INRD, CN win ASLRRA Marketing Award

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has honored the Indiana Rail Road Company (INRD) with its 2016 Railroad Marketing Award for INRD’s successful Indiana intermodal service, which INRD operates in partnership with CN.

In 2013, INRD and CN established an all-rail option for trans-Pacific import and export freight moving to Indiana via the Canadian West Coast ports of Prince Rupert, B.C., and Vancouver. Cargo moves by rail in 20- and 40-foot ocean containers in doublestack configuration.

INRD and CN jointly built what they describe as “a modern and user-friendly intermodal hub at INRD’s Senate Avenue Terminal, less than a mile south of Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. The service features a reliable, industry-best 22-day average transit time for cargo moving from key Asian ports such as Shanghai and Busan, South Korea, to Indianapolis; a fast and efficient routing around Chicago; and personalized service at INRD’s Indianapolis terminal.”

“Speed, consistency and aggressive market outreach in the Indiana business community has resulted in a 30% year-over-year volume growth since INRD operated its first intermodal train on July 23, 2013,” the railroad said. “The service has led to job growth in central Indiana, and for the general public, it means thousands of truck trips—which previously used Interstate 65 from Chicago-area intermodal ramps have been diverted to rail, reducing highway congestion and emissions.”

Additional growth is on the horizon, as CN will offer intermodal service from the Port of Mobile, Ala., beginning in mid-2016, and major capacity expansion projects at Prince Rupert and Vancouver will be completed in mid-2017.

INRD President and CEO Peter Mills accepted the award April 6 on behalf of the Indianapolis-based railroad, during the ASLRRA’s annual convention at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Md. “At a time when the soft economy and loss of coal and other bulk commodity traffic has really challenged all railroads, our intermodal service with CN has been a true bright spot and holds great potential for growth,” said Mills. “We appreciate the trust the Indiana business community put in us and CN as we took this from an idea, to a start-up, to a product with real momentum.”

CN Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer JJ Ruest said: “We congratulate Peter Mills and the INRD team for this well-deserved rail industry recognition. CN believes its supply chain collaboration with INRD is helping to make our mutual Indiana import and export customers more competitive in their end markets.”