Shippers Vent Frustrations Over Lack of Rail Capacity

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OLEDO, Ohio — Members of a key shippers’ group vented their frustrations over what they said was slow and inadequate freight service to railroad officials who were not able to offer immediate hope for faster transportation of the shippers’ goods.

The shipper-customers, meeting here, also said the slowness on the rails as their peak shipping season approaches has spilled over and heightened competition for truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal transportation as alternatives, which they said are either getting hard to come by or rising in price.

The Aug. 2-3 meetings of members of the National Industrial Transportation League, the largest U.S. shippers group, came the week after the Federal Reserve reported a growing pattern of tightness in the market for freight transportation.

“I think we’re going to have the mother of all shortages this fall,” said Jeff Brashares, president of Pacer Global Logistics, a logistics provider and intermodal marketer.

For the full story, see the Aug. 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.