Comments due November 18, 2026

UP–NS Merger: Which of Your Lanes Lose an Option?

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have asked the Surface Transportation Board to approve a merger. The Board denied the motions to dismiss on September 18 and set the schedule. Shippers who want conditions attached have until November 18 to say so, lane by lane. We do the lane work.

The schedule

STB docket FD 36873. Dates from the Board's September 18 decision.

Sept 18
Motions for summary denial from BNSF, CSX and a coalition of shipper groups denied. Application proceeds.
Sept 30
Notices of intent to participate due.
Nov 18
Comments, protests and requests for conditions due. This is the window that matters for a shipper.
Feb 16, 2027
Responses to comments. A decision follows later in 2027.

Separately, the Board has proposed repealing its 2024 reciprocal switching rules. If that goes through, the merger record is the remaining place to secure gateway access commitments.

What the review does

  1. Maps every lane. Origin, destination, current routing, every interchange and gateway, and which carrier prices each leg today.
  2. Sorts them. Lanes that become single-line on the merged railroad. Lanes where a BNSF or CSX alternative exists today and would need a preserved gateway to survive. Lanes that are unaffected.
  3. Quantifies it. For the exposed lanes, what the second routing is worth to you now, in rate leverage and in service backup, using our rail rate engine and your current pricing.
  4. Writes the ask. A comment in your name with the lane facts and specific condition requests: gateway preservation at named interchanges, service metric commitments, rate protections for the transition period. Drafted for you or your counsel to file.
  5. Prepares the renegotiation. Which contracts to reopen before close, and what gateway and service language to write in.

Who should do this now

  • Shippers on NS in the Southeast and Mid-South whose freight reaches UP or BNSF at New Orleans, Memphis or Meridian.
  • Shippers on NS in the Midwest interchanging at Chicago, St. Louis or Kansas City.
  • Short-line served plants whose short line connects to NS and today routes to a western carrier through a gateway.
  • Anyone with 10 to 500 cars a month and no traffic desk to do this in-house. The large shippers have counsel and associations. This is for everyone else.

What it costs

A flat fee, quoted before we start, sized to the number of lanes. No hourly billing and no percentage of anything. The scoping call is free.

What we are not

  • Not a law firm. We prepare the lane analysis and the draft; filing is yours or your counsel's.
  • Not a railroad, and not a source of binding rates. Every rate figure is an indicative estimate until a carrier puts it in writing.

Background: Class I and short line routings, this week's Rail Freight Pressure Report.

Scope a review

Tell us your railroads and rough volume. We come back within one business day with what the review would cover and the flat fee.

Confidential. Nothing you send is shared with a carrier.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to file a comment with the STB?

You do not have to. But the merger conditions the Board attaches come from the record, and the record is what shippers file by November 18, 2026. The trade associations file for their members' interests in general terms. Nobody files for your specific gateways unless you do.

Which shippers are exposed?

Any shipper whose freight moves on Norfolk Southern and reaches Union Pacific or BNSF at a gateway such as New Orleans, Memphis, Meridian, St. Louis, Chicago or Kansas City. Today that interchange gives you two routings and two negotiating partners. After the merger some of those lanes become single-line, and the BNSF option may need protecting.

What does the review cost?

A flat fee agreed before we start, based on the number of lanes. It is quoted up front and does not change. The first call to scope it is free.

Can you file the comment for me?

We draft it in your name with the lane facts and the specific conditions requested. Filing with the STB is done by you or your counsel; a law firm is not required to file a shipper comment.

What if the merger is approved without conditions I asked for?

Then the review still tells you which contracts to renegotiate before close and what gateway and service commitments to write into them. That is the second half of the deliverable.