BNSF launches faster intermodal service between Pacific Northwest, Texas

Starting Sept. 12, BNSF Railway Co. will offer intermodal customers a new service to move freight between the Pacific Northwest and Texas, the Class I announced yesterday.

Under the new service, shippers who move commodities and consumer goods between Portland, Ore., or Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth will be able to cut transit times by up to two days when compared to rail transit time options currently in the marketplace, BNSF officials said in a press release.

The new service will be comparable in speed to single-driver, over-the-road options, they added.

"We are constantly looking for opportunities to help meet consumer demands and this new service checks all the right boxes for adding efficiency to the marketplace," said Katie Farmer, BNSF's group vice president of consumer products. "With an economy as dynamic as ours, BNSF is focused on delivering options that strengthen the competitive advantage of U.S. companies through our country’s supply chain."

The service will be the first option of other new BNSF routes that will be rolled out over the next year. It was timed for the Pacific Northwest's fall fruit harvest period so that agriculture producers can move apples and other produce more quickly to southern markets at the peak of freshness, BNSF officials said.