Western Railroad Discussion > Knight/Swift going to the UP

I read BNSF lost the Knight/Swift contract and it's going to the Union Pacific.
BNSF has JB Hunt, so I wonder if this will effect them much.

Posted from Android

This was also talked about back on 6/15 with a pretty informative thread, check it out if you missed it. 

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read BNSF lost the Knight/Swift contract and
> it's going to the Union Pacific.
> BNSF has JB Hunt, so I wonder if this will effect
> them much.
>
> Posted from Android

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5271506

As it was, there was very little Swift or Knight running over BNSF's northern Transcon, so not a great loss up this way. I also wonder how UP can get away with running the long trains on the I-5 corridor, as they don't have very many places to meet 10,000' trains there.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

NWrailfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This was also talked about back on 6/15 with a
> pretty informative thread, check it out if you
> missed it. 

Thank you. I did miss it.

Posted from Android

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As it was, there was very little Swift or Knight
> running over BNSF's northern Transcon, so not a
> great loss up this way. I also wonder how UP can
> get away with running the long trains on the I-5
> corridor, as they don't have very many places to
> meet 10,000' trains there.

Up here on BNSF northern lines, I rarely see Swift on Z-trains, seems like they mostly use the BNSF "Q" train network.  Reports I"ve heard have said the move to the UP has more to do with UP serving Knight/Swift primary shipping corridors better than BNSF (ie the I-5 corridor where BNSF has no intermodal service), so maybe UP offered them a good deal to move all their business over to them?

One place I predict where Swift is going to be sorrily disappointed in UP is the PNW/Texas business.  Swift is regular user of BNSF QALTPTL/QSPOALT trains.  On the UP, based on what they've said about not adding trains, I can only assume that the Swift containers will have to be transloaded between I-5 trains and Sunset route trains at LA.  That and the extra mileage sounds like a lot longer run for this business on the UP.

wyeth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One place I predict where Swift is going to be
> sorrily disappointed in UP is the PNW/Texas
> business.  Swift is regular user of BNSF
> QALTPTL/QSPOALT trains.  On the UP, based on what
> they've said about not adding trains, I can only
> assume that the Swift containers will have to be
> transloaded between I-5 trains and Sunset route
> trains at LA.  That and the extra mileage sounds
> like a lot longer run for this business on the UP.

UP will put the Swift business on ISEBR connecting to IBRLC.  At LC it can connect to daily ZLCAI or ZLCMQ2 (Tuesday only to Mesquite).  If a Z is not in the guarantee, if there is one, UP could transfer it to LA East Yard, put it on the daily ILAG1 to another train at El Paso, or on the Wednesday ILAMQB.

mapboy

Re: UP intermodals on I5: aren’t they already operating most or all of them at almost 10k’? At that point, any extra length isn’t likely going to change the meet locations? Or are the southbounds only running longer and the northbounds limited to fit in the longer sidings?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/21 18:08 by midwest.