Intermodal providers

The Canadian railway industry carried 27.0 million metric tons of freight in July, a 1.8 percent year-over-year decline, according to Statistics Canada.

When the South Carolina Ports Authority broke ground for an inland port at Greer, S.C., it implemented a strategy that was based upon securing an anchor tenant and linking that exporter to the Port of Charleston with multi-modal transportation options that include short-haul rail.

A prominent trucking industry executive warned that operational changes at rail ramps and other inland locations because of the accelerating exit of ocean carriers from the chassis business are placing added stress on the fragile intermodal drayage industry.

RoadOne IntermodaLogistics expanded its drayage and intermodal brokerage network by acquiring drayage operator Intermodal Inc.

With consumer demand moderate at best three years after the deepest recession in decades, major U.S. shippers aren’t rushing to add distribution and warehousing space at the clusters of distribution centers around coastal seaports. Momentum appears to be accelerating at inland ports.

Inland ports aren’t just a U.S. phenomenon. Industrial real estate developments anchored by intermodal connections and access to highways are expanding in Mexico and Canada, too.

The high cost of shipping Midwest grain by rail to the West Coast is restricting containerized grain exports to Asia, according to a Cargill executive.

That BNSF Railway refrigerated boxcar trains will begin hauling eggs next year is just another sign of just how far reefer train service has come and the awaiting potential.

Haven’t seen much of a peak season on the highways and rails? You’re not alone. Growing evidence suggests the freight surge ahead of the holidays is coming more in the spring for trucking and translating to spikes, not a peak, for intermodal rail carriers.

Southeastern shippers are gaining better intermodal services to container terminals at Savannah and Charleston through the development of inland ports.

Agriculture shippers are concerned that they won’t be able to bring their goods to BNSF Railway’s soon-to-open intermodal terminal in the Kansas City area because overweight containers aren't permitted on the road connecting the facility and the nearby interstate.

Freight carried by Canadian railways rose 12.9 percent year-over-year to 29.3 million metric tons in May, as the industry saw a “strong” increase in domestic freight traffic compared with May 2012 levels.

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has plans to consider the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 when Congress returns from its August recess in September...

Grupo TMM reported a net loss of 235.1 million Mexican pesos (about US$18.3 million) in the second quarter of 2013, compared with a net loss of 218.4 million pesos in the second quarter of 2012.

CAI International reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $16.9 million, increasing 12 percent from $15.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Gujarat Pipavav Port in India handled 0.143 million 20-foot-equivalent units of container cargo in the second quarter of 2013, increasing 17 percent year-over-year.

Domestic and international intermodal, the two dominant forms of the U.S. and Canadian containerized rail business, are heading down separate tracks, and the space between them is widening as weak import growth combines with shippers’ growing penchant to transload goods into 53-foot domestic containers.

Gujarat Pipavav Port, owned by APM Terminals in India, has upgraded its rail infrastructure and is now able to carry double-stack, high-cube containers on trains.

Hub Group reported net income in the second quarter of 2013 totaling $18.6 million, up 10 percent from $17 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Georgia’s Gov. Nathan Deal, the Georgia Ports Authority and Cordele Intermodal Services today signed an inland port agreement to ensure a direct 200-mile rail route to and from...

Retail industry expectations for peak truck and intermodal rail seasons are elevated slightly compared to last year but hardly soaring, thanks to a slowly recovering U.S. economy and better managed supply chains.

Mumbai-based international freight forwarder and terminal operator J.M. Baxi Group has opened a new intermodal container terminal in Sonepat, near Delhi, to serve the growing trade to and from northern India.

The Canadian railway industry’s freight commodity loadings in April rose 11 percent compared with the same month in 2012 to 30.2 million metric tons, according to Statistics Canada.

Port Canaveral is pursuing the development of an inland port near the north end of Brevard County, Fla., in conjunction with the start this fall of the widening and deepening of the Florida port’s 3.5 mile channel.

The South Carolina Ports Authority board of directors approved its fiscal year 2014 plan, which includes volume increases across business segments and $123 million in capital spending on a number of projects.

The Port of New York and New Jersey and Norfolk Southern are discussing the possibility of making an intermodal railyard in Bethlehem, Pa., an inland port, The Morning Call reports.

Shippers reluctant to jump into intermodal rail transport have a major incentive to test the waters: relatively low intermodal rates with few signs on the horizon for aggressive hikes.

When the Los Angeles City Council on May 8 approved the final environmental impact report for construction of BNSF Railway’s $500 million near-dock intermodal yard in Southern California, the approval proved to be the beginning of a journey rather than the end of a saga.

DNJ Intermodal Services will open a new office in Omaha, Neb., on June 1.

Grupo TMM reported a net loss of 165.6 million Mexican pesos (about US$13.4 million) in the first quarter of 2013, compared with a net loss of $11.3 million in the first quarter of 2012.

The Senate's passage of the Water Resources Development Act on Wednesday paves the way for increased investment in ports, and speedier completion of maritime and inland waterway projects. Because the bill is 294 pages and far from a page-turner, The Journal of Commerce decided to break down what the Senate version calls for and what challenges the legislation faces ahead.

Nordic Cold Storage has reached an agreement with South Carolina State Ports Authority to terminate the lease on its warehouse facility in Greer, S.C., clearing the way for a $43 million inland port to be built in its place.

Intermodal service between Vienna and Rostock, Germany, has created a direct link between Central Europe and Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic states.

Euroports has agreed to sell Euroports Containers Meerhout, which operates the inland container terminal in Meerhout, Belgium, to Inland Terminals.

The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved the final environmental impact report for a near-dock railyard that BNSF Railway said will improve the competitiveness of the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex while at the same time reducing port-generated diesel emissions in Southern California.

Cold Train is expanding its express refrigerated intermodal service from Portland, Ore., to complement its existing expedited service out of Quincy, Wash.

Container Corporation of India has announced a “special intermodal rate scheme” for the movement of empty containers between the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal at Cochin port and Bangalore, a southern hinterland destination, following requests from terminal operator DP World.

CAI International reported net income in the first quarter of 2013 was $16.1 million, increasing 11 percent from $14.5 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

ASF Intermodal has opened an intermodal drayage facility in Chesapeake, Va., to provide drayage service in and out of the port and rail facilities in the Norfolk area and serve the Southeast.

TransContainer reported rail container transportation volume in Russia in the first quarter of 2013 totaled 342,400 20-foot-equivalent units, decreasing 4,400 TEUs, or 1.3 percent, from 346,800 TEUs in the first quarter of 2012.