Railroads continue to play a significant role in North America’s economic infrastructure. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, the U.S. rail freight network covers almost 140,000 route miles and is generally considered the largest, safest, and most cost-efficient freight system in the world. In addition, says the FRA, the almost $80 billion rail freight industry creates more than 167,000 jobs across the country.
In essence, rail freight companies charge businesses to carry cargo across their network of rails. Their rates are overseen by the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates financial aspects of surface transportation. Major railroads in North America include Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National Railway.
Keep up with the latest news, trends and reports concerning rail freight transport here!
Patrick Whitehead and Derek Taylor will lead different aspects of CN’s operations as the Canadian railway seeks to make its operations more “innovative” and “modern.”
J.B. Hunt’s overall financial performance in the third quarter was weak, but slight strengthening in intermodal volumes was celebrated.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen wants the Federal Railroad Administration to issue an emergency order prohibiting freight train lengths greater than 7,500 feet.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX are seeking approval from the Surface Transportation Board to acquire some of the assets of short line Meridian & Bigbee Railroad. They plan to beef up an Alabama interchange as part of an effort to create a Mexico-Southeast corridor.
A BNSF coal train derailed at a bridge north of Pueblo, Colorado, spilling coal and rail cars onto Interstate 25 beneath. The highway remains closed for now.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said a new rule calling for passenger trains to have inward- and outward-facing image recording devices should also have applied to freight trains.
The Port of Montreal has received funding from Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund to build a new terminal aimed at boosting the port’s container handling capacity.
Add Kansas to the list of states that require more than one person in the locomotive cab of a freight train.
CN has released its operational plans for the 2023-2024 winter season. But the Canadian railway says new regulations create some uncertainty.
Chicago commuter rail system Metra filed a lawsuit against the Surface Transportation Board over its decision to approve the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
Union Pacific will be offering intermodal service between two cities in Mexico and the U.S. Southeast.
In addition to financial benefits, rail offers shippers a simple, well-established way to ramp up their focus on sustainability and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Higher labor expenses, reduced volumes and regulatory uncertainty were among the third quarter’s headwinds for railroads, according to Susquehanna transportation analyst Bascome Majors.
U.S. intermodal volumes actually grew in September, according to the Association of American Railroads. And with the harvest season in full swing in the fourth quarter, expect rising grain volumes.
The National Transportation Safety Board will focus on CSX’s safety training of railway carmen as the agency continues investigating the death of a carman at a CSX yard in Ohio.
An internal system update caused internet connectivity issues at CN on Tuesday, affecting the Canadian railway’s customer service portal.
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito want the Surface Transportation Board to “move swiftly” on reciprocal switching.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific in federal court over the dismissal of 21 conductors and locomotive engineers who had failed the railroad’s vision test.
NS is examining the root cause of the Friday evening to early Saturday morning outage, which the railroad says was not a result of hacking or related to a previous system outage that occurred in late August.
BNSF and SMART-TD have reached a tentative agreement addressing how BNSF handles work schedules for train conductors and other related union members.
