WASHINGTON – Hours after New York Air Brake announced that it had run a heavy freight train with no crew on board, union officials dismissed the test as nothing more than an unrealistic experiment. On Friday morning, the company announced that it had operated a 30-car freight train with its LEADER on-board train control and […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
AAR: Most train traffic dropped the week of Sept. 7 NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sept. 7, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 469,285 carloads and intermodal units, down 6.6% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Sept. 7 were […]
UP eases fees for truckers without intermodal reservations NEWSWIRE
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has reversed itself on charging penalties to truckers for cancellations and no-shows for reserved intermodal slots. The controversial charges were part of the July rollout of UP’s Intermodal Terminal Reservations System. Cancellations of intermodal reservations later than 24 hours before gate cutoff brought a $25 fee; no-shows resulted in a […]
Ask Trains: How do railroads determine which freight cars need repair before continuing their journeys?
A portion of the cameras and sensors aimed at freight trains to detect freight car problems at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colo. These sensors help comprise the most modern methods of freight car inspection. Trains staff Q: How do railroads determine which freight cars need repair before continuing their journeys? — Robert Rose, […]
Ask Trains: What is this freight load?
A photo of a big boxy freight load, likely a wind turbine nacelle. Submitted by Mark Faust Q: Saw a whole CSX Transportation train of these in Sullivan, Ind. What are they? — Mark Faust, Carmel, Ind. A: The photo you submitted resembles a wind turbine gearbox nacelle, and is probably what the train was […]
CN reaches intermodal deals with two Chinese shipping companies NEWSWIRE
MONTREAL — Canadian National has announced ongoing intermodal relationships with two ocean carriers, Evergreen Line and COSCO Shipping. CN and Evergreen’s new intermodal agreement extends a 27-year relationship between the companies and includes Evergreen’s usage of such CN-served ports as Vancouver, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. COSCO has chosen CN as its […]
JB Hunt executive: PSR remains a ‘mixed bag’ NEWSWIRE
BOSTON — Precision Scheduled Railroad remains a “mixed bag” for trucking giant and intermodal pioneer J.B. Hunt, according to Darren Field, the company’s executive vice president for intermodal. “I’m a supporter of PSR as long as we can continue to communicate well with those railroads implementing that plan,” Field told attendees at the recent Cowan […]
Congress to return, attempts to avoid shutdown NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — Congress returns from its long summer recess Monday with just three weeks to hammer out funding and avoid another government shutdown. Absent appropriations, the U.S. Department of Transportation and most other federal branches would largely shutter operations, as they did for 35 days starting last December. While Congress and the White House grabbed headlines […]
The final chapter closes on Toledo’s Hallett Tower NEWSWIRE
A CSX local returning from the “back side” of the former Toledo Terminal passes Hallett Tower in August 2016. Brian Schmidt TOLEDO, Ohio – Watco Companies will close the final chapter on Toledo’s final interlocking tower this week with the transfer of dispatching duties from Hallett Tower to its Pittsburg, Kan., offices. The move, expected […]
Canadian National hits traffic speed bump, but remains confident in long-term growth NEWSWIRE
BOSTON — Canadian National’s traffic is growing more slowly than expected, and with volumes flat in the third quarter it will be difficult to reach its projected mid single-digit percentage increase in revenue ton miles this year, Chief Financial Officer Ghislain Houle says. “The volumes are much weaker than what we expected,” Houle told an […]
Hurricane’s passing enables railroads, ports, to resume certain operations in the Southeast NEWSWIRE
Shut down by Hurricane Dorian since Saturday, Florida East Coast Railway officials say limited operations were to begin today, Sept. 5. Pending the approval from maintenance and signal crews, operations would be underway at the north and south ends of the railroad with full restoration of service expected on Friday. By Wednesday, FEC’s Fort Lauderdale […]
Norfolk Southern begins moving more bulk traffic into merchandise network NEWSWIRE
BOSTON — Norfolk Southern is working to shift some bulk traffic into its merchandise network as a second phase of its Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plan kicks in. The TOP21 plan, which was implemented across the railroad on July 1, reduced the number of through trains by more than 10% as tonnage moves on fewer […]
