CN

Not to be outdone by rival Canadian Pacific, CN offers to acquire Kansas City Southern for $33.7 billion.

CN beat its previous March record of 2.74 million metric tons set in 2020, moving 2.95 million metric tons last month.

CN is selling its noncore assets in southern Ontario, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin to Watco.

For the 12th consecutive month, CN hauled a record amount of Canadian grain.

Plans to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will likely mean more crude oil volumes being shipped by rail. But how much more will depend on a variety of factors, including oil price spreads, other pipelines, oil storage options and the railroads’ ability to juggle volumes.

U.S. rail volumes rose 5.3% in January as gains for intermodal, chemicals and grain were enough to offset losses for coal and petroleum products, according to AAR data.

CN expressed confidence that it has the network capacity available to handle more volumes in the second half of 2021. But pandemic uncertainties loom in the first quarter.

CN’s fourth-quarter net income was C$1.02 billion amid a 2% increase in revenue and a 5% decrease in operating expenses.

Acquisitions and record Canadian grain loadings round out rail news

CN has partnered with other organizations to develop a plastics resins export facility in Alabama near the Port of Mobile. The facility will open in late 2021.

CN joins other Class I railroads in courting automotive and container shippers in the Upper Midwest through this latest offering.

Major railways are classified as leaders among thousands of companies that disclosed climate information to the CDP this year.

November was a bright spot for U.S. and Canadian grain carloads.

As a major shareholder of CN and CP, TCI Fund Management has submitted proposals for climate action. TCI also requested shareholder votes on climate plans at yearly meetings.

U.S. carload traffic on a weekly basis was 3.1% lower last week on a year-over-year basis and 1.7% higher sequentially.

A railroad from Mexico’s Port of Mazatlan to Winnipeg, Manitoba, would require enhanced container-handling facilities at both sites.

Exports drive Canada grain volumes higher.

Higher rail volumes continue to be a trend in the fourth quarter, but the pace of volume growth could depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic plays out this winter.

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to put pressure on CN’s volumes in the third quarter.

In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, September saw an increase in truck driver drug test failures; TRATON makes a final offer for Navistar; and Waymo pulls back the curtain on its autonomous technology.