BNSF
“Momentum across the network is improving as we move through the first week of December,” BNSF told customers in a Dec. 5 online notification. “The Thanksgiving holiday temporarily impacted key performance metrics, but service levels have returned to pre-holiday levels as we head into the weekend [see chart above]. Freight volumes, which eased over the holiday, have also rebounded to stronger levels over the past few days.”
According to the Class I railroad, portions of the Southern Transcon and the Northern Corridor experienced pockets of cold weather, following the late-November Arctic cold snap and continued cold temperatures on Dec. 5, which it said prompted train length restrictions in the north. “As we move through the weekend and into early next week, colder temperatures and increased chances for snow and icy conditions are expected across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest,” the railroad noted. “Train length restrictions will remain in place in affected areas through the weekend, and BNSF operating teams continue to closely monitor these systems to support safe and consistent rail operations.” (BNSF noted that additional information regarding winter preparedness and response efforts is on its website.)
“Seasonal conditions are expected across the rest of the network,” BNSF reported, “and no significant disruptions are anticipated at this time.”
Meanwhile, November was the 11th “record-breaking” month in a row for BNSF terminal dwell, the railroad reported via social media.
“Congratulations and thank you to our teams for relentlessly tapping away at dwell,” BNSF noted in its post. “You’re doing great things for our customers!”
Separately, the BNSF-served NEW Cooperative recently expanded its Osceola, Iowa, location, and BNSF, Hillwood, and the City of Fort Worth, Tex., late last month announced the creation of the Alliance Logistics District.
CSX
For the second consecutive year, Newsweek has recognized CSX as the top Transportation and Logistics (T&L) company on its America’s Most Responsible Companies List, the Class I railroad reported Dec. 4.
Among the other 21 companies selected for the T&L category are: Union Pacific (No. 2), Wabtec Corporation (No. 3), The Greenbrier Companies (No. 4), J.B. Hunt (No. 8), United Parcel Service (No. 9), C.H. Robinson (No. 11), and FedEx (No. 12).
T&L was one of 14 categories represented on the Newsweek list, which comprises 600 U.S. companies evaluated on more than 30 key performance indicators across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions. Other categories were Technology; Retail and Consumer Goods; Professional Services; Materials and Chemicals; Health Care, Life Sciences, and Pharmaceuticals; Financial; Capital Goods; and Automotive and Components.
CSX said that it improved its ranking on the overall list, moving to No. 169 from No. 171. UP ranked No. 173 overall in 2026, up from No. 251 in 2025.
Newsweek and Statista compile the annual list, selecting companies based on CSR/ESG reports, financial disclosures, reputation surveys, and “strict eligibility criteria, including transparency and a clean record on environmental issues,” CSX noted.
“For some consumers, what’s important isn’t just what a company offers but how they manufacture or provide those products or services,” Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer H. Cunningham said. “When consumers and investors know that a company is socially conscious, they are more likely to align themselves with it.”
“We are honored to be recognized as an industry leader in corporate responsibility,” commented Brian Tucker, Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability at CSX. “This achievement reflects our commitment to sustainable operations, supporting our communities, and maintaining the highest standards of governance.”
In other CSX news, the railroad recently celebrated its Rocky Mount terminal in North Carolina and will next year open its TRANSFLO Petersburg Terminal in Virginia.
CN
“For nearly a decade, CN has been working with First Nations, local governments, emergency responders, and regulators to deliver annual emergency preparedness and spill response exercises across B.C.,” the railroad reported on its website Dec. 5. “These hands-on trainings strengthen relationships and create space for shared learning rooted in transparency and trust.”
CN in 2025 partnered with Tsʼil Kaz Koh First Nation (Burns Lake Band), a Wet’suwet’en community, and the nearby Lake Babine First Nation in northern British Columbia, where the Bulkley and Nechako river basins meet. The region, it noted, “forms part of some of Canada’s largest and most important watersheds, including the Fraser and Skeena systems.” These waterways are said to sustain local ecosystems, support families and communities, and connect the traditional territories of many Indigenous nations.
According to CN, the 2025 exercise brought together its environmental and emergency response teams, Tsʼil Kaz Koh leadership and Lake Babine guardians, local firefighters and first responders, and provincial and federal regulatory partners. Together, they practiced coordinated response strategies, tested specialized equipment, and reviewed real-world scenarios designed to protect the community’s drinking-water wells, lakes, and surrounding river systems.
The exercise created space for connection, according to the railroad. “These conversations help ensure that, should an incident ever occur, everyone is ready: trained, equipped, and united by a shared goal to protect the land, the water, and the people who depend on them,” CN said.
“My level of confidence is definitely higher than it was before, because of the awareness and the education that our responders received during the process,” noted Henry Wiebe, Mayor of Burns Lake.
“The partnerships between all response agencies and the regulatory bodies that were present here worked flawlessly,” CN Director, Environment-Network Operations Aaron Stadnyk said. “All organizations were able to collectively come together and implement one strategic plan to address the scenario.”
Earlier this month, CN earned an Environment Award from the Railway Association of Canada for its B.C. Spill Drill and Exercise Program: Strengthening Communities.
In other developments, the Canadian Class I railroad recently reignited CargoCool Intelligen Powerpack service out of the Port of Prince Rupert in B.C., and published its 2024 Delivering Responsibly Sustainability Report.
CPKC
CPKC earlier this month shared a social media post by AVP of U.S. Government Affairs Larry Lloyd, who traveled to Washington, D.C., with President and CEO Keith Creel, Railway Age’s 2021 Railroader of the Year and 2022 Railroader of the Year, an award he received in partnership with the late Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer.
According to Lloyd, among the highlights of his trip with “the best chief executive in the business”: “Providing Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz [(R-Texas)] an overview of how we are using technology to remain the safest railroad in North America [see picture, top]. Sharing how our new service offerings are enhancing competition across the rail industry. Describing our massive investments in both #Texas manufacturing through the purchase of 100 new Wabtec Corporation Tier 4 locomotives and in American rail capacity with a second international bridge span at #Laredo, TX.”
Creel wrapped up his visit “with a focus on his home state of #Alabama—and a little #Auburn football—during a stop visit to the office of Alabama’s senior senator, Coach Tommy Tuberville,” Lloyd said (see picture above). “CPKC’s expansion into Alabama [creating a new direct Class I interchange with the acquisition of 50 miles of the former Meridian & Bigbee Railroad] and our interline collaboration with CSX has sparked new rail competition by creating new options for shippers linking markets in the Southeast, Texas and #Mexico via our Southeast Mexico Express service.”
In response the social media post, retired Canadian Pacific Senior Vice President Doug McFarlane noted: “Let me first admit my professional and personal bias, having worked at CP for several decades including with and for Keith Creel. That said, whenever you see pics or videos of Creel in any company situation with investors, politicians, customers, industry colleagues or CPKC internal, he always looks and sounds professional, confident, well prepared, comfortable, but serious about his role. It is very easy to conclude that ‘he belongs’ in any / all of those situations, and that is because he does! I agree with your assessment that he is the best in the business in his role. CPKC, shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders are in good hands with him at the helm!”
Redrawing the U.S. Class I network, Surface Transportation Board perspectives, freight rail business development strategies and technological breakthroughs will be among the topics discussed at Railway Age’s Next-Gen Freight Rail Conference, to be held March 10, 2026, at the Union League Club of Chicago. Also at this important event, Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Orr will receive Railway Age’s 2026 Railroader of the Year award.
