Shippers

A stronger supply chain starts here.

Flexible

BNSF offers the most flexible intermodal services in the industry, making it easier for you to manage your logistics and optimize supply chain efficiencies.

The Most Options

Customize your shipping strategies with our diverse service portfolio.

  • Full range of time-sensitive (expedited container and expedited trailer) to value-oriented (standard container) service offerings.
  • Comprehensive import and export services available thanks to partnerships with more than 20 industry-leading ocean carriers.
  • Customized domestic solutions utilizing over 100 partnerships with best-in-class motor carriers—all of which leverage the best of truck and rail.
  • We work closely with our trucking and ocean carrier partners to deliver flexible, customized solutions that meet your priorities regarding speed, cost and frequency.
    • For example, if you're trying to reach Charlotte, N.C., from Southern California, we could offer you three options:
      • Option A offers the most savings on an all-rail (BNSF and CSX) route that takes seven days.
      • Option B takes five days, with BNSF rail to Atlanta and truck to Charlotte.
      • Option C offers expedited rail service to Atlanta, then truck to Charlotte for a four-day transit

The Most Capacity

Support the scope of any project at any time by taking advantage of our extensive route, equipment and facility capacity.

  • As the only railway to work exclusively with asset-based carriers who own their own equipment, we ensure you have access to virtually unlimited capacity even at peak times.
  • With the newest locomotive fleet in the industry and state-of-the-art hubs featuring the latest technological advances, we have the infrastructure in place to accommodate your current and future transportation needs.

The Broadest Reach

BNSF's unparalleled network connects you to more major U.S. markets than any other provider, so you can reach more customers.

  • We provide you with direct access to the country's biggest and fastest-growing inland markets, including Dallas/Fort Worth, Kansas City, Chicago, Memphis and Atlanta.
  • Our intermodal network gives you access to the top U.S. markets—and covers 96% of the U.S. population.

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Reliable

BNSF offers the most reliable service in the industry, so you can count on us to help get your job done, allowing you to focus on the many other aspects of your logistics management.

The Highest Frequency of Departures

Access more paths to on-time delivery with more weekly train departures than any other provider.

The Best Performance

Ensure your shipments arrive on-time (and damage-free) by working with the fastest intermodal carrier in the industry.

  • Our hubs are the highest performing and most efficient in the industry.
  • We provide speeds that meet or even beat single-driver, over-the-road transit times in many routes.
  • BNSF is best-in-class for safe and damage-free shipments.

A Dedicated Team

Experience exemplary customer service throughout your shipment process.

  • An integrated approach and cohesive team make our level of service and responsiveness a true differentiator. Our dedicated team is comprised of intermodal specialists—people who know the business because they live the business.
  • Our award-winning Customer Support is accessible 24/7/365, so you can have peace of mind even if things don't go as planned.

Economical

BNSF's cost-effective intermodal services allow you to optimize your supply chain strategy, thereby eliminating costs.

  • We can help you take costs out of your supply chain by customizing and streamlining how you work with suppliers, how you source goods and how you manage warehousing.
  • Annually, we collaborate with shippers and carriers to identify opportunities to convert more than 400,000 over-the-road only loads, delivering over $300M in potential supply chain savings to those intermodal customers.
  • Receive your own personalized review of your freight flows using BNSF's Intermodal Advisor Tool

Innovative

BNSF offers the most reliable service in the industry, so you can count on us to help get the job done, allowing you to focus on the many other aspects of your logistics management.

The First Name in the Industry

Access more paths to on-time delivery with more weekly train departures than any other provider.

  • First to offer truck-like intermodal service.
  • First and only railroad to partner exclusively with motor carriers to market its intermodal services.
  • First railroad to offer differentiated intermodal service levels.
  • First and only railroad to offer single network reach from the West Coast to Atlanta.
  • First railroad to champion the Logistics Park (LP) concept in designing Intermodal facilities at LP Alliance (DFW), LP Chicago, LP Memphis, and LP Kansas City.

Speed and Reliability

Ensure your shipments arrive on-time (and damage-free) by working with the fastest intermodal carrier in the industry.

  • By developing the industry's first logistics parks strategically located to support key transitions in intermodal transportation routes, we are making intermodal transportation faster, more efficient and more reliable.
  • Multiple service levels offer intermodal solutions for a broad range of needs; service options range from sensitive parcel and temperature-controlled to price and capacity-sensitive truckload shipments.

Flexibility and Efficiency

Experience exemplary customer service throughout your shipment process.

  • We are constantly working on innovations to expand the flexibility of intermodal to support a broader range of cargo and technical specifications from our customers.
  • With easy-to-use tracking software, we are making it easier than ever for customers to see everything in their intermodal supply chain and manage it even more efficiently.