Dive Brief:
- Norfolk Southern is expanding freight capacity at its Doraville transload facility in Georgia through a partnership with Jaguar Transport Holdings, according to an April 1 press release.
- Jaguar, a transport and logistics company, will handle local switching and operate the facility. It also plans to invest in infrastructure upgrades to support new freight volumes through yard capacity expansion.
- "This deal is completely focused on freight growth, delivering increased capacity, and providing expanded local service in the important metro Atlanta market," Stefan Loeb, VP of business development and first- and final-mile market at Norfolk Southern, said in the release.
Dive Insight:
Norfolk Southern continues to expand its network as it gears up for its proposed end-to-end combination with Union Pacific.
In its latest partnership, the company is focused on generating growth and strengthening first- and final-mile connectivity by working with Jaguar, a company that operates multiple short-line railroads and transload facilities across the U.S., per the release.
The Doraville facility is located near I-285 and I-85, a rail corridor that services multiple businesses in northeast Atlanta through local switching and transload access, per the release. The facility supports rail-adjacent customers and regional shippers that depend on truck-to-rail services.
The partnership with Jaguar comes as Norfolk Southern expects a boost in its intermodal business driven by uncertainty caused by the Iran war. The conflict, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has led to a spike in fuel costs and has quickly become a disruptor for trucking and ocean freight.
These current market conditions have created opportunities for shippers to lean more toward intermodal transport, but shippers should position intermodal “as a strategic component of transportation planning rather than solely a contingency option,” C.H. Robinson said in a March market report.
