Monday, November 2, 2026
The news that moves freight
Ocean Nov 2, 2026 · 7 min read

Schneider moves eastern intermodal from CSX to Norfolk Southern

Schneider leaves CSX after 18 years and bets its eastern boxes on a merger nobody has approved

Schneider National is taking its eastern intermodal business away from CSX and giving it to Norfolk Southern (NS). The move covers a fleet of about 23,900 chassis and 26,800 containers. Intermodal is freight that moves in containers by rail for the long haul, with a truck at each end. Chassis are the wheeled frames that carry those containers on the road.

The deal was announced on 29 October. One FreightWaves report described the agreement as effective in November. A second FreightWaves report on Schneider’s third-quarter results said: “The new service begins in January.” FreightWaves also reported that the announcement did not specify a transition date.

Our view is simple. Schneider is not leaving CSX because NS is better today. It is leaving because of where NS may be in two or three years if its planned merger with Union Pacific (UP) goes through. That is a big bet on a deal regulators have not yet approved. It also leaves CSX with a gap to fill in its eastern intermodal business.

What Schneider is moving

FreightWaves ranks Schneider as the No. 3 domestic intermodal provider in the US. It is asset-based, meaning it owns the containers and chassis and employs the truck drivers, rather than buying all of that from others. According to the joint announcement published by AJOT, Schneider runs more than 60 intermodal rail hubs across North America. Its own company drivers handle more than 90% of its domestic dray moves. Dray is the short truck leg between a rail ramp and a customer’s door.

In return, NS offers its 22-state intermodal network and a list of recent investments:

  • a new Cincinnati–Atlanta service;
  • improved double-stack clearance on its East Edge route linking the Midwest and New England (double-stack means two containers stacked on one rail car, so a train can carry more boxes);
  • terminal expansions in Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina and Illinois;
  • upgrades at Atlanta, Louisville, Harrisburg, Croxton, Chesapeake, Charlotte, Chicago and St. Louis, covering pavement, lighting, storage, maintenance, truck access and security.

NS also reported that its intermodal volume grew 3% in the third quarter of 2026.

Michael Baumgardt, Schneider’s executive vice president of intermodal and logistics, said: “As we transition our primary eastern rail provider to Norfolk Southern, we’ll expand access to key markets”. Ed Elkins, NS’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer, said: “Customers are taking a broader view of intermodal than ever before, and we are investing ahead of that demand.”

The announcement did not disclose financial terms or contract length. It did not say how much extra capacity Schneider expects to gain. The FreightWaves report carried no comment from CSX.

Why we think this is a merger bet

Schneider has drawn the link itself. Alongside its results, the company said the agreement will make it “the only entirely asset-based provider on a single-line transcontinental railroad in the U.S.” FreightWaves notes that this assumes the NS–UP merger is approved.

A single-line route stays with one railroad from start to finish. Today, a container moving from Los Angeles to Atlanta has to be handed from a western railroad to an eastern one. Each handover adds time and a chance for delay. A merged UP–NS would remove that handover on many coast-to-coast lanes.

Executives have played this down. Baumgardt and NS’s Shawn Tureman told FreightWaves the merger was not the driver of the agreement, though it could improve the product. Baumgardt said: “The merger would be icing on the cake in terms of enhancing service, reliability, and speed.” He also framed the move around growth: “It starts with growth and it’s really about, okay, how can we get closer to our customers?”

Schneider’s president and chief executive Jim Filter played down the idea that it must use one railroad for everything. On a call with analysts he said: “I mean, if you look at the UP today, we’re using the CPKC out of Mexico, despite the fact that they have a service”. Schneider said the move does not jeopardise its existing relationship with CPKC.

In our opinion, this matters for forwarders. Schneider is placing its eastern network where the future single-line railroad would be. Other large shippers and intermodal companies will watch whether that pays off.

The CSX history makes this a bigger break

This is not a small customer drifting away. CSX has been Schneider’s main eastern railroad since 2008, according to Transport Topics. In January 2012, the two companies signed what Transport Topics called a “new, multiyear agreement”.

In 2018, Filter, then Schneider’s top intermodal executive, praised CSX’s turnaround. He told FreightWaves: “CSX service has improved in both velocity and consistency.”

Even last month, the relationship looked active. Schneider’s own customer rail update, dated 22 October, said: “Effective October 19, CSX implemented 24-hour transit improvements on the Cincinnati to South Kearny lane.” A week later, Schneider announced it was moving to NS.

Our reading: CSX was still working to keep this business. It still lost it. Service alone did not decide this. Network reach and the merger did.

The two eastern railroads have been fighting over intermodal freight all year. In January, Trains reported that intermodal competition was weighing on NS’s quarterly earnings. It said NS chief executive Mark George promised the railroad “will fight like hell” as competition with CSX heated up. Winning Schneider is the clearest sign yet of that fight. CSX now has to answer it, and in our view the quickest answer is price. Railroads cannot easily add new routes or terminals in a few months. They can cut rates in a few weeks.

What the numbers say about Schneider’s intermodal business

Schneider’s third-quarter intermodal results, as reported by FreightWaves, show a business holding its ground rather than booming:

  • revenue excluding fuel up 2% year on year, to $288 million;
  • loads down 2%;
  • revenue per load excluding fuel up 3%;
  • operating ratio of 92.1%, 190 basis points better than a year earlier. The operating ratio is costs as a share of revenue, so lower is better.

Management said intermodal contract renewals were running “comfortably in the mid-single-digit range.” In plain terms, Schneider is getting mid-single-digit price increases when contracts renew.

That tells us two things. First, Schneider has pricing power right now, so it is not moving out of desperation. Second, with loads down 2%, it needs volume growth. NS’s pitch is about winning freight that currently moves by truck. Schneider’s says the same.

What this means for forwarders and shippers

Most forwarders reading this move international containers. Domestic intermodal still matters to you. Imports transloaded near ports into 53-foot domestic containers can ride these same eastern lanes inland. Rail capacity and pricing in the East affect your inland costs.

Here is what we expect, and these are our views:

  • CSX will have spare eastern intermodal capacity. It has lost a large asset-based customer with a big owned fleet. Railroads with spare train slots usually cut prices to fill them. Forwarders and shippers bidding domestic or transload freight on eastern lanes should ask CSX and its intermodal partners for sharper quotes.
  • NS will be busy absorbing new volume. Tureman told FreightWaves his goal, three months out, is “for our customers not to have noticed anything.” That is the right aim, but switching a fleet this size between railroads takes work at terminals. If you use Schneider on NS lanes in early 2027, build in some buffer on transit times.
  • Merger timing is now a commercial factor. Shippers who sign multi-year rail-linked deals are starting to price in a UP–NS combination. If the merger stalls, Schneider’s case for the switch gets weaker, and some of that freight could move again.
  • Watch the Southeast. The new Cincinnati–Atlanta service and the Atlanta, Charlotte and Louisville upgrades point to NS competing hard for Southeast distribution freight. That is where CSX is also strong, so competition there should be keenest.

None of this changes ocean rates. It does change who you call, and how hard you can push, for the inland leg in the eastern US.

Our call

We expect CSX to respond on price. Our prediction: by the end of the first quarter of 2027, CSX and its intermodal partners will be quoting noticeably lower domestic intermodal rates on eastern lanes than they were before this announcement, to replace the Schneider volume. We also expect CSX’s domestic intermodal volume to show a year-on-year decline in its first-quarter 2027 results, due in April. If both happen, forwarders who bid eastern inland freight early in 2027 will have more leverage than they have had in some time.

Sources