Railroads revamp routing protocols

Railways are teaming up to better their cross-border logistics, which may close the competitive gap with their counterparts in trucking.

Ft. Worth, TX-based Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) and Montreal, Canada-based CN have established a new “routing protocol” to better streamline rail traffic exchanges at major gateways in the U.S. and Canada.

Under the protocol, CN and BNSF plan to direct rail traffic flows through the most efficient interchange locations overt the next three months -- a change that will improve transit times and asset utilization for customers of both CN and BNSF, the companies said. The major interchange points for traffic moving between CN and BNSF are Vancouver, B.C., Noyes, MN, Superior, WI, Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans.