Rail Shipment Tracking Tips

Valuable educational information related to tracking rail shipments.

Rail Bill of Lading Parties Defined

Here is a scenario that was a bit confusing for which parties to use on the bill of lading: A 3rd party will be loading and generating bills of lading on behalf of their customer who is selling the product that is loaded into the railcars are are leasing the...

Six tips on how to get the most out of Steelroads Track and Trace

In an article last month, I explained how to get access to Steelroads*, the single portal that gives you visibility of all your freight rail shipments anywhere in North America. This article will give you some tips on how to best use Steelroads to your advantage. Related: How to sign...

Trace all your rail shipments on a single website – for free

The Holy Grail for many rail shippers is to find a single website where one or many railcar initial and number(s) can be entered / pasted and no matter where the railcar is in North America, it will return the last reported sighting. Over the last year, I have reviewed...

What to do when the railroad track & trace tools aren’t enough

You are feeling pain. Gaining visibility of your growing rail shipments on multiple railroads has become cumbersome. Reports that took 5 minutes to prepare are now taking an hour or more. Management wants more detailed (aka complicated and time consuming) reports because there is more at stake. Issues that once...

Railroad free track & trace tools – reduce the learning curve

The Class I railroads have made an effort to provide tools for customers to gain visibility of en route rail shipments. The offerings vary widely across the railroads. Over the last year, I have provided articles on how to sign up for and use Class I railroad track & trace...

Track and Trace Your Rail Shipments For Free With Canadian Pacific Customer Station

This article has been updated on 1/25/2017 to reflect the latest updates to Customer Station Canadian Pacific is another Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called Customer Station. You can bill...

Track & Trace Your Rail Shipments For Free With Canadian National Tools

This article has been updated on 1/27/2017 to reflect the latest updates to Tools. Canadian National is another Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called Tools. You can plan a shipment,...

Track and Trace Your Rail Shipments With Union Pacific on MyUPRR

Union Pacific is another Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called MyUPRR. You can plan a shipment, get pricing, bill a shipment and pay for a shipment here, but this article focuses...

Track & Trace Railcar Shipments with Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s BNSF.com

Burlington Northern Santa Fe is another Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called BNSF.com. You can plan a shipment, get pricing, bill a shipment and pay for a shipment here, but...

Track & Trace Railcar Shipments with Norfolk Southern’s accessNS

Norfolk Southern is another Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called accessNS. You can plan a shipment, get pricing, bill a shipment and pay for a shipment here, but this article...

Track & Trace Railcar Shipments with ShipCSX

This article has been updated on 1/27/2017 to reflect the latest updates to ShipCSX CSX Transportation is one Class I railroad that provides web-based tools for rail shippers and receivers to track their shipments. They package their railcar tracking tools into what is called ShipCSX. You can plan a shipment, get...

Track and trace your rail shipments for free

If you ship or receive freight on rail, at some point you are going to want to have visibility of where those railcars are and when they are going to arrive. The Class I railroads provide web-based railcar shipment tracking tools with varying functionality. This is the beginning of a...

Railcar Tracking Blog has a new name and new location

Railcar Tracking Blog (http://railcartracking.wordpress.com) , established in 2011, is a place where rail shippers, receivers, and railcar fleet owners can find helpful information related to tracking rail shipments and managing railcar fleets. The blog is sponsored by Railcar Tracking Company (RTC) and the articles were written by RTC with occasional input from other industry experts. The...

What is a CIF and what does it have to do with tracking railcars?

If you ship or receive rail shipments and attempt to track these shipments, you may have experienced the problem of not having visibility of some shipments due to your company not getting listed on the waybill or due to the way your company is listed on the waybill. You may have heard the terms "CIF"...

What features are commonly included in a rail shipment tracking and fleet management system?

Rail shipment tracking and fleet management systems are offered by several vendors, which offer many similar features. These systems lower administrative costs, improve supply chain performance and increase utilization of railcar fleets. This article summarizes those most common features and then also points out some less common features. Overall, I hope...

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