Furthering its plans to double its intermodal size by 2030, Schneider National announced it will offer “truck-competitive” intermodal service on the newly merged Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad, which connects the upper Midwest with Mexico. 

Starting in mid-May with certain freight, Schneider will be a strategic intermodal carrier on CPKC’s north-south flagship intermodal service between Chicago and all major points in Mexico. 

“Our 30-plus years operating in Mexico and broad portfolio of services will bring an intermodal service offering into and out of Mexico that is comparable to the speed and efficiency of shipping over the road, but with the added benefit of sustainability,” said Schneider President and CEO Mark Rourke in a news release.

Schneider already one of the largest intermodal fleets in North America, with more than 28,000 containers. This is in addition to the company’s other offerings, which includes truckload, regional, brokerage, power-only and more.

“Our team is eager to deliver truck-competitive services to Schneider on our newly created, cross-border single-line network from Mexico into the United States,” said Keith Creel, CPKC president and CEO.

According to CPKC, these services, supported by Schneider's drayage capabilities and expertise in the U.S. and Mexico, will create service reliability in lanes that until now lacked single-line, truck-competitive intermodal options.

CPKC’s International Railroad Bridge over the Rio Grande River at the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, offers a reliable alternative to congested highway ports of entry, according to the company. A second span to expand the bridge’s capacity and further increase the efficiency of cross-border train movements is currently under construction and expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Schneider Expands Western Intermodal

The news comes several months after Schneider announced it had completed the transition of its western rail operations to Union Pacific Railroad, which it said made it the largest company-driver dray fleet on the rail network.

Schneider’s intermodal operations on Union Pacific is another pivotal step in the carrier’s plans to double its intermodal size by 2030 and continue to reduce its carbon footprint. The move gave Schneider access to more rail lanes as well as direct connections on transcontinental freight due to the partnership between the Union Pacific and CSX networks.