We have needed direct rail from LA/Long Beach to the East Coast for a long time, as long as I’ve been watching California Logistics. There hasn’t been anybody with the power to force it into existence. The West Coast Ports would have been wise to fertilize such an arrangement years ago.
It would cut logistics emissions and costs for many shippers.
Now comes Amazon. They have the market power in logistics and shipments to make it happen. Amazon partners, and that includes most anyone with any volume, can choose this service for ocean freight through LA to Amazon’s East Coast fulfillment centers. It’s called Amazon Global Logistics Standard Ocean Express.
Amazon has not named the rail partner, nor published rates, nor identified which fulfillment centers it will deliver to.
We can guess that it will be faster than many current rail offers, and faster than trucking. It would not be hard either to route around the ‘Chicago bottleneck’, the switching yards causing delays in the Chicago area, or, with enough volume, force better performance there.
BNSF already is investing in faster rail with their Barstow area intermodal transfer yard, and has an agreement with CSX in place for full East Coast access. It will go by way of Kansas City. And the UP merger with Norfolk Southern (NS), if it goes through, will provide a competitive coast-to-coast route.
Amazon has quite a few major customers who will possibly find this offer attractive. Procter & Gamble, 3M, Lands’ End, and American Eagle Outfitters are three early customers for Amazon Supply Chain Services.
It should have happened years ago, but better late than never.
By 24/7 Staff September 28, 2026
Aug 22, 2025
