Railroad Shipping

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman spoke with Chris Jahn, President & Chief Executive Officer, at the Washington, D.C.-based American Chemistry Council (ACC). Topics covered included: the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger; railroad service and pricing; and the regulatory environment, among others.

Rail carloads, at 234,740, eked out a 0.6% annual gain, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 286,762 units, headed up 1.2% annually.

Rail carloads, at 229,783, eked out a 0.6% annual increase, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 282,500 units, fell 1.9% compared to the same week a year ago.

President Trump this week terminated Robert Primus from his position as Board Member of 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, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

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.

Rail carloads, at 228,884, fell 0.9% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 284,086 units, were down 0.6% annually.

Earlier this month, activist investor Ancora Holdings LLC penned a letter to the Board of Directors at Jacksonville-based Class I railroad carrier CSX, in which it stated that CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs has put the company in the position of having to play “catch up,” following the recently-announced merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS).

Rail carloads, at 227,327, rose 2.4% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 283,867 units, were up 3.4% annually.

July U.S. rail carloads, at 1,122,842, posted a 4.6% annual gain, for its fifth consecutive month of annual monthly gains, and July intermodal volume, at 1,350,873 units, increased 2.4% annually, following a 2.9% annual decline in June.

Rail carloads, at 233,085, posted a 6.4% annual gain, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 279,724, eked out a 0.2% annual increase

Rail carloads, at 231,029, saw a 0.9% annual gain, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 283,250 units, rose 1.3% annually.

While leadership at Class I railroad carriers Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) touted the benefits of this week’s announcement, coming to terms on an $85 billion deal in which UP will acquire NS—to create the nation’s  first transcontinental railroad that will connect more than 50,000 route miles across 43 states from the East Coast to the West Coast and connect around 100 ports as well—feedback from various shipper groups has been less than receptive to the deal.

Following a heavy amount of speculation that Omaha-based Union Pacific (UP) was taking steps to acquire Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern (NS), in first Class I railroad merger since the April 2023 deal, in which Canadian Pacific acquired Kansas City Southern for $31 billion, that was subsequently respectively confirmed by the companies in recent days, UP and NS announced today that they have come to terms on an agreement for a deal.

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.

Rail carloads, at 223,968, posted a 4.1% annual increase. Intermodal containers and trailers, at 272,220 units, were up 1.4% annually.