Key inland rail terminals battle post-storm congestion, driver complaints

Rail terminals at key inland hubs have become congested with containers two weeks after a severe winter storm slammed a large portion of the US, slowing both the handoff of import boxes to trucks and the start of export moves.

While port-to-rail service and linehaul performance have largely returned to normal for US Class I railroads, the delays and bottlenecks triggered by the storm have now moved downstream to terminals in Chicago, Cincinnati and Memphis.

“We’ve had drivers spending up to five hours just in line, consistently missing deliveries and having containers going into [demurrage],” said one Chicago-based trucker who asked not to be identified. “The customers refuse to pay and are getting frustrated. Drivers are getting frustrated.”

Truckers say the terminal delays are eroding productivity and adding costs, particularly as railroads assess fees during extended container dwell times. For drayage providers, profitability depends on delivering cargo, making hours-long delays inside terminals costly.

Frustration has been directed at BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and Union Pacific Railroad (UP).

Slowdowns are common during frigid temperatures because heavy equipment such as overhead cranes and hostler vehicles can malfunction. Outdoor terminal crews also must battle the harsh conditions.

In Memphis, drivers have raised concerns after UP began stacking ocean containers inside the terminal on Feb. 4 because of a chassis shortage, according to a UP advisory circulated to drivers and shared with the Journal of Commerce.

A UP spokesperson declined to confirm the advisory’s authenticity, although two independent sources provided copies to the Journal of Commerce.

“Union Pacific does not own chassis and works closely with customers and their carriers to ensure availability,” the UP spokesperson said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. “Following the unprecedented storm, Union Pacific recovered exceptionally well and maintained a fluid rail network.”

Truckers object to UP’s decision, prompted by the post-storm conditions, to charge a fee to lift containers out of stacks. The so-called “flip fee” traditionally applies when transferring a container from a perfectly usable pool chassis to a trucker’s privately owned chassis. Other North American Class I railroads do not assess a fee in similar circumstances, and major US ports similarly do not charge simply to lift a container from a stack onto a truck.

Cargo owners are not covering the cost, so UP’s decision is a financial hit for truckers, provoking angry e-mails from truckers that were shared with the Journal of Commerce.

Data from technology provider E-Dray shows that the average time to unload an ocean container and make it available at UP’s Memphis terminal has increased from less than one (0.7) day before the storm to 2.9 days as of this week.

Frustrations with BNSF, Norfolk Southern

Drivers report similar frustrations at BNSF’s Memphis and Logistics Park Chicago terminals, where E-Dray data shows container availability times have doubled from approximately one day to two days in both locations.

The delays are not driven by chassis shortages, but by extended waits for crane availability.

“Turn times at both facilities are about 30%, or 20 minutes longer,” Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s group vice president of consumer products, told the Journal of Commerce. “We expect that turn times [will] return back to normal at both facilities next week, likely Memphis a little sooner.”

In Chicago, drivers have also voiced concerns about Norfolk Southern terminals, although E-Dray data shows no material deterioration in terminal efficiency metrics there.

Norfolk Southern, however, acknowledged congestion in Cincinnati.

“We are taking proactive steps to improve the driver experience, reduce dwell, and maintain service reliability,” NS wrote in a Feb. 3 advisory posted online. “Our focus is on restoring smooth terminal flow and improving the driver experience as quickly as possible.”

Congestion also remains elevated in Louisville, where a disruption that began more than a month ago persists.

Linehaul performance rebounds

Moving containers into major inland hubs is no longer an issue for the railroads.

BNSF’s transit times between Floyd, Mississippi, and Des Plaines, Illinois, nearly doubled to 19 hours in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but had fallen back to about 10 hours as of Feb. 5, according to rail visibility provider RailState.

UP’s transit times between Edwardsville, Kansas, and Mazonia, Illinois, spiked to nearly 80 hours after the storm before declining to approximately 35 hours this week, RailState data showed. NS’ transit times between Mishawaka, Indiana, and East Palestine, Ohio, jumped about 50% during the storm but have since returned to historical norms.

(The RailState data used in this report was the 75th percentile of transit times, as calculated by RailState, to better capture “outlier” instances created by the storm.)

This article was originally published in The Journal of Commerce on Feb. 6, 2026.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.