Surface Transportation

COMMENTARY

By Ari Ashe

J. B. Hunt is unlikely to take sides to keep the peace with NS and CSX.

If federal regulators approve Union Pacific Railroad’ s( UP) proposed $ 85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern Railway( NS), J. B. Hunt Transport Services— the largest US intermodal provider— could be forced to rethink how it routes both coast-to-coast and East Coast freight.

J. B. Hunt’ s relationships with NS and competitor CSX Transportation are already shifting and will continue evolving through 2026. How much will change is unclear, however, as J. B. Hunt wants relationships with both eastern Class I railroads, even if UP and NS become one.

The stakes couldn’ t be higher. J. B. Hunt handles more than 2 million intermodal loads a year and controls more than 125,000 containers, a fleet larger than the combined totals of competing intermodal providers C. H. Robinson, Hub Group, Schneider National, Swift Intermodal and several peers.

On the West Coast, J. B. Hunt and BNSF Railway operate under the long-standing Quantum Agreement, a joint-service partnership created more than 35 years ago. In the East, J. B. relies primarily on NS but has steadily expanded its CSX footprint in recent years.

If UP acquires NS, some industry analysts have speculated that J. B. Hunt would shift everything to CSX. The premise is based on a budding relationship between BNSF and CSX.“[ It ] has been perceived that J. B. Hunt would have to move our traffic to CSX. That’ s not accurate at all,” Darren Field, president of J. B. Hunt’ s intermodal division, said on an Oct. 16 earnings call.“ There’ s nothing [ about the merger ] that would mean our current Norfolk Southern footprint we have today would be required to change.”

In a sense, though, the relationship has already begun to change.

J. B. Hunt uses the new BNSF-CSX service launched in September from Phoenix to Atlanta and Southern California to Charlotte and Jacksonville. Other BNSF and CSX combinations could include J. B. Hunt along the way.

NS referenced the loss of J. B. Hunt volumes in the Southeast during its most recent earnings call.

“ While not big in the third quarter, we started to see some of the revenue erosion from competitor reactions to the merger,” NS CEO Mark George said on the Oct. 24 call.“ We expect the impact to grow in the fourth quarter and continue to be a challenge over the near and medium term.”

BNSF, which has waged a campaign against the UP-NS merger, warns that 300 intermodal lanes could vanish if the deal is approved, including all BNSF-NS interchanges. Likewise, CSX has said publicly that collaboration, not consolidation, can address the factors that lead shippers to choose trucks over rail.

J. B. Hunt is unlikely to take sides to keep the peace with NS and CSX.

“ Our long-term agreements and strong relationships with NS, CSX and BNSF should provide the basis for us to adapt to any changes in the industry,” J. B. Hunt CEO Shelley Simpson said on the company’ s Oct. 16 earnings call.

Strong rail service is one reason J. B. Hunt grew its local East Coast intermodal volume by 6 % year over year in the third quarter, while West Coast freight dropped 6 % during the same period.

NS still crucial

The gravitational pull to BNSF and CSX is expected to strengthen in 2026. One industry source, who asked not to be identified, told the Journal of Commerce that J. B. Hunt is involved in every BNSF-CSX discussion on joint services, providing volume commitments to bolster the products from the outset.

Nevertheless, NS remains central to J. B. Hunt’ s eastern network. More than half of J. B. Hunt’ s business with NS remains in the eastern US, according to the railroad.

NS provides J. B. Hunt with access to major distribution centers strewn across central Pennsylvania, including in Allentown, Bethlehem and Harrisburg. CSX cannot replicate that opportunity.

NS also provides a single-line service between Kansas City and the East Coast, while CSX doesn’ t operate in Kansas City. And the separate Crescent Corridor serves as a competitive edge— a double-stack-cleared NS route from Memphis through Birmingham, Atlanta, Charlotte and Harrisburg to Newark— providing faster transits than CSX on high-volume routes.

UP has also offered to honor the J. B. Hunt-Norfolk Southern partnership.

“ If J. B. Hunt wants to still do lanes within the East with Norfolk Southern like they do today, we’ ll certainly let them do that,” UP CEO Jim Vena said at the Journal of Commerce’ s Inland 2025 Distribution Conference on Oct. 1.

The UP-J. B. Hunt relationship makes sense for both sides. UP retains access to a large

42 Journal of Commerce | December 1, 2025 www. joc. com