Union Pacific plans to close a car repair facility in Palestine, Texas, which could result in the layoffs of as many as 57 employees.
TuSimple, the first autonomous vehicle software developer to go public, raised $1.1B at $40 per share, above the high-end of its estimated price..
The publicly traded Class I railroads expect rail volumes to improve this year despite severe winter weather curtailing operations in February.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report describes the events leading up to the incident in Vail, Arizona, that killed a Union Pacific employee.
The AAR released climate policy proposals encouraging partnerships and market solutions that promote competition and carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.
U.S. Class I rail operations are seeking to return to normal, with intermodal terminals opening in the central and western U.S. But the overall network is experiencing delays in multiple locations.
UP appoints three employees to new roles within Loup Logistics and the company’s marketing and sales department.
Extreme cold and lots of snow in the Midwest and other areas could impact rail operations and cause delays, according to some railroads.
OmniTRAX sets sights on Sand Springs; advisory group approves Union Pacific’s emission reduction targets.
The Union Pacific employee, who was working in Vail, Arizona, was struck by a rail tamper and fatally injured, according to the railroad and the National Transportation Safety Board.
During a panel discussion, Home Depot and others talk about how to grow freight rail.
Anticipated consumer spending levels, retail restocking and tight truck capacity are among the factors that could support intermodal volumes this year, according to Class I rail execs.
Two FreightWaves SONAR charts illustrate Union Pacific’s views of the West Coast intermodal spot market.
Union Pacific has the network capacity to handle an anticipated rebound in rail volumes in 2021, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
Union Pacific’s net profit was $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, on par with the fourth quarter of 2019.
A federal district court judge in Nebraska determined that it would be illegal for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division to take action against Union Pacific over the railroad’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A change in plans for the Brazos yard in Texas contributed to Union Pacific reaching an operating ratio in the mid-50s.
The U.S. District Court in Nebraska sides with Union Pacific’s request to prevent Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees division from striking over the railroad’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division is considering action against Union Pacific over quarantine pay and “common sense” COVID-19 safeguards.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the freight rail industry needs to reconsider where it places buffer cars on high-hazard flammable trains in order to reduce potential accident severity.
Train lengths, improving network velocity and coronavirus uncertainties are among the big themes expressed by Class I railroad executives at a recent investor conference.
October’s total employment level among the U.S. Class Is was the second lowest for 2020 as railroads implement PSR.
The railroad has opened a new intermodal terminal in Minneapolis, and service to and from Los Angeles will begin in January.
Railroads are leveraging automation and evaluating assets to improve fuel efficiency. Corporate climate goals are on the rise as railroads increase their conservation and emission-reducing efforts.
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.
CSX and Union Pacific executives talk about their companies’ plans to grow the business.
Hub Group sees a strong demand environment continuing as most of its customers are operating with lean inventories. The company expects tight freight fundamentals to create a favorable rate environment in 2021.
UP expects longer and heavier trains in its future as it seeks to take more intermodal market share away from trucks.
Intermodal traffic props up rail volumes and gains for retail sales; CSX, Union Pacific announce new appointments.
Lower fuel prices drove Union Pacific’s operating ratio lower. Meanwhile, third-quarter net profit fell 12% year-over-year.
Although the hurricane isn’t expected to make landfall until later this week, the Class I railroads are preparing now for potential service disruptions.
It is too early to call the intermodal recovery a long-term win for the railroads.
Individuals who allegedly crossed border illegally were reportedly found climbing moving train and locked in grain hopper.
U.S. rail volumes, including intermodal traffic, fell in a week that was shortened by Labor Day.
The wildfires in Washington state aren’t a major threat to BNSF’s Washington operations, but the railroad deployed trains to help area first responders. Union Pacific grappled with wildfires near a Northern California subdivision last week.
A Colorado county has paved the way for the construction of a 620-acre rail-served industrial park in the greater Denver area.
U.S. intermodal traffic continues upward trend; separately, Kansas City Southern reportedly rejects takeover bid.
The railroad didn’t say where the layoffs occurred, but they affect union and management employees across the 23-state network.
Intermodal was supposed to be the growth engine for rail.
A look at the latest campaign spending reports shows that those in the transportation industries are heavily supporting Democratic candidates, but Trump holds a big edge among companies and PACs.
Union Pacific reports serious damage to its tracks near Lake Charles after Hurricane Laura pushed across Louisiana.
The railroad’s California police force will not ask for the immgiration status of those it comes across on its network.
Hub Group’s second-quarter earnings beat was accompanied by the expectation for intermodal volume to increase in the high-single-digit range for the rest of the year.
Incident happened Wednesday morning in Tempe, Arizona.
The western U.S. railroad looks to take more market share away from trucks.
Coronavirus pandemic and economic uncertainty weigh on UP’s second-quarter earnings.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission is preparing to file a complaint against BNSF, Union Pacific and Nebraska Central over blocked highway-rail grade crossings in Grand Island.
With no end in sight to the pandemic in North America, BMWED says railroads should enhance worker safety.
Rail traffic continued to build through June. U.S. intermodal traffic was only off 5% year-over-year in week 26.
Border agents found 48 stowaways attempting to enter the U.S. illegally at rail crossings at the El Paso, Texas, port of entry.
Class 1 railroads reiterate that some measures they took to cut costs because of the coronavirus could become permanent.
With the second half of the year just weeks away, Class I rail executives are eyeing at least some recovery in rail volumes as shelter-in-place restrictions ease.
BNSF and others are monitoring their rail networks as Cristobal moves up the Mississippi River Valley.
The railroad’s deployment of precision scheduled railroading resulted in faster and longer trains and reduced car sorting, according to the company’s recent sustainability report.
Despite U.S. rail traffic remaining sharply lower on a year-over-year basis, rail volumes for commodities such as grain and motor vehicles and parts helped to push volumes higher on a week-to-week basis.
The western U.S. railroad can deploy additional cost reduction measures, but how much cost savings it can realize from those measures will depend on how much rail volumes fall in the second quarter.
Despite lower revenues, the western U.S. railroad saw its first-quarter net income increase as the company trimmed quarterly expenses by 10%.
The railroads say the coronavirus pandemic could influence their financial results in 2020, but how deep that impact will be will depend on how long the pandemic lasts.
Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific each have employees who have contracted the virus, and they and those around them are in self-quarantine.
The three Class I railroads have set or will set targets as part of their involvement in a global initiative.
Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific say they have contingency plans should the coronavirus threaten to disrupt operations.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen wants freight and passenger railroads to temporarily alter their sick leave policies and provide stronger sanitizing materials.
Uncertainty is still an underlying theme facing North American freight railroads.
The transportation of goods and people was transformed when eastern and western rails were connected in 1869.
Union Pacific opens lanes, while Norfolk Southern talks lane opportunities to take market share from trucks.
Quarantines and factory shutdowns could deepen and extend the traditional Chinese New Year trough.
The railroad eyes slight volume growth in 2020 amid plans for longer trains and reduced headcount.
Net income falls in the fourth quarter amid a decline in operating revenue and a decrease in rail volumes.
Los Angeles port signals efficiency gains as the third-largest container alliance plans additional SE Asia stops.
Lower rail volumes, an active Surface Transportation Board and a strike were among the key events that the U.S. and Canadian freight rail industry experienced this year.
The next step is achieving full interoperability with other railroads.
Proposal providing relief for shippers could be rolled out next year.
Several management teams from North America’s largest Class I railroads were on hand to discuss current demand, their networks and the future at the Credit Suisse 7th Annual Industrials Conference.
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) is suing the city of Palestine, Texas, to nullify a 150-year-old contract to keep a certain number of jobs in the town indefinitely. The agreement between Union Pacific and Palestine — which was signed in 1872 — dates back to the days when the city was at the crossroads of several […]
North American Class I carloads increased year-over-year in week 47 on a favorable comp. The prior four-week average remains weak.
The terminal wants to be an alternative for those needing intermodal services to the U.S. West Coast.
Rationalizing additional network assets is still a possibility in 2020.
Now Goldman thinks that ISM data won’t turn positive until Q2 2020.
Carloads on the railroads remained under water in the first week of the fourth quarter 2019. Intermodal weakness will be in the spotlight as third quarter earnings season approaches.
Excerpt: The companies promote and assign new roles to longstanding employees.
Companies file a flurry of lawsuits against the big four U.S. Class I railroads, alleging their fuel surcharge programs violated antitrust laws.
Heading into earnings season, the railroads clearly have a revenue headwind as carloads declined again in the latest week.
Jennifer Hamann will succeed Rob Knight on January 1, 2020.
But a lot depends on stabilizing global growth and an industrial recovery in the United States.
Amazon Air to begin flying at Dallas/Fort Worth regional hub next month
Hub Group believes “soft” intermodal volumes will begin to flatten out and that the 2019 peak shipping season will be similar to that of 2017.
Hub Group sees record earnings despite a “softening demand environment” and “increased truckload and intermodal competition.”
Passenger train proposal asks for comment on freight requirements as well.
“You’ve heard me say this many, many times – we’re not going to use the lack of volume as an excuse not to make aggressive achievements on our productivity,” Union Pacific chief financial officer Rob Knight said.
Union Pacific set an all-time record for its operating ratio in the second quarter despite lower freight volumes and a decline in freight revenue.
Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific are modifying some of the ways they collect demurrage and accessorial charges for some commodities, but some shippers are questioning the modifications.
Union Pacific’s (NYSE: UNP) intermodal rail service saw average speeds sink to a two-year low in the second quarter, with shippers and intermodal marketing companies reporting extensive delays in getting their freight from the railroad. The service hit came during an overall lull for West Coast container imports. And many of the delays were due […]
Maersk’s (Nasdaq OMX: MAER) fight to bring automation to its largest North American marine terminal is getting support from shippers and non-ocean carriers concerned about the impact on the environment and the precedent of government overreach into the future of freight. The world’s biggest shipping line faces a do-over as the Los Angeles Board of […]
Rail volumes were off again for the week ending June 29, 2019 with U.S. railroads reporting a 5.5 percent decline.
Barge grain movements on Mississippi 85 percent lower than a year ago
The legislation comes four years after Washington and California passed laws requiring better preparation for derailments and spills.
Year-to-date U.S. rail volumes fell again amid a loosening truck market, receding floodwaters in the Midwest and overall economic uncertainty.
Flooding impacts, cheap natural gas prices, and trade and economic uncertainty could be factors contributing to a significant slump in weekly U.S. rail volume.
Railroad market expert Jim Blaze writes about the movement of chemicals by rail and how that sub-set of railroad traffic is profitable and may grow significantly in the near future.
“It’s just a confusing time for all of us in transportation and anybody in manufacturing or business in general to have a really good sense of why we’re seeing this kind of softness,” said CSX chief executive officer Jim Foote.
