At the start of the month, railway Union Pacific announced that a premium domestic service has reduced transit time down to three days for its shipper-customers moving cargo from Southern California to an inland hub in the Chicago area.
UP’s new service, which launched Apr. 28, runs daily from the railway’s intermodal terminal at the City of Industry in California to Global 2, a facility in Northlake, IL, on the western end of Chicago’s metropolitan area.
The premium service is now the second one UP offers daily between the Los Angeles and Long Beach area and Chicago.
“We are delivering the service we sold to our customers – and we’re now able to do it faster,” UP CEO Jim Vena stated in a news release. “Our railroad offers 70-mph service, allowing us to compete for business while reducing greenhouse gas emissions up to 75% for our customers.”
The service also features faster cargo interchanges with railways CSX and Norfolk Southern that serve the eastern U.S., an advantage to shippers with Ohio Valley and northeast U.S. destinations.
On the flip side, UP is also offering a premium westbound service from Global 2 to the railway’s Southern California terminal.
The Los Angeles and Chicago metros are two of the country’s most vibrant transportation sanctums. The Los Angeles area houses some of the largest warehouse districts in the U.S., while Chicago, coined the railroad capital of the world, anchors the continent’s rail networks, acting as a flexible hub for inland cargo movement.
Final Thoughts
Over the past couple of years, demand for domestic intermodal has seen softening, promptly concerning the freight rail industry. UP’s new, faster, service is yet another move from railroads to market themselves as a competitive player in domestic transportation, a territory largely controlled by trucking.
“We are excited about this new product, which is part of our continuing effort to find new ways to meet our customers’ needs while removing trucks off our nation’s highways and providing a consistent, reliable product,” Kenny Rocker, UP’s executive vice president (marketing and sales) added in the release.
Contact one of our team members if you have any questions regarding this topic or any others in domestic logistics.
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