July 12, 2024 - TRA Newswire -
Eliminating a cumbersome move from ship-to-truck-to-rail at Union Pacific Railroad's Port Houston on-dock service is paying off with additional inland markets added in 2024.
The sucessful service, which began in May 2023, enables intermodal containers to be offloaded from cargo ships directly onto rail cars on the Barbours Cut Container Terminal at Port Houston. This significantly cuts down the time when a ship arrives at port until the customer is in receipt of their container at inland terminals.
The service has now been expanded to 11 markets across the midwest and western states. Those include Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Kansas City, Laredo, Los Angeles, Memphis, Oakland, Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
Union Pacifics says that the on-dock solution saves customers’ time, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by taking trucks off the highways and simplifies the end-to-end supply chain for customers. It eliminates the need for containers to be trucked approximately 30 miles from the port to the nearest rail facility in Houston for loading onto rail cars, reducing highway congestion in the Houston area.
“It’s a win-win any time we can increase speed to market for our customers and grow with them,” said Kenny Rocker, Union Pacific’s executive vice president-Marketing and Sales. “We are excited about growing our presence in the Houston market and the service’s continued potential.”
Port Houston is the largest Gulf Coast intermodal container port, handling 73% of U.S. Gulf Coast container traffic, and is an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S.
“The addition of on-dock intermodal services has opened up new markets for Port Houston’s customers and enhanced efficient cargo movement through our terminals,” said John Moseley, chief commercial officer at Port Houston. “We appreciate Union Pacific’s commitment to Houston and look forward to continuing to work together to provide the important services our customers need.”
Photo credit: Union Pacific