BNSF

With a merger application for the proposed $85 billion historic merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern expected to be filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) this week, more than half of union employees at the railroads indicated they are not in favor of the merger. That is the word from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, whom collectively account for 53% of UP and NS union employees, with the two unions...

With an expected December 1 date for the application regarding the historic $85 billion proposed merger between Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, there was no shortage of opinions regarding the deal at the RailTrends conference.

The companies said that this service will give shippers what it called a “seamless, all-rail alternative for international containers” going from Canada’s West Coast gateways through Memphis and then into Nashville. And they added that by replacing the current trucking leg with a steel-wheel interchange, both carriers will be able to deliver faster, more reliable, and more sustainable supply chain offerings for their respective customers.

LM Group News Editor spoke with Larry Gross, President of Gross Transportation Consulting, on the state of the intermodal market.

CSX and BNSF officials said that these new intermodal services will provide immediate value for customers in various ways, including increasing flexibility and optionality, while delivering integrated service for freight moving across the U.S.

A Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, noted an agreement could be reached as soon as this week, adding, if the deal came to fruition, it would represent the largest railroad deal on record.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Class I railroad carrier BNSF Railway said it rolled out a new, expedited, third-day rail service, running from Los Angeles to Houston. Company officials said that this service, which went live on July 10, is comparable to over-the-road service options and represents a significant advancement in the company’s ability to deliver fast, consistent and reliable transportation offerings.

A trio of freight transportation service providers—J.B. Hunt Transport Services, a subsidiary of Lowell, Ark.-based trucking and intermodal services bellwether J.B. Hunt, Fort Worth, Texas-based Class I railroad carrier BNSF Railway, and Mexico-based rail services provider GMXT—rolled out a new intermodal service focusing on the Mexican market.

High-level service in spite of unsteady volumes

Following the issuing of a final rule by the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) earlier this month, establishing minimum safety requirements for train crew sizes, with the new rule requiring a second crew member on all trains, four U.S.-based railroads are calling on federal appeals courts to toss out the rule, calling it “arbitrary, capricious, and an illegal abuse of discretion,” according to an Associated Press report.

The companies said that the new service, entitled Quantum, accommodates what they called the service-sensitive highway freight needs of customer supply chains. And they added that the main objective of the service is on providing the consistency, agility, and speed required to move sensitive freight via rail, with a specific customer focus on service expectations, transit requirements, and operational procedures.

Earlier this month, Fort Worth, Texas-based Class I railroad carrier BNSF Railway said it plans to invest more than $1.5 billion into what it described as a Southern California “state-of-the-art master-planned rail facility,” adding it is the first being developed by a Class I railroad.

The Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, recently announced that it made its annual determination of revenue adequacy for United States-based Class I railroads for calendar year 2019.

While United States motor carriers have received a well-deserved amount of praise over the last six weeks, of the COVID-19 pandemic, by moving freight such as medical supplies, PPE equipment and gear, groceries, and other essential goods, another mode of freight transportation, namely railroads, have also gone above and beyond in helping and aiding Americans in various ways.

Schneider officials said that this new service offers shippers in the eastern region of Southern California, Las Vegas, and western Arizona with a cost-competitive transportation option to Chicago and markets in the Northeast.