Surface Transportation
quickly , give timely updates , and deliver when they say they will ,” one shipper wrote of its intermodal broker . “ Service is competitive [ and ] reliable , with a minimum number of surprises , and they are proactive in making me look professional .”
A broad decline
Customers named CSX the best-performing railroad in each of the four ISS surveys to date . Bill Swartwout / Shutterstock . com
As in previous surveys , CSX Transportation was rated the top-performing railroad with 24.3 % of the vote . However , BNSF Railway earned the highest overall score across key performance metrics among the six Class Is .
Nevertheless , all railroads experienced a decline in key performance indicators ( KPIs ) in the second half . BNSF and CSX saw their overall scores drop by 0.2 points , reflecting frustration in September , October and November when delays were most pronounced .
“ They handled pandemic-like volume without nearly the same level of disruption .”
J . B . Hunt Transport Services and the survey ’ s “ other IMCs ” group — comprised of asset-light and non-asset brokers — received the highest ratings from shippers . The other IMCs category was named the top provider by 41.4 % of respondents , while J . B . Hunt was selected by 38.5 %.
Among the three largest US intermodal providers , 72 % of respondents ranked J . B . Hunt as the best , while 16.2 % chose Schneider and 11.8 % selected Hub Group .
Schneider outperformed Hub Group in customer service , on-time pickups and on-time deliveries in the second half . Hub Group received higher scores than Schneider for competitive pricing .
Fewer IMCs report improving rail service in H2 2024
Q : How H would you rate intermodal service compared with six months ago ?
90 % 80 %
60 % 100 % 40 %
20 %
0 % Spring 2023 Fall 2023 L Spring 2024 Fall 2024
Better The Same Worse
L
Similar to the railroads , scores for intermodal providers declined in the second half of 2024 , with J . B . Hunt and the other IMCs group seeing a 0.3-point drop in their overall scores .
Peak season struggles
BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad ( UP ) faced challenges between September and November due to a stronger and more prolonged peak season than in 2023 . In October , both railroads posted their slowest intermodal train speeds and highest number of idling railcars since May 2022 .
On the East Coast , CSX and Norfolk Southern deteriorated in October after the International Longshoremen ’ s Association ( ILA ) staged a brief work stoppage and two hurricanes struck Florida within a 10-day span . CSX struggled to recover from storm damage at its two intermodal terminals along the Tampa-Winter Haven corridor .
Some IMCs pointed out that while there were delays , rail service did not descend into the kind of gridlock seen during the COVID-19 pandemic . Instead , the disruptions were largely manageable due to coordination between intermodal carriers , brokers and Class I railroads .
By late November , most bottlenecks had been resolved , allowing railroads to move cargo smoothly through the end of the year .
“ During the pandemic , we had to wait weeks for an appointment with CSX and UP ,” another IMC said in the ISS survey . “ This past peak season , we had to wait only a few days at most — much better than three years ago . They handled pandemic-like volume without nearly the same level of disruption .”
Source : Journal of Commerce survey © 2025 S & P Global email : at ari . ashe @ spglobal . com
64 Journal of Commerce | March 3 , 2025 www . joc . com