Railroad

BNSF’s third-quarter net income rose 14%, to $1.5 billion, despite supply chain disruptions.

CSX and Norfolk Southern are asking the Surface Transportation Board to deny Amtrak’s request to restore U.S. Gulf Coast service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans unless the passenger railroad agrees to pay for capital improvements to facilitate rail moves.

Congress approves provisions allowing under-21 truck drivers – as well as guidance on truck brokers and freight dispatchers – in a five-year highway bill that is part of a larger $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.

The Canadian railway is purchasing battery-electric freight locomotives from Wabtec and it is testing renewable fuel blends with Progress Rail.

Trinity is selling its highway products business for $375 million in cash.

STB has allowed agri-food shipper Sanimax to proceed in its complaint against Union Pacific over service issues.

Rail technology company Intramotev is developing hardware and software to enable battery-powered railcars to make short-haul movements without a locomotive.

The proposed schedule will provide room for rebuttals and responses, STB said.

The grant from Emissions Reduction Alberta will help CP convert two more locomotives to hydrogen power and add more hydrogen production and fueling facilities.

A private investment firm’s acquisition of a MOW services company, AAR’s environmental nods and Lineage’s new cold storage warehouse round out the rail roundup.

BLET, SMART-TD and Norfolk Southern continue to fight in federal court over the vaccine mandate and NS’ practice of using train engineers as conductors.

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern submit a joint application before the Surface Transportation Board asking to consolidate the two railroads while CN adds a rail and technology expert to its board.

Underneath the supply chain disruptions and the chip shortage are customers that need Wabtec’s components to improve their rail operations, executives said during the third-quarter earnings call.

Inventory restocking and demand for domestic intermodal service will support Hub Group into next year, executives said.

Although macroeconomic factors and lower train speeds support railcar leasing, the growth trend might be choppy as the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions still weigh on the market, Trinity Industries and GATX said during their third-quarter 2021 earnings calls.

Current Chief Operating Officer Lorie Tekorius will be railcar manufacturer Greenbrier’s next CEO in March 2022. Tekorius and others discussed 2022 market headwinds during Greenbrier’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.

The Port of Long Beach is trying to innovate its way out of container gridlock. The latest move is regular shuttle trains to Utah to reduce less efficient truck moves.

Like its Class I peers, Norfolk Southern encountered supply chain disruptions brought on by a lack of workers in dray and warehousing.

The Jacksonville Port Authority handled more than 1.4 million TEUs in its 2021 fiscal year, an all-time annual record, and it says it’s ready to take on more for those wanting “congestion-free” service.

To make room for more containers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, UP and BNSF are offering incentives to ocean carrier customers to move out the containers already there. UP is also temporarily pausing westbound marine container movement to its Long Beach facility.