The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway are stepping up their efforts to compete with trucking.

The companies are offering a seamless, coast-to-coast intermodal trailer service for time-sensitive premium freight moving between Southern California and Rutherford, Pa., and Croxton, N.J. Eastbound service runs Thursday through Sunday; westbound service runs Tuesday through Saturday.
"This new premium service reduces transcontinental rail transit time and allows customers with very time-sensitive freight the opportunity to sell coast-to-coast third and fourth day service to the marketplace -- something previously only available through team driver over-the-road transportation," said Steve Branscum, group vice president, BNSF Consumer Products Business Unit. "This is another example of how BNSF and NS have partnered to provide customers with a cost-effective, intermodal solution that is truck-competitive."
BNSF provides the line-haul service between Southern California and Chicago, while NS provides the line-haul service between Chicago and the East Coast. The train runs non-stop with only a crew change in Chicago.
The new intermodal trailer service will decrease transit times between coasts by at least half a day and reduce cross-town drayage through Chicago, according to Michael R. McClellan, vice president, NS Intermodal Marketing. It builds on the seamless container services the two companies launched earlier this year linking California to the Northeast and the Southeast.