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CN Celebrates “Nation Builder Award” & 100th Anniversary

CN Celebrates “Nation Builder Award” & 100th Anniversary

Canada’s largest nonprofit supply chain association, SCMA, honored CN this week with the “Nation’s Builder Award” at the SCMA National Conference and Fellow Awards Gala at Le Sheraton Hotel in Montreal. The recognition serves as the first for the leading company, responsible for transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods each year across its 20,000 route-miles throughout Canada and parts of America.

“The 100th anniversary of SCMA served as the catalyst for this award, but the selection of CN was guided by the company’s unrivaled legacy of economic and innovative contributions to building Canada’s supply chain infrastructure,” said Christian Buhagiar, President and CEO, SCMA. “As beautiful as our country is, the variety of terrains and population density pose unique challenges for the safe, secure movement and tracking of goods and raw materials. Without leading edge infrastructure, the integrity of Canada’s supply chains is compromised and Canada’s positioning in global trade is at risk. CN has and continues to provide the investments and leadership needed to ensure that Canada is recognized for having one of the safest supply chains in the world.”

“On behalf of all CN railroaders, I am honoured to have CN recognized with the SCMA’s Nation Builder Award,” said JJ Ruest, President and CEO, CN. “As with SCMA, this year marks our centennial, and while we are proud of the company’s heritage, our focus is on the future of the supply chain and how we can play an active role in moving Canada’s natural resources and our customers’ goods to market safely and efficiently. We are focusing on investing in infrastructure, technology and solutions to increase our role in Canadian supply chain and across our international markets.”

Source: CN

Union Pacific Plans New Texas Rail Yard

Spring, TX – The Union Pacific Railroad has said it will move forward with plans for a new rail yard in Robertson County, Texas, “that will strengthen Texas as a national freight transportation hub, create jobs and deliver significant economic stimulus to the region.”

 

The facility, known as a classification yard, will function by sorting rail cars by destination on separate tracks from inbound trains to make multiple outbound trains. 

Outbound trains will be fueled, inspected by a mechanical crew, and then depart to local and regional destinations.

 

Seven different Union Pacific rail lines converge in Southern Robertson County, connecting the markets of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, the Gulf Coast and the rest of East Texas.

 

Texas “is experiencing exponential population growth, resulting in increased demand for building materials and consumer goods,” the company said. “The Union Pacific’s new rail facility will help meet the region’s growing freight transportation needs while taking over-the-road trucks off the highways.

 

One Union Pacific train can carry the same freight as up to 280 trucks, and, according to EPA data, trains are four times more fuel efficient than trucks.

 

10/07/2014

BNSF, Ferromex Offer New Chicago-Mexico Intermodal Service

Ft. Worth, TX – BNSF Railway and Mexico’s Ferromex (FXE) are offering a new joint intermodal service between Chicago and Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico.

“Mexico is the United States’ third largest trading partner with a yearly trade of just over $500 billion. This translates into 14,000 trucks crossing between our borders on a daily basis,” said Steve Bobb, BNSF executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

“Our partnership with Ferromex to launch this service from Chicago to Silao means that automakers and manufacturers in the US and Mexico will now have direct access to the advantages of intermodal rail in the Bajio region.”

The joint operation, he said, “offers Mexico’s fast growing manufacturing sector in Bajio a simple way to reduce trucking costs and delays.”

Trains carrying intermodal containers will interchange at El Paso, Texas to and from FXE, Mexico’s largest railroad, which will operate the trains between the border crossing and Silao five days a week.

The new service, said the BNSF, offers advantages en route such as lower cost than over-the-road trucking and faster transit times in comparison to a single truck driver; a centrally located intermodal hub within 100 highway miles of the Bajio’s major manufacturing centers of Leon, Irapuato, Celaya, Salamanca, Queretaro and Aguascalientes; and a dedicated customer support team to track shipments from the in-gate in Mexico to out-gate in the US 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

The service “is better at the border when compared to trucking because there is no cross-border trucking across congested highway bridges. Southbound shipments are moved in-bond (which means shipment documentation is handled at the final destination) to minimize Mexico Customs clearance delays,” the railroad said.

Once the shipments arrive in Silao customers can clear their cargo with the customs broker of their choice through Mexico Customs. Northbound shipments are ‘pre-cleared’ by a customs broker of the customer’s choice with US Customs.

06/12/2014