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!
CSX Transportation’s former Clinchfield Railroad mainline has seen devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene’s once-in-a-generation flood.
Anne Reinke is leaving the Transportation Intermediaries Association to head the Intermodal Association of North America, and Chris Burroughs, already a VP at TIA, will fill her slot.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su sent a letter Wednesday urging CEOs of three Class I freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave for all their employees.
The basic per diem rate allowed by the IRS for payments to transportation workers is rising by $11 in fiscal year 2025.
As BNSF Railway, CSX and Norfolk Southern continue to sign tentative contract agreements with their labor unions well in advance of the start of national negotiations, one U.S. Class I railroad has been conspicuously absent: Union Pacific.
U.S. railroads see the highest weekly intermodal traffic since the pandemic, and ongoing supply chain issues could aid further gains as a threatened longshore strike creeps closer.
Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan increases rail capacity by 250 cars and adds hundreds of feet of new dock for expanded all-water cargoes.
Internal email reveals $105 million in maintenance cutbacks at BNSF that could lead to service disruptions.
Norfolk Southern, which has struggled to maintain consistent and reliable service in recent years, will no longer tolerate mediocre operational performance, new CEO Mark George says.
German railway Deutsche Bahn is selling its Schenker logistics unit to DSV of Denmark in a deal that will create the world’s largest forwarder.
Norfolk Southern in a filing detailed salary and stock awards that signal it expects Mark George to be a long-term chief executive.
Schenker has been sold, but not to the U.S. private equity group vying for control of the German logistics provider. Transport provider DSV of Denmark has emerged as the winning bidder, Reuters reported, in a deal worth 14 billion euros ($15.43 billion). A consortium of private investors led by CVC Capital Partners of New York […]
Ancora placed a few of its people on the Norfolk Southern board in May, and that likely led to CEO Shaw’s ouster.
New bills in both the Senate and House of Representatives would upgrade the 45G tax credit for inflation and expand trackage covered under the program.
Norfolk Southern on Wednesday terminated the contracts of embattled CEO Alan Shaw and the railroad’s chief legal officer, Nabanita Nag, for having a consensual relationship in violation of company policy.
Regulators may consider more oversight as a way to improve rail volumes.
The Montreal Port Authority is spending more than $42 million to restore and upgrade the Pie-IX rail bridge, a project that will also help a port-based sugar refiner boost capacity.
The Norfolk Southern board of directors is investigating allegations that CEO Alan Shaw had an inappropriate workplace relationship.
U.S. rail traffic has seen its third consecutive week of increases of 8% or more.
In a lawsuit dating back to 2018, CSX accused rival Norfolk Southern of jacking up rates for dockside access to the East Coast container gateway.
