Rail Shipping Service and the Presidential Emergency Board

Ongoing Updates September 12th, 2022 More of the labor unions have agreed to tentative agreements with the railroads. However, the last two union holdouts also represent the most members. The deadline for the cooling off period, which restricts striking, is Friday, September 16th. If an agreement cannot be reached by Friday, the remaining unions without

Celebrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Rail Industry

A common phrase that is growing in importance amongst organizations is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. But what does that mean? Diversity is the presence of differences that may include race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, (dis)ability, age, religious commitment, or political perspective. Equity is promoting justice, impartiality and fairness within the

Railroad Service Issues in 2022

As a third-party logistics provider that specializes in bulk rail transportation in North America, we manage rail shipments across all industries in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Amongst our customers, one current common difficulty is that the railroads are struggling to deliver railcars. Across the networks of all railroads, railroad service issues continue to

Carta Porte Mexican Tax Changes and How to Prepare

New Carta Porte Information Additional changes to the Carta Porte, as mandated by the Mexican Tax Authority, were recently announced. This new requirement was issued by the Servicio de Administración Tributaria, also known as the SAT. The new Carta Porte requirements will be effective July 31, 2023. Complete list of Carta Porte Requirements to be

UP Petitions STB to Reject CP-KCS Merger Application

On November 19th the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) submitted a petition to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to reject the application for the Canadian Pacific (CP) to acquire Kansas City Southern (KCS). The petition submitted by the UP states that the grounds for the rejection is that the application is “incomplete”. The UP contends that

The Move from OT-5 to OT-57

In February of 2020, OT-57 was introduced by Railinc. The Loading Authority OT-57 system provides a centralized, paperless process for registering private freight rail equipment and access to controlling entity (shipper, owner, or lessee) contact information and storage information. OT-57, and its predecessor OT-5, is crucial to understand for rail fleet management. Before OT-57, Loading

Canadian National Withdraws Merger Plans with the Kansas City Southern

The September 12th acceptance of the Canadian Pacific’s (CP) $31 billion merger offer for the Kansas City Southern (KCS) initiated the KCS’ plans to terminate their merger agreement with the Canadian National (CN). The CN was provided five business days to respond to the KCS. During the morning of September 15th, 2021, the CN released

Executive Order: Focus on Enhancing Rail Competition

On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden released specifics concerning his Executive Order to promote competition within the American economy. Among other concerns, the President’s Executive Order calls for sweeping reform of corporate monopolies in the areas of agriculture, pharmaceuticals, technology, and transportation. The Executive Order consists of 72 initiatives that will become the investigative

Update on CSX’s Pan Am Railways and Quality Carriers Acquisition

CSX Transportation has had a busy start to July 2021, particularly, regarding its acquisitions of Pan Am Railways Inc., and Quality Carriers Inc. Since CSX’s announcement regarding their acquisition of the Pan Am Railway (PAR) on November 20, 2020, CSX has had to work through several regulatory obstacles. The US Surface Transportation Board (STB) reviewed