Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific have launched their new domestic interline intermodal service linking Louisville, Ky., with UP terminals via interchange at Kansas City, Kan.
GE Appliances is among the anchor customers on the service, which first rolled on Oct. 20, NS said today. The railroads announced the joint service on Sept. 15, roughly six weeks after they announced their proposed $85 billion merger.
“This new service underscores our commitment to helping American manufacturers expand and compete in new markets,” NS Chief Commercial Officer Ed Elkins said in a statement. “Kentucky is a pivotal production and distribution hub, and, if approved, a true coast-to-coast railroad stands to unlock even greater opportunities for growth and connectivity in the years ahead.”
GE Appliances’ Appliance Park campus in Louisville includes five manufacturing plants and serves as the company’s global headquarters. The site contributes $12.8 billion annually to Kentucky’s gross domestic product, supports more than 38,000 jobs, and generates $655 million in state and local taxes. Recent investments include an expansion to bring washer production back to the United States. The expansion will create 800 new full-time jobs.
Norfolk Southern serves the facility with its Appliance Park intermodal terminal. The interline containers ride NS trains 224 and 223.
“The Norfolk Southern Appliance Park domestic intermodal ramp is a strategic gateway for GE Appliances, supporting our continued growth, as well as our newly announced $490 million home laundry investment in Louisville, Ky.,” Adam Wiseman, senior director of logistics responsible for strategy, inventory & deployment at GE Appliances, said in a statement. “This service strengthens our ability to deliver innovation at scale and reach customers faster and more efficiently while also removing trucks from the highway.”
In addition to appliances, the service handles automotive, consumer goods, food and beverage, healthcare, and manufacturing shipments.
The railroads say the service provides shippers access to broader markets, truck-competitive transit times, and logistics expertise across the rail network.
Transit time is three days westbound and two days eastbound between Louisville and Kansas City. From there, UP handles the loads to Los Angeles and Lathrop, Calif.; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; and Houston.
“Our customers want optionality and fast, reliable freight service that allows them to compete and expand into new markets. This new intermodal service gives them a critical transportation tool to win, providing reliable access to western and southern markets, while leveraging Union Pacific’s expanded Kansas City Intermodal Terminal in the Midwest,” Kenny Rocker, UP executive vice president of marketing and sales, said in a statement.
UP opened its new terminal in Kansas City, Kan., in July.
I just looked around the satellite photos of the yard. At the plant, you can see maybe 5% domestic containers and 95% trailers. It looks like the boxcars are few and loaded in enclosed bays, but not a lot are in the yard. At the adjacent NS intermodal terminal, it is 100% ocean containers, likely some type of inbound parts, and no domestic containers.
Perhaps there is some play to make containers flows bi-directional, but if so why not use ocean boxes?
Of course, the real question is why aren’t those trailer moves are being served from a factory that has consistent product shipping all the time.
Perhaps TRRA is responsible for such long transit times, but crossing the river at Hannibal by way of Decatur seems unlikely. Breaking up/consolidating loads to/from western terminals at KC makes more sense than St. Louis. If the merger goes through, UP/NS will own four sevenths of TRRA. Maybe that will speed things up.
Wondering why they don’t service Ft Worth/Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and other terminals between Houston and Los Angles? Not on the same trains but others that originate in Kansas City.
Because UP already covers those cities in their current intermodal format. The purpose of this alliance is to push southeast freight through Louisville, KY to knock time of handoffs to western hubs and ports, and void the KC congestion whenever possible. This will actually make KC more efficient to the points you mention.
Probably because they have to go to Decatur IL to get to kc. Why not exchange in St Louis?
“Transit time is three days westbound and two days eastbound between Louisville and Kansas City.”
Obviously, not being marketed as a fast service. Highway mileage between Louisville and Kansas Cityis just over 500 hundred miles and could be covered in less than half a day.
I’m curious if that’s a typo, and they meant to say Louisville to West Coast is 72HRS.
Braden: Not that TRAINS has never made a typo, but 72 hours from Louisville to the West Coast would be a super ultra priority type train. And since the article is basically about the NS side of the service, I’d still guess that the times indicated in the article are on the segment east of Kansas City.
The 8.5 MPH speed does makes it seem like this all about taking boxcar business from CSX? The entire plant complex has extensive sidings for loading boxcars (yet some seem poorly maintained) but I believe NS has a track into the yard too that could be improved. I would think a Distribution Center could be found in each metro area with a siding if one wanted to use boxcars for what has to be a continuous flow of product. Is the boxcar fleet aging out and must be returned empty anyway along with all the required blocking of product. Are the containers arriving eastbound loaded somehow and that is the play?