Intermodal facilities specialize in handling freight transported in shipping containers.  Intermodal shipments often utilize water, truck, and rail transportation to provide competitive shipping solutions by connecting ports, inland ports, and customers across the continent.  Most intermodal facilities are located along the Class I railroad network and operate on defined schedules with connections to specific ports or other intermodal facilities.  For more information on intermodal shipments, please visit the Association of American Railroads website.

Railroads, both Class I and short lines, provide direct rail service to existing customers and facilities across their networks, handling all manner of products, from raw materials to finished goods. Railroads work with customers to understand shipping needs and properly align railroad assets to support current and future business opportunities.

Many railroads work with landowners, economic development organizations, and other partners to market potential rail-served properties along their networks.  These properties are marketed to companies that desire rail access when evaluating locations for future operations.  Railroads work with prospective customers to determine their rail needs and help them find suitable locations within the rail network.  For available properties along the R. J. Corman network, visit our Sites and Buildings webpage.

Railroads are one of the most important modes of transportation in the mining industry.  These facilities generally produce high volumes of heavy materials, and the railroads provide an economical and efficient way of transporting their products, sometimes even over shorter distances.

Railroads are critical to the agriculture industry, playing a key role in the transportation of products like fertilizer, grains, beverages, food products, and more.  From large grain facilities that can handle more than 100 railcars at a time to the bakeries that receive a few railcars each week to produce food products, railroads are vital to the agricultural supply chain. 

Railroads utilize groups of tracks located in strategic locations, called 'yards', to stage rail equipment and facilitate rail operations in an area. Railroad yards serve as distribution hubs for railroad equipment, allowing railcars to be added to the appropriate train to move from origin to destination across the rail network. Different types of railroad yards, ranging in size and operational complexity, are strategically located at key points along rail corridors to support railroad operations.

Ports are gateway facilities for supply chains utilizing ships or barges, often for import and export business.  Products that will also utilize rail for transportation can be shipped in traditional rail equipment, such as boxcars, or in shipping, or 'intermodal', containers.  Many ports have designated intermodal facilities for transferring containerized products and separate warehouse facilities to load products into traditional rail equipment.

Railroads can play an important role in supporting energy generation and support facilities.  The most common example is the transportation of feedstocks used in the operation of active power plants, but railroads can also provide a viable option for transporting the materials used in the construction of new facilities and demolition debris from decommissioned facilities. 

Inland ports are strategically positioned intermodal facilities that allow containerized freight to be loaded or unloaded at facilities much further inland from a traditional port facility, often leveraging rail transportation as a connection to the port of origin or destination.  Most inland ports are associated with a specific seaport, which significantly extends the reach of that seaport beyond coastal facilities.  

Class I railroads are the backbone of the North American freight rail network.  They operate extensive rail networks that allow for the seamless movement of goods all across the continent.  Although Class I railroads excel at moving freight long distances, they also provide direct service to customers, operate intermodal terminals, and operate transload facilities.  Approximately 70% of the U.S. rail network is owned and operated by the Class I railroads.