CN, UP PARTNER ON EXPEDITED NAFTA INTERMODAL SERVICE

CN, UP PARTNER ON EXPEDITED NAFTA INTERMODAL SERVICE    Canadian National Railway and Union Pacific Railroad said Tuesday they will introduce a truck-competitive intermodal service between central Canada, Michigan, Texas and Mexico City.
   The CN-UP intermodal service, scheduled to start Oct. 8, will offer schedules that “are faster than any comparable rail service in this corridor and fully competitive with long-haul single-driver truck transit times,” said E. Hunter Harrison, CN's executive vice president and chief operating officer.
   For instance, Detroit- and Toronto- area shippers will be receive third-morning service to Houston, fourth-morning availability at UP's Port Laredo intermodal facility in Laredo, Texas, and sixth-morning delivery in Mexico City, in cooperation with Mexican railroad Grupo Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM).
   CN will move Montreal, Toronto and Detroit shipments destined for Texas and Mexico south on its network to Memphis for interchange with UP. Union Pacific will then move the traffic to Texas destinations and steel-wheel interchange Mexican shipments to the TFM at Laredo. Northbound    shipments follow a reverse pattern.
   Under the marketing agreement, CN and UP will be able to provide “through” price originating traffic destined to points on either network, which will result in improved pricing response times, the railroads said.