Norfolk Southern maintains excellence from ship to railcar

[NS Newsfeed]

Partnership with port helps move autos & other cargo



Norfolk Southern Corp., one of the nation's premier transportation companies, has played a vital role in moving precious cargo in and out of the Port of Baltimore. The foundation for Norfolk Southern's long-term success was created in 1982 from the merger between Norfolk & Western and Southern Railway. Today, the company operates 20,000 route miles in 22 states and Washington, D.C., and has the most extensive intermodal network on the East Coast.



Norfolk Southern has been especially productive in helping the automobile business at the Port, which handles the most vehicles of any port in the nation. Renee Palin, Manager, Ports & Development for Norfolk Southern, said the Port of Baltimore has done a stellar job with keeping its facilities up-to-date to effectively manage the amount of cargo it handles.



"The Port of Baltimore has been very proactive with rail infrastructure investments on Dundalk Marine Terminal, upgrading the rail track and switches in the former intermodal yard to accommodate automobile multilevel railcar loading and unloading, as well as adding pavement to other rail yards on the Port for more efficient handling of automobile and machinery rail traffic," Palin said.



As Norfolk Southern continues to grow, the company prides itself on safety and has received numerous awards for providing its employees with a quality work environment. To maintain this excellence, Norfolk Southern offers behavior-based training to help improve safety and customer service. This training emphasizes the use of positive reinforcement to sustain safe workplace habits, and supports continued safety process improvements.



In addition, the company participates in Operation Lifesaver, a national organization dedicated to eliminating highway-rail grade crossing crashes and trespasser incidents. This dedication has helped Norfolk Southern forge productive relationships with outside vendors, including many customers and stevedoring operators at the Port of Baltimore.



"These entities and Norfolk Southern collectively work to provide service to satisfy customers' needs and to grow the overall rail traffic volumes with new and existing customers," Palin said. "These partnerships are invaluable to Norfolk Southern."



One example of these partners working together involved an import shipment of modules for a power generation station. The modules were longer than the railcars, requiring an empty flatcar to be indexed between each loaded railcar. These modules also had to be assembled in a specific way for the placement order at destination. Intricate planning with the Port of Baltimore, customers, stevedores and Norfolk Southern permitted this long train to be assembled on the Port for a single, special train move.



"It would be impossible to satisfy the customers' needs without all entities working together and finding solutions for special situations," Palin said.



Joseph Greco, Sr., MPA Director, Intermodal/Trade Development, describes Norfolk Southern as "an integral component of what makes the Port of Baltimore successful." He added, "They continue to show their support for all of our strategic commodities and work closely with the MPA's Intermodal/Trade Development, principles, which is why the partnership has been so successful."



Since becoming operational in summer 2013, the direct-to-rail discharge track at Dundalk Marine Terminal has helped stimulate business growth, save time and improve rail efficiency, according to Palin. Previously, Norfolk Southern would place empty railcars under the heavy–lift crane to wait for cargo from the berth. Loaded railcars could not be moved until all securement was completed and approved.



"This delay influenced the arrival of export shipments and created congestion with idle railcars awaiting the use of the heavy–lift crane," Palin said. "Loading and securing cargo directly adjacent to the ship relieves some of the congestion and switching at the busy rail tracks around the heavy-lift crane."



While boosting its daily operations, Norfolk Southern has also taken an industry-wide lead in developing environmentally-friendly initiatives. Most recently, Norfolk Southern released two of 25 emissions-friendly locomotives funded by the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program for road testing from its Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, Pa. These locomotives have a distinctive paint scheme designed to reflect their environmentally-friendly mission.



Late last year, Norfolk Southern became a member of the Campbell Institute at the National Safety Council, which recognizes world–class performers in environmental, health and safety management. This announcement came even as the company is making progress toward its five-year strategic plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, driving improved operating efficiencies and customer service. The company's goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 10 percent per revenue ton-mile, and it is nearly 79 percent of the way toward reaching that milestone with one year remaining.