Revving It Up in the Motor City

(Courtesy of NS)

Rail is critical to transporting our nation’s automotive supply chain. As the largest originating shipper of light vehicles in America, Norfolk Southern (NS) is preparing for sustained growth in electric vehicle (EV) production. This includes strategic adjustments to support the coming increase in transporting these auto parts and finished vehicles. A team of NS leaders recently visited its Great Lakes Division to home in on its automotive and intermodal customers’ supply chain needs.

In Great Lakes Division, NS ships finished vehicles and an array of auto parts to/from 19 markets on the East Coast. That is in addition to everything that traverses our network through to our western rail counterparts and markets.

Rail Furthers EV Sustainability

Rail can play a critical role in building on the emissions savings of EV’s. Compared to truck, shipping with NS saved 1,027,660 million metric tons of carbon emissions in Michigan last year; this equates to 813,422 trucks removed from the highway.

Infrastructure to Support EV Growth

Across markets over the last ten years, the NS Industrial Development team has helped its economic development partners in the region to attract new business and expand existing business. Many of the projects over the last decade have been linked to the automotive industry. 

To expand distribution of Dodge Durango’s, NS worked with Stellantis to expand railcar loading capacity for at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant. We are also supporting expanded vehicle production at their Mack Avenue Assembly Plant that manufactures the Jeep Grand Cherokee. And nearby, NS has collaborated with General Motors on rail infrastructure as the retrofit their “Factory Zero” Assembly Plant.

Opportunities for Auto Part Delivery

NS is also preparing for an increase in intermodal traffic from manufactured auto parts. Key will be solidifying plans to upgrade, expand and electrify the Livernois Intermodal Facility. In support, the 2023 Michigan Rail Enhancement Fund awarded the company $5 million. This is the first step in a multiphase project. The project could convert a rail yard that is currently a flat facility to a stacked operation. This includes new overhead gantry cranes, additional pad tracks and paving to accommodate more intermodal containers. By stacking, NS will handle anticipated volume growth on a smaller footprint.

This article first appeared on the Story Yard section of the NS website.

Separately, during its second-quarter 2023 financial report, the Class I pointed out that of the more than $70 billion in announced investment for battery supply chains in North America in the past 18 months, nearly one-third will be located on the NS network, including the recent $3 billion for the GM/Samsung plant on NS in Indiana.