BNSF, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), plans to add rail capacity at its Alliance Intermodal Facility as distribution and warehousing space in the Fort Worth market is anticipated to grow substantially. As part of its previously announced capital spending plans, the largest U.S. railroad said it plans to spend $405 million in Texas this year, compared to $375 million spent in 2018. BNSF said over half of the 2019 funds will go to increasing capacity and train speeds in the state.
Tag Archives: Intermodal/Rail
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 23, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 522,630 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 23 were 256,954 carloads, up 2 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 265,676 containers and trailers, down 3.9 percent compared to 2018.
For the last 10 years, freight railroads and their regulators have emphasized the safety benefits of Positive Train Control (PTC). But with the technology getting closer to being up and running on every freight track mile required by federal mandate, the nation’s big railroads are starting to consider how PTC may help them make better use of their assets.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) late last week released a status update regarding railroads’ self-reported progress toward implementing positive train control (PTC) by 2018’s end. All 41 railroads either met the end-of-2018 statutory deadline for full implementation or submitted requests for an extension up to two additional years by demonstrating they met or exceeded certain criteria for an alternative schedule, such as by installing all wayside systems and training all employees, the status report shows.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 16, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 523,915 carloads and intermodal units, down 3 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 16 were 250,236 carloads, down 3.9 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 273,679 containers and trailers, down 2.1 percent compared to 2018.
Class I’s grew their carloads and intermodal loads in 2018 on a year-over-year basis. Their traffic-building efforts helped U.S. intermodal volume set an annual record for the fifth time in the past six years. The large roads marked a key volume assist from their logistics services, which run the gamut from transloading to warehousing to freight forwarding. Each Class I operates a logistics subsidiary or ancillary services unit, or is affiliated with a logistics service provider.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 9, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 519,779 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 9 were 242,266 carloads, down 3.3 percent compared with the same week in 2018, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 277,513 containers and trailers, up 3.4 percent compared to 2018.
The Port of New York and New Jersey witnessed a record-breaking year as it handled over 7 million TEU in 2018 for the first time in its history.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending February 2, 2019, as well as volumes for January 2019. U.S. railroads originated 1,238,487 carloads in January 2019, up 1.7 percent, or 21,054 carloads, from January 2018. U.S. railroads also originated 1,316,168 containers and trailers in January 2019, up 0.5 percent, or 6,008 units, from the same month last year. Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in January 2019 were 2,554,655, up 1.1 percent, or 27,062 carloads and intermodal units from January 2018.
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has identified nearly $4 billion in “crucial” port and supply chain security needs over the next decade, according to a new report. In the fourth edition of its “The State of Freight” report, the AAPA recommends refocusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Port Security Grant Program to “better meet the security infrastructure needs of publicly owned commercial seaports and related maritime operations,” AAPA officials said in a press release.