Railroad Shipping

When the merger agreement was initially announced, the rail carriers said it would create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad—which 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.

Rail carloads, at 224,620, fell 1.7% annually, and intermodal containers and trailer volume, at 294,284 units, decreased 1.2% annually.

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...

Rail carloads, at 228,823, rose 1.7% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 280,176 units, fell 5.4% annually.

The November FRI was down 0.4% from October to November, falling for the seventh time in the last eight months, and it was off 4.4% annually, due largely to an intermodal slowdown in recent months, noted the report.

Rail carloads, at 197,955, increased 4.3% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 234,860 units, fell 6.5% annually.

While a December 1 date for the merger application to be sent to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), regarding the historic proposed $85 billion merger between Class I railroads Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), had been widely anticipated, UP CEO Jim Vena said at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference this week that the merger’s submission will be delayed for about two weeks.

Total loadings, at 4,757,324, increased 2.8% annually, hitting its highest level since the second quarter 2021.

In a speech at last week’s RailTrends conference in New York, Union Pacific Railroad CEO Jim Vena made the case for Union Pacific’s historic proposed $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern, in advance of the company submitting its merger application to the Surface Transportation Board.

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.

In a wide-ranging presentation at the RailTrends conference in New York last week, Adriene Bailey, partner and head of the North American Rail Team at Oliver Wyman, offered up detailed insight and analysis on various topics impacting the North American freight railroad market.

While it has not crossed the finish line yet, the proposed Class I railroad merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern is ostensibly moving along, with shareholders for each company nearly unanimous in voting in favor of the deal, according to respective statements issued by each company today.

Rail carloads, at 224,651, were up 0.1% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 268,842 units, were off 8.7% annually.

Rail carloads, at 227,209, were down 0.7% annually, and intermodal containers and trailers, at 269,719 units, fell 6.4% annually.

Late last week, a bipartisan Senate duo—John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—penned a letter to leadership at the Surface Transportation Board (STB), including STB Chairman Patrick Fuchs, Vice Chair Michelle Schultz and Member Karen Hedlund, in which they stated they plan to “closely scrutinize” the proposed Class I railroad merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, with a focus on being able to demonstrate long-term competition in the freight rail sector, with clear and tangible improvements.