In November, U.S. rail traffic “continued to make up lost ground,” with U.S. intermodal volumes at “near record highs” for the second consecutive month, Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported on Dec. 2.
CN is renewing its support of research and education programs at the Centre for Supply Chain Management (SCM) in Waterloo, Ontario, with a C$500,000 donation. It contributed C$500,000 to the Centre, based at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, in 2015.
Canadian Pacific (CP) is building business at the Port of Saint John in New Brunswick with an extension of its service agreement with global liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyld AG, which will begin regular intermodal service via CP from the Atlantic Canada port starting in 2021.
Simmons Machine Tool Corp. has established the Niles Technical Application Center (NTAC) at its manufacturing facility and headquarters in Albany, N.Y., to offer Niles-Simmons machinery to the rail, aerospace, defense and other non-automotive industries in North America.
Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has completed track installation to link the Garden City Terminal’s Chatham and Mason Mega rail yards, which it said boosts on-terminal storage capacity 35% and helps accommodate nearly 10,000-foot-long unit trains for CSX and Norfolk Southern.
CSX announced Nov. 30 it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pan Am Railways, Inc., the 1,800-mile Class II in New England, expanding its reach in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, while adding Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to its existing 23-state network.
Larry Willis, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), died Nov. 29 due to injuries sustained from a Nov. 22 biking accident. He was 53.
Transport Canada has updated the Duty and Rest Period Rules for Railway Operating Employees, placing new limits on duty-period length; increasing the minimum rest period between shifts; and establishing limits on total hours worked per week, month and year.
I have worked in the operating and compliance departments of various short lines for more than 25 years. There have been times that the marketing and sales department has made promises or deals with customers that were unrealistic or even unattainable, but I agree that the need for “Sales Engineers” is vital to the railroad industry.
Total U.S. rail traffic of 534,607 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Nov. 21, 2020, kept pace with the same week last year, rising 2.5%, based on a double-digit intermodal gain, according to a Nov. 25 report from the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Total carloads were down 7.2% to 233,478, compared with the same week in 2019, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was up 11.5% to 301,129 containers and trailers, compared with 2019.
