BNSF steps up to serve rebounding automotive market

BNSF Railway Co. is ramping up efforts to serve the surging demand for new cars.

The Class I has logged a 14% improvement in automotive velocity in the current quarter while handling record volumes, company officials said this week in a "Rail Talk" blog.

Auto manufacturers are working "at full tilt" to meet a post-pandemic demand for new cars and vehicles, BNSF officials said.

"We know that speeding up industry-wide car velocity is the key to meeting near-term higher demand for vehicle shipments, and BNSF is taking strides to do our part to help accelerate velocity," said Michael Wade, assistant vice president of consumer products marketing.

To respond to demand, BNSF added a dedicated operational design team focused solely on improving automotive velocity and customer experience. In addition, the railroad has:

• identified creative ways to deploy its Auto-Max fleet in traditional bi-level autorack car lanes, which reduces reliance on bi-levels and returning more bi-levels to origin points awaiting rail-car supply;
• purchased 740 bi-level autorack cars to supplement its fleet in the TTX Co. pool;
• restored its dedicated automotive network. When volumes declined during the pandemic, the Class I intentionally moved vehicle shipments to its carload network, meaning autorack cars traveled on mixed-freight trains with other commodities. Now that automotive volumes are increasing, BNSF is returning its automotive unit trains to the network; and
• recently launched rail-car pipeline management tools to provide manufacturers and truckers with the visibility needed to improve the fluidity of destination facilities. The action helps reduce dwell on loaded rail cars waiting for space to unload, BNSF officials said.