BNSF train
The two Western rail giants, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad Co., are positioning themselves to capitalize on a potential bonanza: The conversion of millions of truckloads mostly moving west of the Mississippi to domestic intermodal service.
Omaha, Neb.-based UP estimates that approximately 11 million truckloads shipped within its service territory are candidates for conversion to domestic intermodal service. About 3 million of those move in UP’s 10 primary domestic corridors, according to the railroad. Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF projects that 7 million truckloads in its territory are candidates for conversion. In 2010, BNSF handled between 2.25 and 2.5 million domestic intermodal loads, while UP handles, on average, about 2 million a year.
The Western rails, which like their brethren in the East have been criticized in the past for overstating the reliability of their intermodal service, say they have brought their infrastructure, rolling stock, and terminal capacity up to levels where they can now compete with trucks on most traffic lanes and at lengths-of-haul as short as 700 miles, well under their traditional 1,500- to 2,000-mile movements.
“We have a unique opportunity, and the opportunity is huge,” says Steve Branscum, BNSF’s group vice president, consumer products marketing.