Railroads can collaborate with truck carriers to serve customers

This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit on Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How shippers can/should use the railroads in their supply chain strategies in 2024 and beyond.

DETAILS: Matt Gloeb, general manager of planning and product development for the marketing and sales division of Union Pacific, chats with FreightWaves’ chief economist Anthony Smith about how collaboration between the rail and trucking industries can aid in the successful implementation of sustainability strategies along the supply chain. 

KEY QUOTES FROM GLOEB:

“When you think about intermodal, you think about international intermodal and you think about domestic intermodal. But what we don’t think about — but is integral to that — is trucking. Trucking is very much a part of intermodal, and it’s at the front end and it’s at the back end. So, collaborating with our wholesale customers, who are also motor carriers … is really important to us. And one of the things we just announced here last week is our Phoenix intermodal terminal. … In 2024, we’ll be introducing our brand new Phoenix intermodal terminal, and it’s really out of collaboration with a motor carrier who’s been trucking from the San Pedro ports into the Phoenix market, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the United States.”

“We talk a lot about taking trucks off the road as a railroad. But again, at the same time, it’s necessary to reinforce that we’re really partners in this supply chain initiative. Intermodal doesn’t exist without motor carriers. … So, I think there’s an opportunity there for motor carriers and for railroads to work collaboratively together on sustainability initiatives and drive further growth in partnership.”

“You don’t think naturally as a railroad that we’re high tech, but you would be so shocked by how high tech we really are, and we continue to evolve and grow. We’ve got applications on our iPhones, and those applications, like UPGo, go out to our motor carrier friends that are draying onto our intermodal terminals [and] draying off from our intermodal terminals. And we do that to help create efficiency in that whole supply chain.”  

Related links:

• Union Pacific to operate international intermodal terminal in Phoenix

• JB Hunt, BNSF and GMXT to launch Mexico-to-Midwest intermodal service

• Freight rail execs seeing some ‘green shoots’ for beleaguered sector