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!
Shippers want to move more goods via rail, and they will do so once rail service improves. This will ultimately benefit lessors like Trinity Industries, CEO Jean Savage told investors on a recent earnings call.
Canadian Pacific executives on the company’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call discussed precision scheduled railroading, synergies with Kansas City Southern and intermodal strength in the second half of the year.
The Canadian government wants the railways to submit details on how they will maintain equipment when it gets cold in winter as part of a rail safety initiative.
The new rail hub is designed to respond to a growing need to expand domestic intermodal capacity within the greater Seattle region.
Converting two flat switching yards back to hump yards and adjusting train schedules are broader initiatives that aim to serve customers better, Norfolk Southern executives said during the company’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call Wednesday.
In proposing a minimum train crew size of two members, FRA reverses its stance that crew size questions should be left to the railroads and the unions.
Union Pacific on Wednesday enlisted Wabtec to modernize 600 locomotives to improve fuel efficiency, reliability and haulage ability.
Anticipated strength in domestic intermodal and higher grain volumes will support CN in the back half of this year, company executives said during the Canadian railway’s second-quarter 2022 earnings call.
Consumer demand, vessel diversions and efforts to avoid congested West Coast ports drove the Georgia Ports Authority to break its record for annual volumes.
Senators and two U.S. House representatives from Illinois object to the railway merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern as currently proposed, saying the Surface Transportation Board should respond to their constituents’ concerns.
The Surface Transportation Board will conduct a three-day hearing in late September to find out from Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern directly about issues related to the railways’ proposed merger.
Pent-up demand for railcars will support GATX even as rail service clears up.
Consulting firm FTR Associates says the freight transportation markets will find support amid a still-growing manufacturing sector, despite perceived softness in the U.S. economy.
Union Pacific executives said it wasn’t precision scheduled railroading but running the network too tightly that brought on the service issues.
An unanticipated high attrition rate among new hires has affected the pace of CSX’s planned operational recovery, according to executives on the railroad’s second-quarter earnings call.
Kansas City Southern de Mexico will invest nearly $200 million in a railway bypass. The railroad will have exclusive rights to the bypass for 10 more years.
The STB is sifting through hundreds of pages on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.
President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order calling for a three-person board to investigate the issues behind the contract discord between the railroads and unions.
The Canadian government says it will fund infrastructure projects in Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as research into how the railways can respond to climate-induced events.
The Biden administration wants to speed an effort unveiled in March to create a first-time freight data exchange for U.S. container shipments.
