NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad announced a new service that trims up to three days from current transit times on intermodal shipments from eastern cities to Laredo, Texas, and to Mexico.
The new expedited UP/NS intermodal service offers a variety of transportation options with transit times and rates that are truck-competitive. Service originates on Norfolk Southern in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Jacksonville and Miami, Fla., and Harrisburg, Pa. Norfolk Southern gives the shipments to Union Pacific at Memphis, Tenn. Union Pacific also offers this service from its Marion, Ark., intermodal facility. Destinations include Laredo, Mexico City and other major markets in Mexico.
“By teaming up with NS, we are able to offer customers in the eastern and southeastern United States a real competitive alternative to moving their shipments by truck,” said Randy Blackburn, Union Pacific Railroad’s vice president intermodal marketing.
“We’re offering the first dedicated train service to Mexico for shippers throughout the East,” said Mike McClellan, Norfolk Southern vice president intermodal marketing. “Border shipments traditionally travel by truck, and our latest partnership provides a reliable, secure and economical alternative to long-haul trucking on congested highways.”
Three types of service are available for customers seeking the value of rail delivery.
- Trans-Border Express service provides all-rail, seamless service to Mexico City with dock-to-dock Internet shipment tracking. This single-price, single-bill service moves in-bond, clearing Mexico customs in the interior of Mexico, rather than at the Laredo border. UP interchanges with Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana at Laredo. Customers have the option of arranging local drayage or having UP arrange delivery once containers arrive in Mexico City.
- Passport service shipments move by rail to Union Pacific’s intermodal facility at Laredo, where UP arranges the motor carrier movement to any Mexican destination.
- Conventional service offers seamless, ramp-to-ramp rail transportation to Laredo and allows the customer to arrange local container pickup and final delivery beyond the border.
