Intermodal, Drayage & Chassis
Special Report
In Tacoma, Washington, container lifts are expected to rise 44 %, also without terminal investment. UP said it would seek to address capacity constraints by coordinating with the terminal operator to extend operating hours. The Tacoma terminal was one location that saw a massive influx in international intermodal volume in 2024.
At the NS Croxton terminal in Jersey City, daily lifts would rise 67 %, but it would receive only $ 7.3 million in capital spending. UP said it may reopen NS’ E-Rail terminal in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey, if necessary.
In Atlanta, container lifts at the NS Austell terminal would increase by 24 %. The land-constrained terminal would not receive new funds, but UP will revive intermodal operations in Birmingham, Alabama, and NS also owns a smaller yard about 15 minutes away near downtown Atlanta.
The application also details plans to close NS’ s 63rd Street terminal in Chicago and shift traffic to UP’ s Global 2 facility near O’ Hare International Airport. In Memphis, Norfolk Southern’ s Rossville terminal would be idled and traffic rerouted to UP’ s Marion terminal across the Mississippi River in Arkansas.
Those are the types of consolidations that have heightened union concerns of job losses, but UP has vowed that all employees as of the deal’ s approval will be protected against losing their job for any reason linked to the merger.
Longer transits
Shippers that would see longer transits following the merger include those moving cargo from Southern California to Memphis and St. Louis. UP identified 191 domestic containers per day that will be removed in Greggton, Texas— between Dallas and Shreveport— and transferred to a second train to Memphis and St. Louis post-merger.
On an annual basis, nearly 70,000 containers currently moving on a direct train would face at least a four-hour layover, assuming the first and second trains run on time, much like two connecting flights at an airport.
UP said the Memphis diversions are necessary to build new expedited intermodal trains over the Meridian Speedway to Atlanta, Charlotte, and Jacksonville, saving shippers between 70 and 96 hours of transit time.
The Meridian Speedway itself, a nearly 300-mile corridor linking Shreveport, Louisiana, and Meridian, Mississippi, presents additional uncertainty.
UP’ s merger application calls for the new trains to average nearly 11,000 feet long, but Canadian Pacific Kansas City( CPKC), which owns 75 % of the Meridian joint venture to NS’ 25 %, limits train lengths to 8,500 feet.
“ Status quo isn’ t an option.”
CPKC has said it will not“ subsidize” UP or NS operations by accepting longer trains that result in delays to its own trains, raising questions about how UP would achieve its projected volume gains on Meridian.
UP acknowledged that expedited Meridian trains“ might be split into a second train,” introducing additional dwell that would cut into the 70- to 96-hour savings.
The application also highlighted 185 intermodal routes, with volumes totaling more than 300,000 containers annually, that would see fewer handlings or layovers under a post-merger operating plan.
However, UP provided no details on the 62 routes, representing about 20,000 containers per year, that would see additional handling.
“ Any change to train and blocking plans and any yard or terminal rationalization creates a risk of service degradation to the extent plans are flawed in design or execution,” UP wrote.“[ We ] will not make any merger-related changes that cannot be reversed, if necessary.”
email: ari. ashe @ spglobal. com
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14 Journal of Commerce | February 2, 2026 www. joc. com