Class I railroads

Freight railroads monitor Hurricane Delta’s path in Gulf

A Kansas City Southern train travels past a city.

The U.S. Class I railroads with operations in the Gulf Coast region are preparing for potential service disruptions when Hurricane Delta makes landfall later this week.

“Precautionary actions are being taken to protect infrastructure and rail equipment is being repositioned away from low-lying areas around New Orleans,” Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) said in a Wednesday operations update. “Norfolk Southern is working with customers located in the forecasted region to identify switching needs and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freight-railroads-monitor-hurricane-deltas-path-in-gulf

Surface Transportation Board seeks input on class exemption methods

A photograph of grain hopper cars traveling on some railroad track. There is a mountain range in the distance.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is seeking input on a new approach that looks at how it considers class exemption and revocation issues.

The board’s request came a day before it declared that five of the seven Class I railroads were revenue adequate for 2019.

Shippers for commodities such as forest products and scrap recycling have sought for their exemptions to be lifted so that the STB has greater oversight over them. These shoppers say that lifting the exemptions would give them  access...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/surface-transportation-board-seeks-input-on-class-exemption-methods

Intermodal up but rail carloads down last week

A photograph of intermodal containers parked at a rail yard.

U.S. rail traffic on a weekly basis was mixed for the week that ended last Saturday, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Intermodal volumes were up but carloads were down. The U.S. freight railroads originated 294,144 intermodal containers and trailers last week, a 5.5% increase from the same period in 2019. But carloads were down 10.5% to 224,146 carloads.

Combined, U.S. rail volumes totaled 518,290 carloads and intermodal units, a 2.1% drop from the same period a year ago.

Meanwhi...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/intermodal-up-but-rail-carloads-down-last-week

BNSF names new CEO

A photograph of a BNSF train traveling through a desert landscape.

Privately owned Western railroad BNSF (NYSE: BRK) will have a new president and CEO in January.

Kathryn M. Farmer will take over the roles currently held by Carl R. Ice, who is retiring at the end of 2020 but will remain on BNSF’s board of directors. Farmer’s first day will be Jan. 1.

BNSF is an asset of Berkshire Hathaway, whose chairman and CEO is Warren Buffett.

Farmer’s tenure at BNSF spans 28 years, and she has most recently served as executive vice president of operations, a position she has...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/bnsf-names-new-ceo

Cedar Rapids logistics park on horizon

CRANDIC

Iowa is known for its immense agricultural production, but the state’s newest crop is offering transportation and logistics services to heartland shippers.

Jeff Woods, director of business development for Travero (Photo: Courtesy)

Travero, a longtime Iowa transportation company, has started construction on a logistics park at Cedar Rapids that by this time next year will unite shippers with the nation’s Class I rail network and beyond.

The first phase of the facility will be located on 36 acres...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cedar-rapids-logistics-park-on-horizon

Class I railroads, shippers alike weigh in on federal agencies’ feedback request

A photograph of a train at a highway grade crossing.

An August request from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) asking the Class I railroads to report how they’re addressing service issues amid rising rail volumes got a response from shippers as well.

Shippers seek data for first-mile/last-mile movements

A coalition of shippers is asking the Board and FRA to consider collecting data covering first-mile and last-mile rail movements so that the Board can have a more informed view of rail service.

“Our...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/class-i-railroads-shippers-alike-weigh-in-on-federal-agencies-feedback-request

Class I railroads brace for tropical storms Marco and Laura

A photograph of a Union Pacific train behind a train of tank cars. They are at a rail yard.

Class I railroads with operations along the U.S. Gulf Coast are bracing for potential impacts from tropical storms Marco and Laura.

The timing of the storms’ approach to the Gulf Coast states is packing a one-two punch for area ports and transportation providers. Another concern is flooding as the storms travel northward. Marco is expected to make landfall Monday night, while Laura is forecast to hit on Wednesday and into Thursday. 

“Our command center has been activated to monitor the storms...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/class-i-railroads-brace-for-tropical-storms-marco-and-laura

US Class I railroads closer to fully implementing positive train control

A photograph of a train at a rail yard.

The U.S. operations of the Class I railroads are closer to reaching full compliance with the federal mandate to implement positive train control (PTC) by the end of December, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

FRA’s data tracks how far along freight and passenger railroads are with implementing PTC, a safety technology aimed at reducing accidents because the technologies enable parties to see where trains are located on a network in relation to each other.

The data...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/us-class-i-railroads-closer-to-fully-implementing-positive-train-control

‘Land is plentiful’ for APM Terminals Mobile seaport growth

APM Terminals Mobile wants more companies to see what Alabama’s Gulf Coast has to offer.

It said several major corporations — from Airbus to Amazon, BendPak to Bombardier, Honda to Hyundai — already use the Port of Mobile as a global logistics hub. 

Brian Harold, APM Terminals Mobile’s managing director, said the region has it all — “available land near the port to grow manufacturing and DCs, five Class I railroads for inland supply chains, three interstate highways and a cargo airport near the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/land-is-plentiful-for-apm-terminals-mobile-seaport-growth

June rail traffic sees recovery ‘accelerate’

Covered hoppers passing through rail crossing

U.S. railroads’ total rail traffic was 14.3% lower year-over-year at 1,799,189 originations in the month of June according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total carloads declined 22.4% year-over-year with intermodal container and trailer traffic moving only 6.6% lower.

“June was a month in which the slow recovery process that began in early May, began to accelerate. By the end of June, freight loadings had improved by about 60,000 carload and intermodal units weekly over where...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/june-rail-traffic-sees-recovery-accelerate

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