BNSF

Los Angeles, the busiest US container port, plans even bigger future

While the global supply chain seemed whipsawed on a daily basis in 2024, one thing remained constant: a veritable tsunami of ocean containers moving through the Port of Los Angeles.

The busiest U.S. maritime trade hub moved 10.3 million container units in 2024, a record 1.7 million TEUs or nearly 20% higher than a year ago.

“That is our second-best year in the 117-year history of the Port of Los Angeles,” said Executive Director Gene Seroka, who spoke at the annual State of the Port event...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/los-angeles-the-busiest-us-container-port-plans-even-bigger-future

U.S. weekly rail volume shows big jump

U.S. rail traffic showed a massive jump for the week ending Jan. 18, 2025, with both carload and intermodal traffic up more than 25% from the same week a year earlier.

Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show overall traffic for the week was 500,160 carloads and intermodal units, a 25.9% increase. That included 216,457 carloads, up 25.1%, and 287,703 containers and trailers, up 26.5%.

While railroad officials have suggested that they are seeing traffic increases as importers...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/u-s-weekly-rail-volume-shows-big-jump

Intermodal strength keeps US rail volume ahead of 2024 levels

Carload traffic was down considerably, but intermodal volume remained strong in the latest report on U.S. weekly rail traffic.

According to the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week ending Jan. 11, 2025, included 465,390 carloads and intermodal units and was up 1.8% from the same week in 2024. That included 199,511 carloads, down 6.4% compared to the corresponding week a year ago, and 265,879 containers and trailers, up 8.9%.

Through two weeks of 2025, the cumulative volume of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/intermodal-strength-keeps-us-rail-volume-ahead-of-2024-levels

BNSF CEO’s talk illustrates value of data in improving service

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The power of data, or more accurately, of well-used data, may not have explicitly been the topic of BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer’s presentation at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting. But it was a recurring theme of several subjects she touched on as part of her keynote address Wednesday on the conference’s first day.

Data played a part in Farmer’s look ahead to BNSF’s Barstow International Gateway intermodal and logistics project; in discussing the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsf-ceos-talk-illustrates-value-of-data-in-improving-service

Tariff uncertainty front and center at MARS conference

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The question of the day, on the first day of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting, is probably one being asked in one form or another at every business in the United States — or that does business with the U.S.

What about tariffs?

The consensus Wednesday was, not surprisingly, that there is no consensus — except that it is simply too soon to know what the promise of widespread tariffs from President-elect Donald Trump will mean, until the specifics become...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tariff-uncertainty-front-and-center-at-mars-conference

Railroads’ dilemma: The good jobs no one knows about

WASHINGTON, D.C. — American railroads are facing an employment crisis in a time of epochal change, urgently looking to attract young jobseekers to replace an aging workforce while competing with other supply chain businesses for scarce talent.

It’s a quandary that was explored Monday during a panel discussion at the Transportation Research Board’s 104th annual meeting. The five-day multimodal conference which hosts hundreds of researchers, academics, and representatives from the public and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-dilemma-the-good-jobs-no-one-knows-about

Weekly US rail traffic continues to gain

Weekly rail traffic in the United States remains up as the year winds down.

Figures for the week ending Dec. 14 saw U.S. railroads move 526,166 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.8% increase over the same week in 2023, according to the Association of American Railroads. Those figures include 228,400 commodity carloads, down 2.4% from the corresponding week a year ago, and 297,766 containers and trailers, up 11.1%.

Among carload gainers, farm products excluding grain and food increased 3.6%, while...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/weekly-us-rail-traffic-continues-to-gain

November container flows a torrent at Port of LA

In a year full of container volume records, the hits just keep on coming for the Port of Los Angeles.

The busiest U.S. container hub saw total volume of 884,315 twenty-foot equivalent units in November — usually a lull period following the peak shipping season — an increase of 16% from November 2023. It was also 15% above the port’s five-year running average for the month of November.

Year to date, the port has processed 9,375,735 TEUs, ahead 19% from the previous year and 5% above the five-year...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/november-container-flows-a-torrent-at-port-of-la

BNSF, J.B. Hunt assist in Wreaths Across America, remembering fallen veterans

To honor fallen veterans during the holidays, a number of companies regularly partner with Wreaths Across America to deliver wreaths for placement on headstones. Among them are BNSF Railway and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.

Wreaths Across America has a mission to “Remember, Honor, and Teach,” and every year since 2007 the organization has coordinated wreath-laying ceremonies at national cemeteries and other locations throughout the 50 states, at sea and abroad.

On Friday in San Bernardino,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsf-j-b-hunt-assist-in-wreaths-across-america-remembering-fallen-veterans

US rail traffic shows weekly gain

After two weeks in which weekly U.S. rail traffic numbers showed major swings because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the latest numbers are back to normal — which is to say, showing a nominal overall increase.

Statistics from the Association of American Railroads for the week ending Dec. 7 show U.S. railroads moved 520,894 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.4% increase from the same week in 2023. That includes 224,899 carloads, down 1.8%, and 295,995 containers and trailers, up 9.7%.

Those figures...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/u-s-rail-traffic-shows-weekly-gain

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