Railroad

The new container cranes will enable the terminal to accommodate multiple ultra-large container vessels simultaneously.

Data can help identify causes of inefficiency and inform better decision-making.

Four Class I railroads have donated funds to support humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine and surrounding areas. Also, U.S. and European rail sector officials form a task force to support Ukrainian freight and passenger rail.

Key speakers announced for The Future of Supply Chain.

Short line operator G&W and Class I railroad BNSF announce their industrial development results for 2021.

BLET and SMART-TD have decided to pursue binding arbitration in front of a third-party board instead of an appeal.

With Wabtec’s help, NS will retrofit locomotives so that they can last 20 more years.

The railcar manufacturer sees elevated scrapping levels and higher leasing rates.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for federal, state and local governments to develop inland ports to improve network flows, say stakeholders.

Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters union agreed to settle a labor dispute through binding arbitration, averting a supply chain crisis.

The shutdown of Canadian Pacific’s rail network is putting additional strain on the supply chain as shipments grind to a halt with backups looming at ports.

Supply chains are at risk after Canadian Pacific shut down its rail service amid a contract battle with the Teamsters.

American Made Chassis, an alliance of LB Steel and Integrated Industries, will build the chassis at an Illinois facility.

The board held a two-day hearing on reciprocal switching to help it determine how it should move forward.

The railway has issued a 72-hour notice to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference that it would lock out its members from working starting Sunday should labor agreement negotiations fail.

J.B. Hunt announced plans to expand its intermodal container count to 150,000 units in efforts “to substantially improve capacity” as part of a joint initiative with BNSF Railway.

CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference are still in talks over a new labor agreement. The union had said earlier this month that a strike could occur as early as Wednesday.

The second-generation carbon calculator helps customers and shippers gauge the carbon emissions their shipments produced.

Calls for the Canadian government to head off a strike at Canadian Pacific are coming from both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.

The North American rail system can learn a lot from the Europeans as both seek to incorporate battery and autonomous technologies into their freight rail networks.

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a two-day hearing on reciprocal switching next week. Here is some background on the issue.

SC Ports has seen record container volumes for 12 months straight.

Congress should fund the Surface Transportation Board, agreed panelists at a U.S. House hearing on the board’s funding reauthorization. But they disagree on what STB’s role should be in regulating the freight railroads.

Ocean liner Zim will include the Port of Boston in a China-Vietnam trade route.

Canadian Pacific is launching an international intermodal service between Mexico and Chicago, while state DOTs and Amtrak say a $31 million federal grant will add to existing passenger rail service and improve freight efficiency.

The cost curve is pointing downward in the production of green hydrogen, according to the head of a company that builds fuel cells.

Union Pacific will test B20 biodiesel and R55 renewable diesel on the locomotives that it acquired from Wabtec. The western U.S. railroad also said it reduced fuel consumption for three years in a row.

The new facility will reduce wait times and port congestion, according to Transport Canada.

The donation will help relief efforts in Poland.

Bill Ackman, Pershing Square founder and CEO, has been acquiring shares of Canadian Pacific, according to SEC filings and news reports.

Amtrak limits Acela and Northeast regional service.

A Norfolk Southern spokesman said Saturday he’s unclear whether two cavers will face trespassing charges after they were rescued early Wednesday in a cave located on railroad property at the base of Lookout Mountain in Tennessee.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is a leader in computer science education; Jonathan Hoffman has expertise in national defense.

The vast majority of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference members working for Canadian Pacific agreed to conduct a work stoppage should negotiations fail.

TRAC Intermodal establishes a partnership with startup incubator ZEBOX; OminiTRAX subsidiary NSR of northern Ohio gets a battery-electric locomotive; and Missouri-based Jaguar starts operations in St. Louis.

Access to interchanges, treatment of American grain shippers compared to Canadian ones and service impacts weigh on shippers’ minds as they evaluate the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

A FreightWaves roundup of oil markets and other supply chain news related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

North American rail equipment manufacturers have customers and offices in the region, and they’re assessing what steps to take next as the situation unfolds.

CN and three other Class I railroads outlined to the Surface Transportation Board conditions that should be met before the board approves a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

The South Atlantic Chassis Pool 3.0, will be ready in October 2023 and will have 60,000 chassis available.

Tekorius has also served as COO and CFO for the railcar manufacturer, among other roles.

Despite a 3% decrease in overall volumes, BNSF’s net income was $1.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Georgia Ports Authority outlined projects that would take container capacity to 9.5 million TEUs by 2025.

A South Carolina company that remanufactured locomotives and provided railcar servicing and repairs filed Chapter 7.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine this week has caused uncertainty not just for the energy markets but also for global agricultural trade.

The railroad says it is taking steps to grow capacity, both on its network and in places where more volumes need to push through, such as Charleston, South Carolina.

A U.S. district court determined that objections by two unions over BNSF’s new attendance standards qualify as being a minor dispute under federal law, meaning that it would be illegal for the unions to strike over the issue.

Eight Chicago-area communities say a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in more freight traffic and an increased likelihood of blocked crossings stemming from longer trains.

The Surface Transportation Board wants more details about the concessions that BNSF and CN are seeking as Canadian Pacific acquires Kansas City Southern.

Five takeaways on the precedent-setting Surface Transportation Board proceeding that could define how U.S. freight railroads navigate requests to expand passenger rail service on freight rail networks.

FreightWaves market expert Mike Baudendistel chats with Harris Ligon, co-founder and CEO of a stealth startup, about how recent growth trends for industrial production in North America will affect rail volumes and equipment availability.

Railcar leasing could be on the upswing for a number of car types, executives for railcar lessor Trinity Industries said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call on Thursday.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share increases 20.4% to $1.18.

Ceres Terminals will lease, operate and modernize the TraPac Jacksonville terminal in a $60 million deal.

The rail district, a public-private partnership with Merced County, will serve agricultural producers in the region.

The company, which seeks to create autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles, will use the funding to support a 29-month advanced testing program of its technology.

The North American railroads engage in cross-border movements too. So why hasn’t the vaccine mandate erupted into protests over cross-border rail operations in the same way trucking has? This AskWaves article explores that question.

A BNSF employee was fatally injured at the Globeville rail yard on Wednesday.

Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is polling members on whether it should call a strike at Canadian Pacific.

The Port of Savannah has seen monthly port records for the past 18 months.

Record earnings per share of $2.48 beat analysts’ estimates.

January marks the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year container records, according to SC Ports.

High scrapping rates and aging fleets provide support for railcar manufacturing as the company anticipates 2022 financial results that won’t be “obscured by restructuring activities.”

Union Pacific CFO Jennifer Hamann talks supply chain labor shortages and the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger at investment firm Stifel’s transportation and logistics conference.

The Canadian government will be working with stakeholders and labor to implement its version of PTC, called enhanced train control.

DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy and the Navy have been collaborating to construct and test what could be North America’s safest railcar — one that would carry nuclear fuel that had been used by power plants.

From executive transitions at Union Pacific and Pacific West to January rail volumes to new offerings in the MoW lessor space, here are some news items rounding out the week.

The seasonally adjusted jobs number for truck transportation has now been more than the previous high level for two consecutive months.

Two rail unions have sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Martin Walsh criticizing the attendance policies of BNSF and other Class I railroads.

“We’re not looking to replace trains. We’re looking to augment trains with a system that is trying to be competitive as an alternative to trucks,” said Matt Soule, co-founder and CEO at Parallel Systems.

TuSimple advances its commercialization timetable for driverless trucking and adds intermodal freight for Union Pacific at the Port of Tucson in Arizona.

Paul Titterton will become president of GATX’s Rail North America division and Scott Pelkey has assumed the role of CFO of CSX.

Railcar orders rose more than 50% in the fourth quarter, according to the Railway Supply Institute.

The investments rely on expectations that customers will want easy or green access to railroads’ intermodal offerings.

UP will examine the locomotives’ performance at its yards and in California and Nebraska and see how the locomotives can be deployed for long-haul service.

Members of BLET and SMART-TD plan to continue pursuing legal action despite a federal judge’s temporary restraining order barring them from striking.

A Mexican government crackdown has shifted volumes of refined products to truck instead of rail. But KCS hopes for that traffic to return to rail, according to executives.

Any concessions that CP would consider as it seeks federal approval to merge with Kansas City Southern must be “reasonable” and grounded in supporting competition, CP said during its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call late Thursday.

NS plans to roll out an operations program that will progress beyond precision scheduled railroading, according to executives speaking on NS’ fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.

Judge Mark T. Pittmann agreed to BNSF’s request calling for a temporary restraining order that would prevent union employees from striking as both sides potentially negotiate over BNSF’s new attendance program.

Canadian railway CN eyes volume growth from vaccine mandates and grain, and it expects higher volumes in the second half of 2022.

Canadian railway CN announced that former Canadian Pacific executive Tracy Robinson will succeed retiring CEO JJ Ruest at the end of February.

The railcar leasing market for 2022 feels more solid than past years, executives said Tuesday during GATX’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.

The Port of Savannah handled a record 5.6 million TEUs in 2021.

The American Chemistry Council chats with FreightWaves about why government leaders should keep transportation issues at the forefront of policymaking, especially in light of anticipated growth in production of chemicals.

Ten unions want a mediator to assist with negotiations for a new labor agreement between the unions and U.S. freight railroads. The railroads agree.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state plans to lend policing and prosecution support to Union Pacific and other victims of cargo theft.

CSX has been hiring more aggressively not only to meet anticipated market demand but to safeguard against COVID-19-related absences, according to executives on its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call Thursday.

UP’s capital expenditures plan for 2022 includes investments to intermodal terminals and intermodal ramps, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call Thursday.

From capital investments to competitive access, issues that CSX has brought before the Surface Transportation Board reflect concerns facing the freight rail industry as a whole.

“We founded Parallel to allow railroads to open new markets, increase infrastructure utilization and improve service to accelerate freight decarbonization,” said Matt Soule, co-founder and CEO at Parallel Systems.

Schneider’s intermodal profits in the first nine months of 2020 were double those of a year earlier.

The western U.S. railroad is asking a district court in Dallas to prevent two rail unions from striking over changes to BNSF’s attendance program, saying a strike would result in significant disruptions.

The railroad wants stricter penalties for those caught stealing from trains.

BLET and SMART-TD say the attendance program is overly restrictive and repudiates numerous collective bargaining agreements in place.

The 10th circuit court of appeals ruled that Oklahoma’s blocked crossing mandate violates the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, ending a court battle that lasted over two years.

CN is asking the Surface Transportation Board to require Canadian Pacific to divest KCS’ Springfield Line in Missouri and Illinois to help ensure competition.

Amit Bose becomes the 15th head of the Federal Railroad Administration.

North American freight railroads can pursue sustainability that not only benefits customers but also the railroads’ bottom line, according to panelists at a Transportation Research Board session.

Rio Tinto is the second Australian mining company that will use Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive in mining operations.