ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and Florida East Coast have announced further expansion of their international and domestic interline service, with logistics, marine, and energy company Crowley using the two railroads’ Florida Express service to move textile products to and from Charlotte, N.C., for garment and apparel manufacturing.
“We are focused on providing reliable service and generating smart, sustainable growth opportunities for our customers,” Norfolk Southern Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins said in an announcement today (Tuesday, March 5). “This new, two-way transportation solution between Western North Carolina and South Florida accomplishes both goals, and we look forward to helping our domestic and international customers unlock the value of this service.”
Bob Weist, Crowley vice president, North American transportation, said the service will provide “enhanced supply chain efficiency, connecting our growing Central America market with U.S. manufacturing center such as North Carolina. Coupled with our regular ocean transportation service in South Florida, the industry will benefit with even more options to ensure fast, reliable solutions.”
NS and FEC last expanded their joint intermodal services last October, adding service to facilities in Fort Pierce and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to existing service to terminals in Titusville and Miami [see “Norfolk Southern, Florida East Coast to expand …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 28, 2023]. A key feature of the service is the steel-wheel interchange between the two railroads at Jacksonville.
“For us in FEC, reaching additional markets and providing customers with options to ship into the primary markets in Florida is key to our development,” said Luis Hernandez, vice president intermodal. “We are committed to providing a fast, reliable and top of class service into the ports and partnering with Norfolk Southern provides a consistent and most efficient solution.”
