Intermodal ups and downs in a mixed first half for North American railroads

Photo: © Tony Dezenzio

North America’s intermodal operators experienced something of a mixed bag over the three months to June, with CSX the only one to claim the double of quarterly and first-half growth.

The last to release its result, CSX nonetheless offered the brightest picture for the region’s intermodal services, with Q2 revenues up 3%, to $506m, as it announced a first-half increase of 2% year on year on revenues of a little over $1bn.

CEO Joe Hinrichs said: “I am proud of our railroad’s performance, including our team’s effective response to the disruptions at the port of Baltimore.

“CSX remained focused on efficiently serving customers over the second quarter, allowing us to deliver strong sequential increases in volume, operating income, margin and earnings per share,” adding that the railroad was “well-positioned” for a solid end-of-year performance.

As for its competitors, CN saw a 6% bump in revenues, to $721m, with Union Pacific also up 3% for the quarter, at $1.13bn.

For the half, CN saw no change on its 2023 performance, with revenues of $1.44bn, while the modest Q2 increase Union Pacific reported was not sufficient to wipe out the damage done in Q1, as it recorded a 2% year-on-year decline in first-half revenues, which hit $2.2bn.

Nonetheless, UP EVP of marketing and sales Kenny Rocker sought to draw out positives on the state of the railroad’s intermodal division.

“Intermodal volumes continue to remain strong due to west coast import demand and positive domestic growth despite market conditions, especially within our parcels segment,” he told investors during an earnings announcement.

He added: “And on the intermodal side, we expect to see continued strength for imports in the near-term.”

Norfolk Southern’s second-quarter revenues plunged 8% year on year, to $745m, contributing to a poor H1 outing for the carrier, which has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently, with revenues down 5%, to $1.45bn.

Last week, it was announced that the US Justice Department had launched a suit against NS for creating substantial delays to passenger services by prioritising cargo on tracks it operated.

CPKC’s 4% year-on-year drop in Q2 revenues  left its mark on the carrier’s first-half performance, but it still managed to post an 11% increase over the six months to June, when contrasted with 2023, with revenues hitting $866m.