Dive Brief:
- Bison Transport and Canadian Pacific Kansas City inked a new intermodal services agreement in late January.
- This deal is among the latest announced between intermodal players emphasizing opportunities to convert truckload freight to save shippers money and improve positioning to capture market share of growing cross-border shipping activity.
- Bison President and CEO Rob Penner highlighted the business potential of the CPKC partnership in a news release. “With Bison’s established operations in Mexico and our commitment to growth of cross-border freight services in that market, the timing of this agreement is ideal,” he said.
Dive Insight:
Bison Transport of Winnipeg, Canada, and CPKC said in the announcement that the growing trend of nearshoring production in Mexico made the time right for the partnership.
“This agreement between CPKC and Bison Transport will generate multiple synergies for customers as they benefit from reliable capacity and industry leading service,” Jonathan Wahba, CPKC SVP sales and marketing, bulk and intermodal, said in a statement.
Bison’s fleet includes 3,000 tractors and 10,000 trailers and containers, which will now have access to CPKC’s 20,000 route mile network that reaches major shipping destinations in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Convincing shippers that railroads have improved network reliability is an important step in shifting freight to intermodal, Union Pacific President Beth Whited said during the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting in January, noting that railroads have an opportunity “to make the pie bigger for all railroads.”
J.B. Hunt Transport Services CEO John Roberts said during a Q4 earnings call that intermodal suffered amid reliability issues with railroads, but that turned as velocity improved in 2023. That likely was a contributing factor to J.B. Hunt’s intermodal segment logging 6% year-over-year volume improvement.
“As we gained velocity in 2023, we feel like we can better compete for our customers on consistency in the transit model that the customers need,” Roberts said during the call.
Schneider National President and CEO Mark Rourke said during a Q4 earnings call it was among the carrier’s priorities to grow its intermodal business, though he recognized that would take time given the weak freight market.
“Our second strategic imperative is to grow intermodal earnings, primarily through accelerating over-the-road conversion opportunities,” Rourke told analysts. “That objective was a driving force behind our new rail partnership alignments with Union Pacific and CPKC.”
