Dive Brief:
- Canadian National and Norfolk Southern are launching a new intermodal service that connects several markets in Canada with hubs in the central and southeastern U.S. on Oct. 2, according to a news release.
- The joint venture connects several Canadian National-served markets across Canada — including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg — with Norfolk Southern hubs in Kansas City and Atlanta.
- “Designed with customer-centricity top of mind, [the new service] simplifies their processes, enabling smoother rail shipments between Canada, Kansas City, and Atlanta,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
The new service provides shippers in the rapidly growing southeastern U.S. with growing access to several points across Canada, from Montreal in the east to Vancouver’s port in the west.
The railroads will use new intermodal steel wheel interchanges in Detroit and Chicago to seamlessly operate like a single-line intermodal product, which the railroads say could help convince shippers to move truck shipments onto their rail network.
The shift also can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and shippers’ efforts to shrink their overall carbon footprint, the railroads said.
Railroads have been trying to win truck shippers over with bolstered networks and promises of lower emissions and greater customer service.
Canadian National earlier this year teamed with Union Pacific and Ferromex owner Grupo México Transportes to launch the Falcon Premium Service, which allowed the railroads to leverage their networks creating new service routes from Canada to Mexico with a connection in Chicago.
Its newest partnership further enhances its access to U.S. markets, Canadian National President and CEO Tracy Robinson said in the release.
“The reliable, cost-effective, and truck-competitive service will help our customers shift more business onto rail,” she said.
