Rail News

Shanghai may be the busiest container port in the world, but almost half the boxes that cross its wharves every year are first carried down the mighty Yangtze River from manufacturing hubs deep inland.

The volume of intermodal units moving on U.S. railroads last week reached a record high for the railroad industry, according to the Association of American Railroads, furthering signs that the peak season is starting for intermodal shippers as the ocean peak recedes.

The percent of import containers arriving at the Los Angeles-Long Beach gateway that were transloaded into domestic containers for onward rail transport into the interior U.S. continued to increase last year and is forecast to continue rising in 2014.

Norfolk Southern Railway doesn’t expect rail service to start getting back to normal levels until the end of March 2015, with most customers not seeing any improvement until November 2014.

Florida East Coast Railway launched at 53-foot domestic container service two weeks ago, giving North Carolina shippers a new option to ship goods to South Florida for either domestic consumption or to transload for export.

BNSF Railway is spending billions of dollars to double-track key segments of its northern tier route, purchase equipment and hire additional crew, but a company executive told grain shippers this week it could take two to three years for the investments to produce all of the results they are looking for.

International intermodal volume growth in North America dropped markedly in August, providing another sign that the lack of a U.S. West Coast longshore contract hangs less on retailers’ necks because the majority of their holiday goods have arrived in the U.S.

Delays this year in moving agricultural products by rail and barge from the Upper Midwest to ports in the Pacific Northwest and Gulf Coast could undermine the position of the U.S. as the world’s premier supplier of soybeans, a transportation specialist told the annual meeting of the Midwest Shippers Association Wednesday.

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would push the U.S. rail regulatory agency to more quickly address major issues between railroads and some carload shippers, but its prospects for passage are unclear

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack urged Warren Buffett last week to ensure that his BNSF Railway will be prepared to deliver a potential record U.S. corn and soybean harvest this year, the latest sign of political pressure on the rail industry to improve poor service.

China-Europe rail services continue to grow in popularity with DHL the latest forwarder to offer a new weekly scheduled block train from Suzhou to Poland.

Rail service problems are starting to hurt truckers with intermodal operations, especially those such that move refrigerated goods, a transportation analyst says.

Norfolk Southern Railway told shippers not to expect service improvements until late November, as peak volumes and annual maintenance work blunt efforts to restore network velocity.

Fast-growing third-party logistics companies are tuning into and tapping broad trends driving logistics growth in the U.S. and globally, including increased cross-border trade and the expansion of intermodal rail. Here are seven trends picked by XPO Logistics CEO Bradley S. Jacobs.

The volume of intermodal units moving on North American railroads last week rose year-over-year, according to the Association of American Railroads, a sign that the peak season is now kicking in for intermodal shippers as the ocean peak recedes.

A U.S. refrigerated rail transport provider’s decision to suspend service, citing poor rail performance by BNSF Railway, has given a prominent senator ammunition to criticize poor rail service.

BNSF Railway will end its weekly intermodal services between Fresno, California, and Chicago, in early December...

The Kremlin has approved Russian Railways’ financial contribution to an intermodal joint venture with the state railroads of neighboring Belarus and Kazakhstan...

Mark Szakonyi, senior editor for JOC.com, has been promoted to associate managing editor for JOC.com, the subscription website of JOC Group Inc. for professionals in the container shipping industry.

U.S. railroads came under heavy criticism at a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday following months of delays tied to the recent harsh winter and improving economy which has impacted grain and intermodal shippers

A jump in intermodal spot rates could mean peak season is kicking in for intermodal shippers.

Freight shipments rose 2.3 percent in August from July, according to the Cass Freight Index, buoyed by increased U.S. manufacturing and the tail end of the peak season for containerized imports.

The U.S. intermodal sector has experienced significant growing pains, ranging from more concentrated discharge of import cargo at marine terminals to a deterioration in rail service. The inability of motor carriers to attract enough drivers to handle growth in demand also puts pressure on the so-called first and last miles of the intermodal legs.

International intermodal traffic growth on the U.S. rail network is showing signs of tapering off, suggesting the peak season for U.S. imports might already have passed. Still, intermodal experts aren’t ready to pronounce an end to the inventory buildup ahead of the holiday season.

A new contract between BNSF and a Tacoma short-line railroad aimed at cutting turn times down for trains leaving the Port of Tacoma could give shippers a much-needed improvement in intermodal service.

The so-called truck driver shortage largely has benefited intermodal rail — until now. Trucking’s increasing difficulty finding drivers to pilot big rigs has helped shift freight to intermodal containers, but it could also threaten future intermodal growth.

Persistent U.S. rail delays could give a boost to an annual push by rail critic Sen. Jay Rockefeller to strengthen the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the U.S. rail regulatory agency.

The scope of U.S. shippers’ diversion of cargo through western Canadian ports can be seen in August intermodal statistics...

DB Schenker expects to have one train service per week hauling freight eastward from Hamburg to the Chinese city of Zhengzhou by next year.

U.S. marine container chassis lessor Direct ChassisLink Inc. plans to expand into ownership, management and leasing of 53-foot domestic equipment, and says newly acquired equipment and technology provider REZ-1 will play a key role.

Intermodal spot rates are higher than they were a year ago, and busy-season pricing is beginning to take the spot rates even higher.

DB Schenker recently launched a service from Hamburg hauling 41 containers — some of which were filled with industrial robots — to the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

The attempt by CSX Transportation and the Port of Baltimore to gain double-stack container service to and from the port took a major hit Thursday after the state of Maryland withdrew funding for a planned intermodal terminal.

Expansion of Duisburg’s container terminals has entered a new stage, taking the large German inland river port one step closer to meeting increased demand and additional rail traffic.

U.S. grain shippers are welcoming the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s collective bargaining agreement with Pacific Northwest grain handlers, but they are still concerned about poor rail service that is hampering their ability to get exports to Asia.

Canadian National Railway announced that it will discontinue intermodal service to a rail hub at Auburn, Maine, effective Nov. 15, because of insufficient freight volume.

Port San Antonio named a new president and CEO on Aug. 25, tapping a 25-year economic development veteran to lead the inland industrial development agency.