New month, new intermodal rail record
Rail freight continues to benefit from tight trucking capacity as spot market demand for highway haulage exploded this month.
Intermodal
CN ramping up capacity
CN is investing C$400 million in new capacity this year, primarily in western Canada and the Edmonton-Chicago corridor. Projects currently in progress include 60 miles of double track, 11 new sidings or siding extensions, and eight yard expansions. All should be completed in November.
Illinois awards $241M to freight projects
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) awarded $241 million to 23 state freight projects on June 5.
Carload traffic moves ahead but trade concerns remain
Freight traffic on U.S. Class I railroads totaled 1,319,420 carloads in May, up 3.2% from the same month a year ago.
Union Pacific marks sustainability progress
Union Pacific (UP) has released its 2017 Building America Report, the railroad’s ninth installment of its yearly sustainability report.
U.S. carloads outrun economic growth
The latest carload report is good news for Class I railroads, but does it indicate coming headwinds for the U.S. economy?
April intermodal mark for Georgia ports
It’s springtime, and that means record container volume is in bloom at the Port of Savannah.
NS joins BiTA
Add Norfolk Southern to the growing list of railroads that have joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance. BiTA, founded in August 2017, is described as “the transportation and logistics industry’s leading trade association for developing standards and education in blockchain technologies, a field focused on the peer-to-peer recording of transactions through use of cryptography and distributed ledgers.”
Bridge to the future over falling water
Norfolk Southern and New York State on May 24 dedicated the new Genesee Arch Bridge on NS’s Southern Tier Line (ex-Conrail, ex-Erie), which spans the 235-foot-deep Genesee River Gorge, known as the “Grand Canyon of the East.”
Near-record intermodal rail volume as trucking rates edge toward historic highs
Railroads continue to benefit from a multiplicity of issues throttling the trucking industry, as tight capacity and higher rates push more traffic to the rails.