Surface Transportation

J. B. Hunt handles 2 million intermodal loads a year and controls more than 125,000 containers. Summer _ Wind / Shutterstock. com number of intermodal shipments, while J. B. Hunt can continue to provide truck-competitive services to shippers. The pull toward CSX will intensify, however, as its partnership with BNSF expands.

With the Southeast service now live, BNSF and CSX are eyeing the Northeast. CSX’ s double-stack clearance through Baltimore next spring could unlock additional joint BNSF-CSX routes from Southern California to Philadelphia and Newark, covering nearly every major East Coast hub from Florida to New Jersey.

Striking such a deal makes economic sense for all parties. Details of the BNSF-J. B. Hunt Quantum Agreement are limited, but it functions as a one-of-akind intermodal revenue-sharing model. The formula has never been disclosed, but Quantum links BNSF and J. B. Hunt’ s profitability to the volume on their intermodal lanes.

If BNSF secures favorable terms with CSX, then everyone stands to benefit. The pool of revenue split between BNSF and J. B. Hunt is higher, especially if CSX charges less than NS. If a deal includes a seamless interchange, such as the one in Birmingham, for example, then J. B. Hunt’ s expenses are lower, also increasing the shared revenue pool.

And CSX wins by taking market share away from NS, its chief rival.

J. B. Hunt must tread carefully, deepening its CSX ties without severing those it has built with NS. That two-way pressure could spur both eastern railroads to compete harder, ultimately benefiting shippers along the way.

email: ari. ashe @ spglobal. com

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Shutterstock. com www. joc. com December 1, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 43