This article gives a very comprehensive and understandable overview of the rail crisis facing intermodal customers in the US.

By: Larry Gross | July 24 2014 

When rail service tanked last winter, a key culprit was easily visible. In the center of the polar vortex, the intermodal hub of Chicago was besieged by a never-ending series of bruising winter storms and frigid temperatures that hampered operations and drove the local railroads into the ground. But now it’s the middle of summer. The snow melted long ago, but service continues to sputter, showing little improvement from levels seen during the depths of winter. Why? For one, the brutal winter was a big contributor to the slowdown, but it wasn’t the only cause. Rail service began to slip long before.

To read the entire article, visit JOC