OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has launched intermodal service linking Mexico with points in the Southeast via Memphis.
“In tandem with our diverse customer base, including our private asset and rail container channel partners, this new service introduces the largest influx of intermodal capacity for the Southeastern U.S. market out of Mexico,” UP said in a customer advisory on Wednesday. “It also reinforces Union Pacific’s steadfast commitment to serving Mexico markets, helps take trucks off congested highways, and offers customers a complete transportation solution for business traversing this key trade corridor.”
The new UP service will have a head start on cross-border service that Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX Transportation say they’ll begin late next year, assuming Surface Transportation Board approval of their plan to acquire and upgrade Genesee & Wyoming short line Meridian & Bigbee. The Meridian & Bigbee will serve as a link between CPKC’s Meridian Speedway at Meridian, Miss., and CSX’s Montgomery, Ala., hub.
UP says its domestic cross-border intermodal service will connect rapidly growing industrial markets of Mexico with areas of high consumer demand in the Southeast U.S.
The traffic originates on Ferromex at Monterrey and Silao and moves via the Eagle Pass, Texas, gateway. From there UP hauls the traffic to Memphis, where the containers are rubber-tired to the CSX and Norfolk Southern intermodal terminals.
UP arranges the dray move between terminals unless the customer specifies otherwise. The service is offered under a through rate that makes the moves seamless for the customer, railroad spokeswoman Robynn Tysver says.
Once volume reaches critical mass, UP will shift to steel wheel interchange with CSX and NS. “Opening it up rubber tire initially enables us to reach more markets faster and allows us to partner with both CSX and NS,” Tysver says.
Destinations on CSX include Jacksonville, Fla., and Winter Haven, Fla.
Points served by NS include Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; and Jacksonville. Via Florida East Coast, the service also will reach Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Miami, and Titusville, Fla.
CSX is a partner in the UMAX container pool with UP, while NS and UP are partners in the EMP container pool.
Note: Updated at 11:40 a.m. Central with comment from Union Pacific.
What a joke, switching to trucks for any meaningful portion of the trip is horrendous.
Two thoughts: UP will find a way to drag the M&B sale on forever. 2nd : route it thru Shreveport-Atlanta for shorter mileage. Yes, I know KCS has ownership share of the route but that didn’t stop UP from using it in the past.
Interesting that the southern most connection is at Silao. There is a huge GM pickup truck assembly plant there, which as far as I know currently sends trucks to the US via El Paso.
Curiously, the UP press release failed to mention total (improved??) transit times for this service.
Still to new to know…
Sergent Yard (nee:MPRR) in Memphis , is not that far, distance wise, from NS’s (nee:SOU Rwy) Forrest Yard….CSX (nee: L&N, NC&StL) is a cross town, (problematic, traffic congestion, and time-wise (?)
Unless they have made massive improvements, NS did not seem to have optimal transfer capacity. It will be interesting, to see how this will work out….
I still don’t see why unloading the trailer from a flatcar, driving it across town, and loading it on a different flatcar is faster or cheaper.
Unless the Class 1’s have made interchange so slow and expensive that it now really does cost more and take more time.
Is this an effort by UP to grab some traffic that would other wise go elsewhere? The CPAK – CSX interchange by way of Meridian – Montgomery is still to be approved by the STB. UP appears to hopefully grab that traffic in the future maybe by way of a long-term contract?
BTW have not hear anything lately about the CPAK – CSX takeover of the M&B thru traffic.
Why do you keep referring to CPAK? What does that stand for? Or is that french for CPkc? Please explain…
I agree. Why rubber tire?
Because it gets them going NOW. It can go steel wheel if the customer request it (as a cost) and as the article stated, that is the intended service. But for this to get up and running to get this most direct route now of any railroad, this is the initial method of choice of UP, NS and CSX
UP builds trains exceeding 8,500 feet for this service; CPKC imposed an 8,500-foot train length limit for the shorter Meridian line (joint NS-CPKC) route, hence UP is sending the traffic via Memphis….at Memphis, why can’t UP just interchange CSX the cars (or use a shared power agreement) instead of using trucks to move the individual containers between railroad cars?
Why the Memphis gateway. That is a very round about way of serving this market. Going through Memphis adds more than 400 miles each way and close to a day transit time via CSX or 225 miles each way via NS if your destination is Jacksonville or Miami.Going through New Orleans would be a lot shorter.
Can see it now. Next service lane from Mexico to the southeast will be via St. Louis or Chicago.
The Memphis gateway implies traffic will move on existing intermodal trains. Too bad interchange will be “rubber tire.”
Just temporarily.