<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Through its 94-year history, the National Industrial Transportation League has prided itself on bein</div>

Through its 94-year history, the National Industrial Transportation League has prided itself on bein

<div>Through its 94-year history, the National Industrial Transportation League has prided itself on being 'the shipper's voice.' Many NIT League members remain hard-driving negotiators who view carriers as adversaries and are willing to battle with them over a $10-a-ton surcharge. But times change, and this month the NIT League announced it was considering something that once was unthinkable -- admitting carriers and intermediaries to its ranks.Carriers? In the NIT League? That's right. The league, which has long been known as the organization that represents shippers on Capitol Hill, is considering a proposal by its executive board to allow railroads, airlines,...

Through its 94-year history, the National Industrial Transportation League has prided itself on being 'the shipper's voice.' Many NIT League members remain hard-driving negotiators who view carriers as adversaries and are willing to battle with them over a $10-a-ton surcharge. But times change, and this month the NIT League announced it was considering something that once was unthinkable -- admitting carriers and intermediaries to its ranks. Carriers? In the NIT League? That's right. The league, which has long been known as the organization that represents shippers on Capitol Hill, is considering a proposal by its executive board to allow railroads, airlines, trucking companies, ocean carriers and third-party intermediaries to become full members.It's not clear whether league members will approve the proposal, but the mere fact it's being suggested marks a watershed, and a reflection of changes in the way companies view transportation and logistics. Though many shippers still hold traditional adversarial attitudes toward carriers, there's been a trend in recent years toward cooperation and collaboration with carriers. This attitude has been encouraged by league-supported deregulation of the rail and trucking industries in 1980 and the confidential-contracting provisions of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998. All of these legislative changes promoted shipper-carrier contracting and reduced the role of tariffs. Meanwhile, as logistics thinking has evolved, companies have begun to emphasize partnerships with service providers -- including carriers and intermediaries. And lobbyists say Congress increasingly wants an industry consensus on complicated business issues such as those involving transportation and logistics. 'Now is not a we-vs.-them environment. It is us trying to improve the transportation environment, and we can do that best where we are together,' said Van L. Hayes Jr., the NIT League's chairman. Hayes, manager of transportation and support services for Vulcan Materials Co. in Birmingham, Ala., also is chairman of the league's executive committee. Hayes said the committee proposed to expand the league membership 'to include any company or organization that is in the business of shipping, receiving, transporting or facilitating the movement of freight.' A new membership category also would be created for academics and other individuals. One goal of the committee would be to reverse a decline in league membership. Mostly because of mergers and acquisitions, league membership has slipped to 735 from 800 in the last year. The league was founded in 1907 by 35 'traffic men' in Chicago. About half of the charter members were big industrial companies of the time -- names like International Harvester, Ball Brothers Glass, Westinghouse Electric and Carnegie Steel, a predecessor to today's USX. Other members were chambers of commerce and boards of trade. The group was formed largely in reaction to the Interstate Commerce Commission, an agency that was created to look after shippers' interests but later came to be viewed by shippers as a captive of the carriers it regulated. Known until 1982 as the National Industrial Traffic League, the organization was focused almost exclusively on domestic surface transportation until Edward Emmett, a former ICC chairman, was named league president in 1992. Emmett soon plunged into a drive to enact what eventually became OSRA, which allowed confidential contracts between shippers and ocean carriers. OSRA's passage followed a compromise between the league and key carriers who agreed to support the stalled legislation. Emmett noted that Congress is reluctant to address detailed business issues that lack an industry consensus. 'When we go to the Hill or to some agency to talk about an issue, the very first question we are asked is, 'Could you work that out with the other interested parties' ' he said. 'It is always better to be able to collaborate and come up with a solution that benefits the entire industry.' Emmett noted that the lines between shippers and carriers have become blurred. He cited United Parcel Service, which is both a carrier and one of the largest customers of U.S. railroads. Emmett said the proposal to admit carriers and intermediaries as full members would be 'tremendously beneficial' for most issues that the league addresses. He added, 'There will be a number of issues where we are never going to be able to get together, but we just have to recognize that.' In recent years, the NIT League has gone beyond its traditional focus on rail and truck transportation and has become more involved in international issues. It joined the European Shippers Council and Japanese Shippers Council in forming the Tripartite Group of shipper organizations, which now includes other national shipper organizations. The league also has expanded its cooperation with carriers. This fall it agreed to work with the World Shipping Council, which represents container ship operators, to seek a new international treaty on ocean cargo liability. The World Shipping Council and other carrier industry groups are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the NIT League's proposed admission of carriers. Tom White, spokesman for the Association of American Railroads, said the AAR 'certainly has no problem' with the idea. 'Anything that promotes dialogue between carriers and shippers is a good thing,' he said. Not all league members are sold on the idea of allowing carriers as full members. 'It's a big step and a scary step to me,' said Paul F. Paulsen III, national transportation manager for Levi Strauss & Co. in Henderson, Nev. 'There are not a lot of shipper voices. There are a lot of carrier voices.' Opposition appears strongest among shippers who deal with railroads, a transportation mode with which shippers still have unfinished regulatory business. The league has strongly criticized railroads for merger-related service failures, and has sought more protection for 'captive' shippers who depend on a single railroad. Wrennie Love, manager of rail commercial at the chemicals division of Celanese, questioned whether the league should 'let the fox in the henhouse.' He said rail competition remains a problem -- three of his company's plants are served by a single railroad. One shipper at the NIT League's conference this month in Charlotte, N.C., suggested that if railroads are admitted as members, rail shippers might defect to another industry organization. Vulcan's Hayes, whose company's cargoes of construction aggregates move entirely by rail, said he thinks that's a minority view. 'The adversarial part has pretty much disappeared when we are talking about ocean carriers, truck lines and airlines,' Hayes said. 'There are a lot of strong feelings in our organization about the railroads. But railroads represent a minor percentage, something like 250f the freight. So if 750f us can move forward working together, we need to do that. We now have carriers as associate members, we now have intermediaries as associate members. We have reached the point where we think that it's time for all parties involved in physical distribution in any shape, form or fashion to be members of the NIT League,' he said. Hayes said he doesn't think the change in membership would prevent the NIT League from continuing to speak for shippers. The revised membership rules would not prevent the NIT League from tackling issues on which carriers and shippers disagree, Hayes said. Any disagreement between carriers and shippers would be submitted to a membership vote 'and the majority will rule,' he said. The executive committee had initially planned for the league's 67-member board to decide on the proposal at the league's annual meeting in Charlotte. Instead, the board decided to study the proposal and decide within 90 days whether to submit the question to the full membership. The proposal 'is a significant one,' said Steve Hawks, owner of Hawks Logistics Inc., in Edmond, Okla. 'The people who founded the league are probably rolling over in their graves. On the other side of the coin, there needs to be some unified sense of the transportation industry taken to the government -- someplace where the issues are thought out.' 'We get things done by working collaboratively,' said Michael J. Barr, associate director, global cross border organization, at Procter and Gamble. 'It really was evident in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. I think it can be that way in rail, too. It is going to take some work to get there, and it is going to take some trust.' 'I'm absolutely in favor of it,' said Curt Warfel, manager of customer service and logistics of Eka Chemicals in Columbia, Mo. 'We are still going to have things that we disagree about, like private car rail charges. But it might lessen some of the acrimony if we had them at the same table.' But Michael Berzon, a maritime consultant and former manager of international transportation procurement at DuPont, said an adversarial relationship sometimes is necessary and healthy. 'From time to time,' he said, 'you need to talk to agencies and congressional staffers as a group opposing another group.'

Transport, Trade and Regulation News

CROSSROADS FOR NIT LEAGUE

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">XPO and other LTL carriers say contract rates are rising by mid-single digits even though industrial demand remains soft, albeit with some bullish indicators apparent. </div>

XPO and other LTL carriers say contract rates are rising by mid-single digits even though industrial demand remains soft, albeit with some bullish indicators apparent.

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<div class="phx-topic">US less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing is rising faster than demand, with large publicly owned carriers reporting contractual rate gains in the mid-single-digit range year over year. The stage is being set for further increases in LTL costs when industrial demand really kicks into higher gear, whether that’s in the second or third quarter or as late as 2027. At XPO, the fourth-largest US LTL provider, rates included in contract renewals rose by mid- to high single-digit percentages in the first quarter, the company said Thursday. Average shipments per day rose 3% year over year to 49,834, though tonnage was flat. Q1 yield, or revenue per hundredweight, in part a measure of pricing, was up 4% year over year, excluding fuel surcharges. Including fuel, yield was up 5.3% from a year ago. “We had a strong quarter of pricing performance,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts. In the second quarter, “we see an increasingly constructive environment that will drive pricing in the future,” Harik said. That environment includes a US producer price index (PPI) for long-distance LTL that is hitting a record high. The all-inclusive LTL PPI rose 7.2% year over year in March to 278, up from its previous high of 259 in June 2022. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="8afcfdff-15ff-4ec3-8c50-af1aba47062e"></dynamic-object></div>In addition to XPO, national carrier Saia said contract renewal rates rose 6.7% year over year in the first quarter, and 7% in March. Knight-Swift Transportation reported LTL contract renewals in the mid-single digit range, while price increases at ArcBest averaged 6%. Several converging factors support LTL price increases. Harik cited new customers, new markets, an expansion of premium services, and improvements in service. “We reduced our damage claims ratio below 0.2% with damages at a record low,” Harik said of the first quarter. “This is the service metric that matters most to LTL customers.” <h3>New shippers, new markets </h3>That service metric translates into higher pricing, Harik told the Journal of Commerce Thursday. And add to that an increase in premium services that comes with a higher price. In an interview, Harik said XPO is also pursuing business in markets beyond the traditional industrial sector, including the healthcare and food and grocery businesses. ”Today we have a low single-digit market share in grocery, but in the first quarter we tripled our number of grocery customers on a year-over-year basis,” he said. Although industrial freight represents the lion’s share of LTL business, it’s not the fastest-growing segment. While purchasing manager’s indexes (PMIs) have been positive in 2026, “we’re not seeing a meaningful increase” in industrial freight, Harik said. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="16105334-c54a-4d51-9403-6d5bac8369c4"></dynamic-object></div>That doesn’t mean no increase. “Chemicals are doing well, agricultural equipment is doing well, and automotive is starting to build some sea legs,” Harik said. “Other [manufacturing] sectors are not decelerating anymore.” Other carriers are following similar playbooks. FedEx Freight, the largest US LTL provider by revenue and shipments, is chasing <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/fedex-freight-plans-diversification-as-spin-off-date-approaches-6201281">more non-industrial freight</a>, specifically data center, healthcare, energy, and grocery loads, the company said earlier this month. Saia is also expanding in grocery and data center markets. When growth in core industrial markets is slow, carriers naturally look elsewhere for additional opportunities. Still, there are signals that industrial freight demand is set to increase. Beyond the improvement in manufacturing PMIs, LTL weight per shipment has been rising, albeit slowly and unevenly, with some carriers seeing more gain than others. ”In April, our weight per shipment is up on a year-over-year basis, a little over 1%,” Adam Satterfield, CFO of Old Dominion Freight Line, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/odfl-sees-signs-of-growing-ltl-demand-in-sequential-volume-gain-6211522">said Wednesday</a>. “That’s usually a leading indicator of an improving demand environment.” Contact William B. Cassidy at <a href="mailto:bill.cassidy@spglobal.com">bill.cassidy@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

US less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing is rising faster than demand, with large publicly owned carriers reporting contractual rate gains in the mid-single-digit range year over year. The stage is being set for further increases in LTL costs when industrial demand really kicks into higher gear, whether that’s in the second or third quarter or as late as 2027. At XPO, the fourth-largest US LTL provider, rates included in contract renewals rose by mid- to high single-digit percentages in the first quarter, the company said Thursday. Average shipments per day rose 3% year over year to 49,834, though tonnage was flat. Q1 yield, or revenue per hundredweight, in part a measure of pricing, was up 4% year over year, excluding fuel surcharges. Including fuel, yield was up 5.3% from a year ago. “We had a strong quarter of pricing performance,” XPO CEO Mario Harik said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts. In the second quarter, “we see an increasingly constructive environment that will drive pricing in the future,” Harik said. That environment includes a US producer price index (PPI) for long-distance LTL that is hitting a record high. The all-inclusive LTL PPI rose 7.2% year over year in March to 278, up from its previous high of 259 in June 2022. In addition to XPO, national carrier Saia said contract renewal rates rose 6.7% year over year in the first quarter, and 7% in March. Knight-Swift Transportation reported LTL contract renewals in the mid-single digit range, while price increases at ArcBest averaged 6%. Several converging factors support LTL price increases. Harik cited new customers, new markets, an expansion of premium services, and improvements in service. “We reduced our damage claims ratio below 0.2% with damages at a record low,” Harik said of the first quarter. “This is the service metric that matters most to LTL customers.” New shippers, new markets That service metric translates into higher pricing, Harik told the Journal of Commerce Thursday. And add to that an increase in premium services that comes with a higher price. In an interview, Harik said XPO is also pursuing business in markets beyond the traditional industrial sector, including the healthcare and food and grocery businesses. ”Today we have a low single-digit market share in grocery, but in the first quarter we tripled our number of grocery customers on a year-over-year basis,” he said. Although industrial freight represents the lion’s share of LTL business, it’s not the fastest-growing segment. While purchasing manager’s indexes (PMIs) have been positive in 2026, “we’re not seeing a meaningful increase” in industrial freight, Harik said. That doesn’t mean no increase. “Chemicals are doing well, agricultural equipment is doing well, and automotive is starting to build some sea legs,” Harik said. “Other [manufacturing] sectors are not decelerating anymore.” Other carriers are following similar playbooks. FedEx Freight, the largest US LTL provider by revenue and shipments, is chasing more non-industrial freight , specifically data center, healthcare, energy, and grocery loads, the company said earlier this month. Saia is also expanding in grocery and data center markets. When growth in core industrial markets is slow, carriers naturally look elsewhere for additional opportunities. Still, there are signals that industrial freight demand is set to increase. Beyond the improvement in manufacturing PMIs, LTL weight per shipment has been rising, albeit slowly and unevenly, with some carriers seeing more gain than others. ”In April, our weight per shipment is up on a year-over-year basis, a little over 1%,” Adam Satterfield, CFO of Old Dominion Freight Line, said Wednesday . “That’s usually a leading indicator of an improving demand environment.” Contact William B. Cassidy at bill.cassidy@spglobal.com .

Trucking News

Surface

US LTL pricing rising ahead of industrial demand: XPO

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The STB now has 30 days to decide whether the application is complete; a formal review by the regulator would likely stretch for more than a year and include public hearings.</div>

The STB now has 30 days to decide whether the application is complete; a formal review by the regulator would likely stretch for more than a year and include public hearings.

<div class="phx-topic">Union Pacific (UP) on Thursday refiled its formal application to acquire Norfolk Southern (NS) with US regulators on Thursday, arguing that additional analysis shows the merger would take more freight moves off highways than originally thought. The updated application to the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) calls for 2.1 million truck moves converted to rail, including 1.2 million truckload-to-intermodal conversions. That’s up from 2 million and 1.17 million, respectively, in the original application filed last December that the STB <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/stb-rejects-up-ns-merger-application-as-incomplete-6154074">rejected as “incomplete” in mid-January</a>. UP also revised the number of long-haul drays eliminated annually to 70,000 moves compared with 67,000 in the first application. The eliminated drays would primarily come between Chicago to Ohio and Michigan, and Memphis to Alabama. The revised estimates were made possible because UP received access to other Class I volume data that was not available when it submitted the prior application. The STB now has 30 days to decide whether the application is complete. If the new filing passes that threshold, the formal review by the regulator would likely stretch for more than a year and include public hearings. “I have personally witnessed the benefits to Canada of two transcontinental [freight] railroads,” UP CEO Jim Vena wrote in the new application. “American industry deserves an equally efficient supply chain within its own borders.” Vena also argued that unified rail systems in China, India and Mexico have supported economic growth. He said the merger would save shippers $3.5 billion annually across all commodity groups. For intermodal customers, UP is promising faster service, new long-haul lanes and a slightly larger shift of freight off the highway. But the revised filing also puts more weight on the question regulators and shippers will care about most: Can the network handle that growth without sacrificing reliability? And will the UP-NS combination enhance competition in a way that’s not achievable through better cooperation between railroads? <h3>New and updated routes </h3>The most significant addition for intermodal customers is a new expedited Northern California-to-Southeast service that was not included in the UP’s December filing. The proposed lane would begin in Lathrop, east of Oakland, move through St. Louis and terminate in Charlotte. UP said the service would take 109 hours from origin to destination, versus 108 hours by truck. Containers moving to Atlanta and Jacksonville would connect to a second train in Charlotte for the final leg. The revised filing also addresses the Meridian Speedway, the nearly 300-mile corridor across Louisiana and Mississippi that remains a flashpoint between UP-NS and majority owner Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). In the December filing, UP said it would run 11,000-foot trains over Meridian. But CPKC, which controls traffic on the route, limits train length to 8,500 feet. In the revised filing, UP lowered its average train-length assumption to 9,000 feet and added a provision to split trains as volume grows. The filing also leaves unresolved whether the merged railroad could deliver the projected growth over the Meridian Speedway, as CPKC, not UP-NS, controls all train movements. If trains must be broken into blocks, transit times lengthen and the risk of delay increases. Nevertheless, the service will still likely be faster than the BNSF Railway-CSX Transportation alternative because the length of haul through the Meridian Speedway is much shorter by distance. There were no changes to how the Meridian Speedway trains would impact domestic intermodal shippers between Los Angeles and Memphis. UP would still remove 191 containers per day from a train in Greggton, Texas, and place them onto a second train to Memphis. The route would be one of the few examples where a combined railroad would create additional work post-merger, rather than eliminate it, for intermodal customers. It is one of the clearest examples of the merger’s mixed intermodal effect: new conversion opportunities in some lanes, but more complexity and more service risk in others. Other intermodal services in the prior application remain unchanged. UP-NS would add trains from Southern California to New Jersey via Kansas City, bypassing Chicago. The application also keeps proposed services from Lathrop to New Jersey, from Southern California to Detroit, from Laredo to New Jersey, and from Houston to Atlanta. <h3>Trimming capital expenditures </h3>The revised application, however, trims the capital expenditures that UP would lay out to keep the network fluid. The December filing called for more than $1 billion in capital spending on signals, track, sidings and terminals to absorb growth without hurting service. The new filing cuts that sum to $923.3 million, which could raise the prospect of pushback during the public hearings about why UP decided to cut back on infrastructure spending. One of the biggest reductions is at UP’s Houston intermodal terminal. In December, UP said it would add 1,045 parking stalls, two new working tracks and an automated gate to support new Laredo and Houston intermodal trains. In the revised filing, that plan is scaled back to 558 parking spaces and a smaller automated gate, removing about $68 million in spending. UP said the lower investment reflects an updated analysis that shows a lower impact on terminals operations in Houston than originally anticipated. Other projects were dropped altogether. The December application included $7.4 million for 5,205 feet of support track at the Croxton intermodal terminal in New Jersey. That project is no longer in the revised plan. UP left spending unchanged for siding extensions, double-track additions and signal work across the Gulf Coast and Midwest. <h3>Opposition organizing </h3>UP’s revised application will nonetheless face swift resistance. Earlier this week, a new group was formed called the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition, which organized existing merger opponents such as BNSF, CPKC, the Teamsters Rail Conference, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the American Chemistry Council under a single umbrella. The group released a report Wednesday that included a survey claiming that 71% of those polled oppose the merger after learning about its impacts, and that 68% believe the merged railroad would keep the promised cost savings for itself rather than pass them onto shippers. “This did not begin with a customer asking for a UP-NS merger to happen,” BNSF CEO Katie Famer said in a statement from Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. “It’s driven by Wall Street on the promise of a big shareholder payout. It will eliminate competition, raise costs for consumers, and destabilize the supply chain that powers the American economy.” Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Union Pacific (UP) on Thursday refiled its formal application to acquire Norfolk Southern (NS) with US regulators on Thursday, arguing that additional analysis shows the merger would take more freight moves off highways than originally thought. The updated application to the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) calls for 2.1 million truck moves converted to rail, including 1.2 million truckload-to-intermodal conversions. That’s up from 2 million and 1.17 million, respectively, in the original application filed last December that the STB rejected as “incomplete” in mid-January . UP also revised the number of long-haul drays eliminated annually to 70,000 moves compared with 67,000 in the first application. The eliminated drays would primarily come between Chicago to Ohio and Michigan, and Memphis to Alabama. The revised estimates were made possible because UP received access to other Class I volume data that was not available when it submitted the prior application. The STB now has 30 days to decide whether the application is complete. If the new filing passes that threshold, the formal review by the regulator would likely stretch for more than a year and include public hearings. “I have personally witnessed the benefits to Canada of two transcontinental [freight] railroads,” UP CEO Jim Vena wrote in the new application. “American industry deserves an equally efficient supply chain within its own borders.” Vena also argued that unified rail systems in China, India and Mexico have supported economic growth. He said the merger would save shippers $3.5 billion annually across all commodity groups. For intermodal customers, UP is promising faster service, new long-haul lanes and a slightly larger shift of freight off the highway. But the revised filing also puts more weight on the question regulators and shippers will care about most: Can the network handle that growth without sacrificing reliability? And will the UP-NS combination enhance competition in a way that’s not achievable through better cooperation between railroads? New and updated routes The most significant addition for intermodal customers is a new expedited Northern California-to-Southeast service that was not included in the UP’s December filing. The proposed lane would begin in Lathrop, east of Oakland, move through St. Louis and terminate in Charlotte. UP said the service would take 109 hours from origin to destination, versus 108 hours by truck. Containers moving to Atlanta and Jacksonville would connect to a second train in Charlotte for the final leg. The revised filing also addresses the Meridian Speedway, the nearly 300-mile corridor across Louisiana and Mississippi that remains a flashpoint between UP-NS and majority owner Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). In the December filing, UP said it would run 11,000-foot trains over Meridian. But CPKC, which controls traffic on the route, limits train length to 8,500 feet. In the revised filing, UP lowered its average train-length assumption to 9,000 feet and added a provision to split trains as volume grows. The filing also leaves unresolved whether the merged railroad could deliver the projected growth over the Meridian Speedway, as CPKC, not UP-NS, controls all train movements. If trains must be broken into blocks, transit times lengthen and the risk of delay increases. Nevertheless, the service will still likely be faster than the BNSF Railway-CSX Transportation alternative because the length of haul through the Meridian Speedway is much shorter by distance. There were no changes to how the Meridian Speedway trains would impact domestic intermodal shippers between Los Angeles and Memphis. UP would still remove 191 containers per day from a train in Greggton, Texas, and place them onto a second train to Memphis. The route would be one of the few examples where a combined railroad would create additional work post-merger, rather than eliminate it, for intermodal customers. It is one of the clearest examples of the merger’s mixed intermodal effect: new conversion opportunities in some lanes, but more complexity and more service risk in others. Other intermodal services in the prior application remain unchanged. UP-NS would add trains from Southern California to New Jersey via Kansas City, bypassing Chicago. The application also keeps proposed services from Lathrop to New Jersey, from Southern California to Detroit, from Laredo to New Jersey, and from Houston to Atlanta. Trimming capital expenditures The revised application, however, trims the capital expenditures that UP would lay out to keep the network fluid. The December filing called for more than $1 billion in capital spending on signals, track, sidings and terminals to absorb growth without hurting service. The new filing cuts that sum to $923.3 million, which could raise the prospect of pushback during the public hearings about why UP decided to cut back on infrastructure spending. One of the biggest reductions is at UP’s Houston intermodal terminal. In December, UP said it would add 1,045 parking stalls, two new working tracks and an automated gate to support new Laredo and Houston intermodal trains. In the revised filing, that plan is scaled back to 558 parking spaces and a smaller automated gate, removing about $68 million in spending. UP said the lower investment reflects an updated analysis that shows a lower impact on terminals operations in Houston than originally anticipated. Other projects were dropped altogether. The December application included $7.4 million for 5,205 feet of support track at the Croxton intermodal terminal in New Jersey. That project is no longer in the revised plan. UP left spending unchanged for siding extensions, double-track additions and signal work across the Gulf Coast and Midwest. Opposition organizing UP’s revised application will nonetheless face swift resistance. Earlier this week, a new group was formed called the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition, which organized existing merger opponents such as BNSF, CPKC, the Teamsters Rail Conference, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the American Chemistry Council under a single umbrella. The group released a report Wednesday that included a survey claiming that 71% of those polled oppose the merger after learning about its impacts, and that 68% believe the merged railroad would keep the promised cost savings for itself rather than pass them onto shippers. “This did not begin with a customer asking for a UP-NS merger to happen,” BNSF CEO Katie Famer said in a statement from Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. “It’s driven by Wall Street on the promise of a big shareholder payout. It will eliminate competition, raise costs for consumers, and destabilize the supply chain that powers the American economy.” Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Rail News

North-American rail

Intermodal providers

UP’s revised filing for NS merger boosts number of freight conversions

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The carrier and ports group said revenue on all major trades, except its domestic network, fell in the first quarter, resulting in a 13% drop in revenue from container shipping. </div>

The carrier and ports group said revenue on all major trades, except its domestic network, fell in the first quarter, resulting in a 13% drop in revenue from container shipping.

<div class="phx-topic">Cosco Shipping is redoubling efforts to expand into developing markets, including Latin America and Africa, in the face of a tougher economic and geopolitical environment, the container and ports group said. “Impacted by conflicts in the Middle East, the safety and stability of global shipping faced significant challenges,” the carrier said in a first-quarter earnings statement late Wednesday. “In the face of rapidly changing international political and economic conditions...(Cosco is)...making sustained efforts, particularly in the development of emerging markets, the establishment of a global digital supply chain product system, and digital and intelligent innovation,” it said. Cosco was commenting as it reported a 49% drop in first-quarter net profits to $861 million due to plunging freight rates, despite an increase in volumes. Total Q1 revenue fell 11% to $7.6 billion. “The group’s container shipping business experienced a year-on-year decrease in revenue per TEU and a year-on-year decrease in operating performance,” Cosco said, noting that the average China Export Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) fell 16.32% year over year in the first quarter. The carrier’s revenue per TEU on international routes fell 15% to $1,110 in the first quarter. Cosco said revenue on all its major trades except its domestic network fell in the first quarter, resulting in a 13% drop in revenue from container shipping, to $6.6 billion. That came despite a 6.7% increase in container volumes, to 6.9 million TEUs. The biggest drop in Cosco’s Q1 revenue was on trans-Pacific trades, which fell 23% to $1.8 billion even as liftings slipped just 1% to 1.2 million TEUs. Trans-Atlantic, Latin America and Africa trades saw a combined 22% revenue decline to $962 million, while liftings were 1.6% lower at 757,524 TEUs. Revenue from Asia–Europe services fell 10% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter despite a 14% increase in volumes to 1 million TEUs. Cosco’s ports subsidiary recorded a 2% rise in first quarter net profit to $86 million, while revenue was 10% higher at $421 million. Total container throughput at Cosco terminals climbed 9% year over year to 39 million TEUs. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. </div>

Cosco Shipping is redoubling efforts to expand into developing markets, including Latin America and Africa, in the face of a tougher economic and geopolitical environment, the container and ports group said. “Impacted by conflicts in the Middle East, the safety and stability of global shipping faced significant challenges,” the carrier said in a first-quarter earnings statement late Wednesday. “In the face of rapidly changing international political and economic conditions...(Cosco is)...making sustained efforts, particularly in the development of emerging markets, the establishment of a global digital supply chain product system, and digital and intelligent innovation,” it said. Cosco was commenting as it reported a 49% drop in first-quarter net profits to $861 million due to plunging freight rates, despite an increase in volumes. Total Q1 revenue fell 11% to $7.6 billion. “The group’s container shipping business experienced a year-on-year decrease in revenue per TEU and a year-on-year decrease in operating performance,” Cosco said, noting that the average China Export Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) fell 16.32% year over year in the first quarter. The carrier’s revenue per TEU on international routes fell 15% to $1,110 in the first quarter. Cosco said revenue on all its major trades except its domestic network fell in the first quarter, resulting in a 13% drop in revenue from container shipping, to $6.6 billion. That came despite a 6.7% increase in container volumes, to 6.9 million TEUs. The biggest drop in Cosco’s Q1 revenue was on trans-Pacific trades, which fell 23% to $1.8 billion even as liftings slipped just 1% to 1.2 million TEUs. Trans-Atlantic, Latin America and Africa trades saw a combined 22% revenue decline to $962 million, while liftings were 1.6% lower at 757,524 TEUs. Revenue from Asia–Europe services fell 10% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter despite a 14% increase in volumes to 1 million TEUs. Cosco’s ports subsidiary recorded a 2% rise in first quarter net profit to $86 million, while revenue was 10% higher at $421 million. Total container throughput at Cosco terminals climbed 9% year over year to 39 million TEUs. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

Container lines

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Cosco doubles down on emerging trades as Q1 net profit plunges 49% 

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The Cosco subsidiary said the 13,600-TEU ships have been ordered from Shanghai-based shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for delivery between 2028 and 2030.</div>

The Cosco subsidiary said the 13,600-TEU ships have been ordered from Shanghai-based shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for delivery between 2028 and 2030.

<div class="phx-topic">Hong Kong-based OOCL has ordered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels with a $2.2 billion deal for a dozen 13,600-TEU dual-fuel ships as part of a shift to more environmentally friendly vessels, the carrier said Thursday. The Cosco Shipping subsidiary said the ships have been ordered from Shanghai-based shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for delivery between 2028 and 2030. The choice of LNG and other green fuel technologies “is expected to reduce the need to purchase carbon credits,” OOCL said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The size of the ships meant they “are versatile and suitable for deployment across a wide range of trade routes and terminals,” the carrier added. “...The vessels will enhance the group’s ability to serve diversified cargo demand.” OOCL’s order reinforces LNG as the next-generation fuel of choice for carriers renewing their fleets. LNG now accounts for around 83% of the dual-fuel container ships on order, or about 6.4 million TEUs in capacity terms, according to data on the Journal of Commerce’s Gateway platform. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="ef78ab1f-3609-44d0-a713-fb260bc40609"></dynamic-object></div>OOCL said it invited quotes from at least three shipbuilders, but two declined to bid due to limited shipbuilding slot availability and resources. Hudong-Zhonghua’s price of $185 million per ship is comparable to the prevailing market price of new LNG dual-fuel powered container vessels of similar tonnage. The latest order takes OOCL’s backlog of new vessels to 18 ships after it signed agreements with Seaspan <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/volatile-shipping-market-drags-down-oocls-2025-financial-results-6185356">to charter six 13,000-TEU container vessels</a>. Those ships are expected to be delivered from the fourth quarter this year through the first quarter of 2028. The orders announced Thursday are the first that OOCL has placed for owned 13,000-TEU ships since 2013, the carrier said. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com.</a></div>

Hong Kong-based OOCL has ordered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels with a $2.2 billion deal for a dozen 13,600-TEU dual-fuel ships as part of a shift to more environmentally friendly vessels, the carrier said Thursday. The Cosco Shipping subsidiary said the ships have been ordered from Shanghai-based shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding for delivery between 2028 and 2030. The choice of LNG and other green fuel technologies “is expected to reduce the need to purchase carbon credits,” OOCL said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The size of the ships meant they “are versatile and suitable for deployment across a wide range of trade routes and terminals,” the carrier added. “...The vessels will enhance the group’s ability to serve diversified cargo demand.” OOCL’s order reinforces LNG as the next-generation fuel of choice for carriers renewing their fleets. LNG now accounts for around 83% of the dual-fuel container ships on order, or about 6.4 million TEUs in capacity terms, according to data on the Journal of Commerce’s Gateway platform. OOCL said it invited quotes from at least three shipbuilders, but two declined to bid due to limited shipbuilding slot availability and resources. Hudong-Zhonghua’s price of $185 million per ship is comparable to the prevailing market price of new LNG dual-fuel powered container vessels of similar tonnage. The latest order takes OOCL’s backlog of new vessels to 18 ships after it signed agreements with Seaspan to charter six 13,000-TEU container vessels . Those ships are expected to be delivered from the fourth quarter this year through the first quarter of 2028. The orders announced Thursday are the first that OOCL has placed for owned 13,000-TEU ships since 2013, the carrier said. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com.

OOCL orders its first LNG-fueled ships with $2 billion deal for 12 vessels

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While acknowledging a “volatile geopolitical landscape,” the carrier nonetheless says its forecast for the year assumes “operational conditions will stabilize to pre-conflict levels by summer.”</div>

While acknowledging a “volatile geopolitical landscape,” the carrier nonetheless says its forecast for the year assumes “operational conditions will stabilize to pre-conflict levels by summer.”

<div class="phx-topic">Ocean Network Express (ONE) is forecasting an 11% drop in net profit for the coming year, to $300 million, due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, the carrier said Thursday after unveiling results for its 2025 fiscal year. The carrier said it expects to report a $50 million net loss for the first half of its fiscal year between April and October, followed by a $350 million net profit for its fiscal second half that ends in March 2027. “The FY2026 forecast reflects the continued impact of the Middle East conflict and assumes that operational conditions will stabilize to pre-conflict levels by summer,” the carrier said in its earnings statement. ONE, however, cautioned that “forecasting for FY2026 remains challenging due to the volatile geopolitical landscape, particularly in the Middle East.” The Middle East war also meant “the prospect of resuming passage through the Red Sea-Suez Canal route has become even more uncertain, and vessels continue to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope,” it added. <h3>Declines in net profit, revenue </h3>The cautionary outlook came as ONE reported net profit of $338 million for its fiscal year ending March 31. While that was down 92% from the $4.2 billion recorded for fiscal year 2024, it was higher than the $310 million ONE forecast last November. Revenue was down 14% to $16.6 billion due to lower freight rates for much of the fiscal year, while liftings were 1% higher at 12.9 million TEUs. The second half of ONE’s fiscal year was buoyed by a rebound in freight rates between January and March and increased demand on the Asia-Europe trade ahead of the Lunar New Year that resulted in a fourth-quarter profit of $55 million. The healthy Asia-Europe demand helped offset a weaker-than-expected pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush on the eastbound trans-Pacific. “Despite heightened volatility in the fourth quarter of FY2025, our disciplined cost control and operational efficiency enabled us to deliver a profitable full-year result,” ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon said in the earnings statement. “We continue to navigate a complex and volatile global environment as we enter the new fiscal year, and the safety of our people as well as the security of our operations and customers’ cargo remain our top priorities.” Nixon <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/jeremy-nixon-to-step-down-as-one-ceo-after-eight-years-at-the-helm-6175802">will step down from the CEO role on July 1</a> after more than eight years at the helm, and be replaced by Till Ole Barrelet from Emirates Shipping Line. Nixon will remain with ONE as senior advisor. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>.</div>

Ocean Network Express (ONE) is forecasting an 11% drop in net profit for the coming year, to $300 million, due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, the carrier said Thursday after unveiling results for its 2025 fiscal year. The carrier said it expects to report a $50 million net loss for the first half of its fiscal year between April and October, followed by a $350 million net profit for its fiscal second half that ends in March 2027. “The FY2026 forecast reflects the continued impact of the Middle East conflict and assumes that operational conditions will stabilize to pre-conflict levels by summer,” the carrier said in its earnings statement. ONE, however, cautioned that “forecasting for FY2026 remains challenging due to the volatile geopolitical landscape, particularly in the Middle East.” The Middle East war also meant “the prospect of resuming passage through the Red Sea-Suez Canal route has become even more uncertain, and vessels continue to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope,” it added. Declines in net profit, revenue The cautionary outlook came as ONE reported net profit of $338 million for its fiscal year ending March 31. While that was down 92% from the $4.2 billion recorded for fiscal year 2024, it was higher than the $310 million ONE forecast last November. Revenue was down 14% to $16.6 billion due to lower freight rates for much of the fiscal year, while liftings were 1% higher at 12.9 million TEUs. The second half of ONE’s fiscal year was buoyed by a rebound in freight rates between January and March and increased demand on the Asia-Europe trade ahead of the Lunar New Year that resulted in a fourth-quarter profit of $55 million. The healthy Asia-Europe demand helped offset a weaker-than-expected pre-Lunar New Year cargo rush on the eastbound trans-Pacific. “Despite heightened volatility in the fourth quarter of FY2025, our disciplined cost control and operational efficiency enabled us to deliver a profitable full-year result,” ONE CEO Jeremy Nixon said in the earnings statement. “We continue to navigate a complex and volatile global environment as we enter the new fiscal year, and the safety of our people as well as the security of our operations and customers’ cargo remain our top priorities.” Nixon will step down from the CEO role on July 1 after more than eight years at the helm, and be replaced by Till Ole Barrelet from Emirates Shipping Line. Nixon will remain with ONE as senior advisor. Contact Keith Wallis at keithwallis@hotmail.com .

ONE expects 11% decline in FY26 net profit due to war in Middle East

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