Last week, rail carrier Norfolk Southern rejected a $28.1 billion acquisition offer by Canadian Pacific Railway. Norfolk did not solicit the offer, and rejected it on the grounds that Canadian Pacific's interest level is “grossly inadequate, creates substantial regulatory risks and uncertainties that are highly likely to be overcome,”. Canadian Pacific feels that an acquisition would make sense for several reasons - including attractive results for shareholders of Norfolk Southern's investors.
Earlier this week, Canadian Pacific released the following statement:
Authorities are investigating the partial derailment of a freight train early Saturday in South Philadelphia. Inside a CSX Corp. rail yard near 11th Street and Pattison Avenue, the incident took place around 3 a.m. A three-locomotive, 111-car CSX freight train was traveling from Chicago to the Philadelphia area when 11 tank cars containing crude oil came off the tracks. The cars, luckily, had remained upright.
Rail is the most fuel efficient way to transport freight. Even as fuel prices have decreased in recent weeks, fuel remains one of the biggest factors in determining freighr rates. For this reason, intermodal freight shipping can provide significant fuel cost savings when compared to trucking.
Many companies who ship large volume shipments or full truckload shipments are unaware how easy and advantageous it can be to move freight via rail. Most of the main rail freight providers in the US offer door to door service, not just boxcar and bulk services. Rail freight can be significantly cheaper than moving freight by truck, and because of the operational stability of railways, shippers can avoid equipment shortages and increased rates during certain seasons.
