Welcome to the Bales on Rail program

Put Your Bales on Rail and Connect to the Recovered Paper Markets

July 21, 2008 - Through the Bales on Rail program, CN has partnered with Norfolk Southern (NS) to offer you the ability to reach hundreds of domestic paper customers, as well as ports across North America for your export shipments.

Benefit from scheduled railroading and be assured that your shipments are delivered on time. You get the equipment capacity and rail network capacity that you need. Our innovative routing protocols ensure your paper shipments enjoy smooth connections and optimal transit to every major market.

CN and NS have access to paper mill locations in Canada and U.S.

CN and NS' combined rail networks reach numerous paper mills across Canada and eastern U.S. (PDF 1.50MB), so you can take advantage of more fiber sourcing and delivery options.

We have the equipment to move your recovered paper products

Recovered paper typically moves in 50-ft, 75-ton standard boxcars. Benefit from more loading capacity and lower costs per ton of fiber shipments by using larger, higher capacity boxcars:

• 60-ft, Plate F, 100-ton boxcar (43% increase in volume shipped per car)
• 50-ft, Plate F, 100-ton boxcar (19% increase in volume shipped per car)

Furthermore, our Certified Loader/Unloader Program ensures that customers have a paper-grade railcar that is damage-free, clean and suitable for immediate reloading.

Rail is the environmentally friendly transportation choice

For long-haul shipments to Canadian and eastern U.S. markets, the rail portion of the shipment is a very “green” choice. We can move one tonne of freight 197 kilometres on just one litre of fuel.

Compare rail and truck transportation: Use our greenhouse gas calculator to estimate your GHG emission savings when shipping with CN.

In addition to being lower than the trucking industry, CN has the most competitive fuel surcharge in the rail industry, so you can get better value for your transportation dollars.

For shipments over 1,000 miles, using intermodal transport cuts fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 65% relative to truck transport alone.

Contact CN or NS today

Take advantage of the Bales on Rail program today. Contact a CN market expert to find out how CN and NS can help you manage your recovered fiber shipments, or to become a certified loader/unloader. You can also talk to an NS paper market expert.