CP Honors 59 Safe Shippers

Canadian Pacific (CP) has presented its annual Safe Shipper Award to 59 customers for “safely transporting hazardous materials by rail in 2021.”

EMR to Acquire 45 Miles of CMQR Track (UPDATED)

Class III Eastern Maine Railway Company (EMR) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.41 to acquire approximately 36.57 miles of main line and nine miles of branch line in Maine from Central Maine & Quebec Railway US Inc. (CMQR), which is owned by Canadian Pacific (CP).

(Photograph Courtesy of CP)

CP Holiday Train ‘Back on the Rails’

Canadian Pacific (CP) will kick off its Holiday Train tour next month, after a two-year hiatus, to raise money, food and awareness for local food banks in communities along its network.

“Order expectations from shippers’ remain relatively in line from our second-quarter survey, but the level of certainty moderately declined in our recent survey,” Cowen analysts report. “It appears that gondolas saw demand improvement relative to second-quarter 2022. Boxcars declined relative to second-quarter 2022.”
Commentary

Cowen: 3Q22 Shipper Surveys Say …

According to Cowen and Company’s recently conducted third-quarter 2022 Rail Equipment and Rail Shipper surveys, the positive outlook for railcar orders remains relatively unchanged from the second quarter, and rail shipping pricing expectations have ticked down sequentially. Details follow, plus insights on the Class I railroads, ahead of earnings.

Commentary

Is STB Facing Information Overload?

One might as well ask who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder as to enquire what more the Surface Transportation Board (STB) might learn from additional public hearings on the question of whether railroads Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern should be permitted to merge, and under what conditions.

J.B. Hunt Adds Washington State, Texas Operations

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (J.B. Hunt) announced on Oct. 3 that it is expanding its transloading footprint with the addition of two new operations in Seattle, Wash., and Laredo, Tex., “for customers’ needs and to provide quick access to outbound rail and highway transport.”

(Photograph Courtesy of CP)
Commentary

Cowen: ‘Looking Down the Windy Tracks’

A strike has been averted for now as the major unions reached tentative agreements. Contracts details are expected to be in line with the Presidential Emergency Board recommendations. The railroads will have to gradually pass through costs as contracts are renewed if they want to keep margins intact. This may prove difficult as we head into an economic slowdown. We continue to favor Canadian Pacific (CP) in the rail group.

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) recently added Nissan to its list of customers at the Port of Brunswick’s Colonel’s Island terminal. (Photograph Courtesy of GPA)

Intermodal Briefs: GPA, Port Saint John

Nissan North America selects Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) Port of Brunswick, Ga., as a new point of entry to serve U.S. markets. Also, Canada’s Port Saint John in New Brunswick reaches a 100,000-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) milestone.

CP: Red Locomotives, Green Mindset

As part of ongoing sustainability initiatives, Canadian Pacific has launched a web-based carbon emissions calculator and awarded a contract for two hydrogen production and refueling facilities to support its HFC (hydrogen fuel cell) road locomotive program.

Rail Safety Week Initiatives Accelerate (UPDATED)

As Rail Safety Week (RSW) (Sept. 19-25), a collaborative effort among Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), state OLI programs and rail safety partners across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, continues to be observed, North American carriers and organizations are mobilizing to raise awareness about rail safety and to help stop track tragedies during this annual week-long event. Here is a roundup of the week’s initiatives.

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