Union Pacific Railroad recently initiated a new intermodal service between Laredo, Texas  and Memphis, Tenn., supporting growing transportation needs for the automotive manufacturing and intermodal marketplaces.

This third-morning service connects businesses in the southeastern United States and Mexico.

As the automotive industry continues to rebound and shift production to North America, manufacturers increasingly are locating vehicle production and auto parts distribution facilities near where they are most likely to be consumed or purchased, says Union Pacific

"The development of this Laredo-Memphis service lane represents Union Pacific's commitment to creating innovative products and services to meet the evolving needs of our automotive customers," said Linda Brandl, vice president of automotive at Union Pacific. "With a truck-competitive transit time, this service allows our automotive manufacturing customers to convert truck shipments to rail with minimal impact to their on-hand inventory of auto parts and the customized racks required to ship them."