation Board wants to know how the seven Class I railroads expect to meet demand for rail service during the harvest season running from September into the new year.
July was a record month at the Port of Virginia. At SC Ports, July’s volumes were up from June as the Port of Charleston sought to improve port flows.
Canadian midstream operator Keyera and CN are considering creating an energy terminal that would serve the production-rich region.
Management from J.B. Hunt Transport Services doubles down on long-term growth initiatives in its intermodal unit.
The presidential emergency board is charged with examining the sticking points in the stalled contract negotiations between U.S. freight railroads and their unions.
Canadian Pacific has won clearance from U.S. regulators for its KCS acquisition and has reached a labor agreement with union leaders for train and engine employees.
Inland port projects and rail cargo handling facilities are among the projects awarded grants through the Department of Transportation’s RAISE program.
Precision scheduled railroading again took center stage during a roundtable concerning rail service.
The two eastern U.S. Class I railroads say they’re well on their way to meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.
Transport Canada is considering making the data collection of rail service metrics permanent — a move the Forest Products Association of Canada supports.
Recent filings to the board from various parties focus on wo bears the burden to show if or how Amtrak service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans would affect freight operations.
Despite economic headwinds, the rail car manufacturing market will find support in the second half of 2022 amid tight rail car supply and improving rail service metrics, FreightCar America executives said on an earnings call.
Georgia Ports Authority kicks off the start of its new fiscal year with volumes at over a half million TEUs.
Florida-based Patriot Rail plans to acquire Denver-based Pioneer Lines. Both companies operate short-line railroads in multiple states.
Despite lower volumes in BNSF’s consumer, agricultural, industrial and coal segments, the railroad’s freight revenue rose to nearly $6.3 billion on higher revenues per carload.
The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis studied the potential environmental impacts resulting from a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
Improvements in rail service and “unparking” locomotives are market signals that could bode well for Wabtec in the back half of this year.
Jobs in the truck transportation sector have risen every month post-pandemic except one, but the pace of growth is slowing.
Even though macroeconomic uncertainties lie ahead, Hub Group expects to find support in the medium term through improving rail service, market conditions that encourage more conversions to rail and the diversification of its business, executives said on Wednesday’s earnings call.
A Democrat-backed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives addresses rail service concerns raised during recent hearings by the House transportation committee.
FreightWaves chats with international trade attorney Ashley Craig about what the troubles in labor talks for both rail and maritime mean for the broader supply chain.
CN and Canadian Pacific say they’re ready for an anticipated grain volume rebound in the new crop year that runs from Aug. 1 to July 31.
While headcount for train and engine employees is up for the first six months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, the freight rail headcount across all categories hasn’t risen.
Shippers want to move more goods via rail, and they will do so once rail service improves. This will ultimately benefit lessors like Trinity Industries, CEO Jean Savage told investors on a recent earnings call.
Canadian Pacific executives on the company’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call discussed precision scheduled railroading, synergies with Kansas City Southern and intermodal strength in the second half of the year.
The Canadian government wants the railways to submit details on how they will maintain equipment when it gets cold in winter as part of a rail safety initiative.
The new rail hub is designed to respond to a growing need to expand domestic intermodal capacity within the greater Seattle region.
Converting two flat switching yards back to hump yards and adjusting train schedules are broader initiatives that aim to serve customers better, Norfolk Southern executives said during the company’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call Wednesday.
In proposing a minimum train crew size of two members, FRA reverses its stance that crew size questions should be left to the railroads and the unions.
Union Pacific on Wednesday enlisted Wabtec to modernize 600 locomotives to improve fuel efficiency, reliability and haulage ability.
Anticipated strength in domestic intermodal and higher grain volumes will support CN in the back half of this year, company executives said during the Canadian railway’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call.
Consumer demand, vessel diversions and efforts to avoid congested West Coast ports drove the Georgia Ports Authority to break its record for annual volumes.
Senators and two U.S. House representatives from Illinois object to the railway merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern as currently proposed, saying the Surface Transportation Board should respond to their constituents’ concerns.
The Surface Transportation Board will conduct a three-day hearing in late September to find out from Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern directly about issues related to the railways’ proposed merger.
Pent-up demand for railcars will support GATX even as rail service clears up.
Consulting firm FTR Associates says the freight transportation markets will find support amid a still-growing manufacturing sector, despite perceived softness in the U.S. economy.
Union Pacific executives said it wasn’t precision scheduled railroading but running the network too tightly that brought on the service issues.
An unanticipated high attrition rate among new hires has affected the pace of CSX’s planned operational recovery, according to executives on the railroad’s second-quarter earnings call.
Kansas City Southern de Mexico will invest nearly $200 million in a railway bypass. The railroad will have exclusive rights to the bypass for 10 more years.
The STB is sifting through hundreds of pages on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order calling for a three-person board to investigate the issues behind the contract discord between the railroads and unions.
The Canadian government says it will fund infrastructure projects in Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as research into how the railways can respond to climate-induced events.
The Biden administration wants to speed an effort unveiled in March to create a first-time freight data exchange for U.S. container shipments.
Railroad crews are facing “all-time low” morale. They could legally strike in July, worsening supply-chain congestion.
The 1,158-acre Gulf Inland Logistics Park near Houston includes a switching railroad and has access to two Class I railroads and major highways.
Peak season imports are expected to remain strong but rail delays require ‘immediate’ attention, says Port of LA’s Gene Seroka.
Higher amounts of loaded imports and empty export boxes contributed to a nearly 15% increase in volumes.
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen voted to strike if they deem it necessary as the unions and railroads fail to reach a contract agreement.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants CSX to pay $121,200 total for workplace incidents that might have contributed to the December 2021 blast at the Curtis Bay Coal Terminal.
Work is underway to develop container-handling terminals in as many as five states along the Mississippi River.
Southern California ports can’t evacuate import containers fast enough. The backlog has yet again reached critical levels.
Customers are eager to move products via rail once network congestion subsides, executives said during Greenbrier’s quarterly earnings call on Monday.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants President Biden to intervene in the ongoing rail labor dispute to avoid service disruptions.
AskWaves looks at the many varied functions that the 56-year-old Federal Railroad Administration performs for passenger and freight rail.
Canadian railway CN and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have agreed to enter binding arbitration, putting to end a two-week strike over wages and benefits.
Data from June reflects how rail service challenges persist into summer. Meanwhile, higher headcount levels and macroeconomic uncertainties await the rails for the remainder of this year.
Congressmen back calls from fertilizer and agricultural products shippers to improve freight rail service, plus news about a new federal grant program to eliminate railroad crossings and updates on CN and Canadian Pacific.
The Transportation Trades Department wants Congress to modify the language to ensure freight railroads provide adequate service.
NS starts a new operating plan for intermodal; CN plans investments in Louisiana and Wisconsin; and MxV Rail agrees to share expertise with a UK group.
CN announced Monday it anticipates spending $355 million in 2022 to improve infrastructure in Illinois, Tennessee, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
Both Democrats and Republicans representing the Pacific Northwest say the creation of a ship-to-rail container port at the existing Port of Coos Bay could boost West Coast port capacity by as much as 10%.
Amid soaring inflation and supply chain crunches, the United States’ key rail regulator has been mired in political antics.
The railway’s recent 2022 capital investment announcement brings the total to nearly CA$1.7 billion (US$1.32 billion) for six Canadian provinces.
BNSF’s brief embargo aims to reduce Southern California network congestion, which the railway partly blamed on bad weather.
Three commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission contend a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in diverting U.S.-bound intermodal traffic to Canadian ports.
In the past two days, the Canadian railway has announced approximately CA$1.5 billion (US$1.16 billion) in capital investments for four provinces.
Union Pacific is seeking to extend its tests on wheel temperature detectors, but the Transportation Trades Department disagrees with the way UP wants to deploy the technology.
Foster Poultry Farms asked STB last week to order UP to improve rail service to two poultry processing plants in California. The board agreed to that request.
The investments will go toward network improvements as well as technology and decarbonization initiatives.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on strike on Saturday.
Federal regulators are deciding at what level should the U.S. allow the transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail. Some environmental groups oppose LNG by rail because of concerns about transporting highly flammable material.
Canadian railway CN has received a notice from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that its members could go on strike this Saturday.
A number of East Coast ports saw volumes increase in May, and Savannah was one of them.
The National Mediation Board has ended mediation between the freight railroads and unions over a new labor agreement and is offering arbitration, both sides say.
Japanese shipping firm Ocean Network Express has filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific because a shipment of solar panels was stolen in transit.
The Surface Transportation Board wants BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific to submit additional information on their rail service recovery plans after finding that the initial plan submissions “were perfunctory” and lacked detail.
The Surface Transportation Board has granted Amtrak’s request to access limited confidential data from CSX and Norfolk Southern as the board mulls Amtrak’s request to establish Gulf Coast passenger rail service. The board also ordered mediation among all parties.
The Federal Railroad Administration is now requiring the Class I railroads, Amtrak and commuter railroads to submit fatigue risk management plans annually to the agency.
OceaNS Bridge Express, a partnership among NS, Union Pacific, Hapag-Lloyd and the Port of Virginia, could be a means to avoid West Coast port congestion while taking advantage of East Coast port capacity improvements.
FreightWaves chats with Harris Ligon, founder and CEO of Telegraph, a startup that seeks to streamline rail service data in order to make day-to-day operations smoother.
