Dive Brief:

• BNSF Railway launched a new intermodal service between the Pacific Northwest and Texas, which will run Monday to Friday in both directions.
• The new service — which will stop in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX among others — will reduce shipping time by up to two days, the company said in a press release. In addition, clients in Oklahoma can take advantage of a short-haul trip to reach the intermodal terminal in Texas.
• The company is taking advantage of the railway's "underutilized capacity" along this route and hopes the expedited service will capture part of the fall harvest market.

Dive Insight:

The company is marketing its "underutilized capacity," but some would consider the wording a pleasant way of admitting the effects of a slowing freight markets. As a result, BNSF is maneuvering to capture a greater share of the fall harvest market by expanding offerings at minimal cost.

Notably, BNSF states the new service is just the "first of other new routes that will be announced and rolled out over the next year." 

The strategy may be paying off: the company's 10-K reports reveal the railway has captured 1.5% in market share since the previous year, while increasing its transport of agricultural and industrial products by 1% as well. In addition, Logistics Management reports the new routes have been made available as the coal industry's need for the routes decreases.