By Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, Journal of Commerce; October 19, 2017
CSX Transportation’s overhaul of its network, which caused disruptions to international and domestic intermodal services, and the trimming of some of those services to Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit, ultimately may benefit shippers. It is too soon to tell, but CSX CEO E. Hunter Harrison plans to present his vision at an investors’ meeting in late October. CSX told investors on Oct. 17 that it is confident it will win back volume that migrated to trucks and rival Norfolk Southern Railway.
Other than CSX’s pledge that service will improve, there are other reasons intermodal shippers can be optimistic that Harrison’s “precision railroading” strategy ultimately will be beneficial to their supply chains. On the surface, the Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad’s discontinuing some of its international and domestic services connecting to Columbus and Detroit looks like anything but beneficial. More service changes are likely, considering that CSX is reviewing its plan for routing cargo through its North Baltimore, Ohio, hub.
Click here to read the full story.