North-American rail

If inland rail ramps remain congested due to chassis shortages and discretionary imports continue to flow away from the West Coast to the East Coast, international intermodal volumes could decline for a second straight year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services will focus on working with shippers to empty containers in a more expedited manner as freight is moving slower than ever with box turn ratios falling for four consecutive years.

Intermodal shippers are sitting on the sidelines until warehouses unclog and rail service improves, which will result in lower contract rates for shippers in 2023.

As consumer buying patterns return to a more normal mix of goods and services in 2023, domestic intermodal providers will have to find a way to fill a huge influx of boxes ordered during the pandemic.

The lingering congestion in Chicago and Kansas City comes despite a decrease in US imports and a relatively low volume of freight being transported inland by train.

To better handle the next cargo surge, inland hubs need to own enough equipment so they can build and deconstruct container stacks while possessing the technology to plan for cargo retrieval.

Union Pacific has removed the demurrage penalty caps on cargo in Chicago and Kansas City, although trucking companies indicate some international containers remain stacked in both cities because of a shortage of marine chassis.

A new Oregon intermodal ramp linked to Union Pacific’s network should ease ag shipper frustrations over rising transportation costs and limited container availability.

Norfolk Southern Railway will shut one of two container spillover lots outside Memphis this week after a significant reduction in rail boxes coming into the inland hub from Savannah.

The filing is just the latest in a barrage of complaints made against various container lines with the FMC in recent months, a flurry accelerated by major reform of US shipping law that went into effect in June.

As the US economy slows, logistics managers are searching not just for lower supply chain costs but a normalization of freight flows and networks, a level of stability and predictability that remains elusive.

Domestic intermodal volume suffered its worst November in seven years, which will put additional pressure on intermodal providers to provide concessions to shippers on contracts for 2023.

Norfolk Southern furloughed thousands of employees during the early days of the pandemic and struggled to rehire the workforce necessary to handle the surge in intermodal volumes.

The Senate measure ends the threat of a country-wide rail strike that could have begun Dec. 9, crippling cargo movement in the midst of the holiday season.

The US House of Representatives has waded into ongoing rail negotiations, passing a bill to prevent a potential strike and a second resolution that would give workers seven paid sick days.

Trade groups representing railroads and shippers are confident Congress will act to prevent a potential strike in December, but that is not stopping them from discussing the stakes involved.

Lawmakers in Washington will face pressure to bridge the divide between rail labor and management because any job action could snarl supply chains in the weeks leading up to end-of-year holidays.

Union Pacific Railroad will no longer cap storage fees at seven inland ramps beginning next week, citing declining import volumes on the West Coast that has restored more typical cargo flow.

UP is navigating congestion as ocean containers pile up in stacks in Chicago and Dallas, but the western US railroad believes it will clear the backlog at both terminals before the end of the year.

The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers has become the third union to reject a collective bargaining agreement with US railroads reached in September, but no strike or lockout can take place until December.

Congestion continues at BNSF’s Logistics Park Chicago terminal as chassis shortages have led to prolonged turn times for truckers using LPC or other BNSF spillover lots.

While three rail unions have yet to vote, one more has ratified the tentative five-year contract brokered in mid-September, bringing US Class I railroads and the dozen unions one step closer to a national bargaining agreement.

With softer import volumes coming from Los Angeles-Long Beach, BNSF has made significant progress clearing the backlog of ocean containers at its Dallas-area terminal and hopes to restore normal conditions within weeks.

Now that a second rail union has rejected the tentative contract deal brokered by the Biden administration, trade associations are asking the White House to intervene before a potential November strike.

The rank-and-file of the US’s third-largest rail union rejected a tentative deal hammered out last month, raising fears of a crippling strike just days before Thanksgiving.

Norfolk Southern is adding a containerized grain export service from Ohio to the Port of New York and New Jersey as the Midwest harvest season looms and shippers seek alternative routings.

BNSF Railway has lowered container backlogs at two inland rail ramps as regional chassis shortages ease, allowing shippers to pick up freight more quickly.

Intermodal providers will have difficulty selling the rail product in early 2023 bids because truck rates continue to drop while intermodal service has been lackluster.

The Surface Transportation Board opened public sessions last Wednesday for three days of testimony, but scheduled three additional days of mostly virtual sessions this week to accommodate all interested parties seeking to participate.

CSX and Union Pacific say they are committed in the long term to all intermodal shippers, whether they use private containers with Schneider National or rely on the rail-owned container pool.

A backlog of containers at BNSF’s Dallas-Fort Worth rail ramp has been reduced by about 25 percent due to more chassis coming into its yard and additional space and lift equipment.

Domestic intermodal providers have not put peak season surcharges in place in Southern California this year, a far cry from the $5,000 per container surcharges in Los Angeles each of the last two years.

Norfolk Southern Railway has made improvements in service in Jacksonville in the last three months, according to service metrics and intermodal marketing companies.

Union Pacific has ejected Canadian Pacific from a shared pool of rail-owned domestic containers, a move likely related to the pending CP-Kansas City Southern merger that could take business away from UP.

CSX said its future CEO brings a deep understanding of the manufacturing and energy sectors, both critical customer bases for the eastern railroad.

While railroad management and unions were meeting with US Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to avert a strike, confidence is waning as shippers, railroads, and ports prepare for a shutdown early Friday.

All eyes turned to Washington amid the realization that a rail strike disrupting the already fragile US supply chain six weeks before crucial midterm elections would not be helpful to the White House and Congressional Democrats.

Shippers are in a wait-and-see mode as the obstacle to a deal with the country’s two largest rail unions is about lifestyle concerns rather than compensation, a source close to the negotiations told JOC.com.

The stakes are high for a rail labor deal to be reached because the Association of American Railroads estimates that a strike would cost the US economy $2 billion per day, while a disruption would be a political liability for the Biden administration.

Norfolk Southern will convert all its international intermodal terminals to ground container facilities beginning in 2023, saying it has learned from the import surge and longer dwells that stacking boxes is the best way to keep cargo flowing.