This kind of partnership is fantastic. More of the benefits of merger but without the costs and headaches.

Maybe true, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s such a great idea, why didn’t it happen long ago, and why was it (seemingly) prompted by the merger of rivals with the intention of doing the exact same thing (cost to coast seamless shipping)?

And since I know little about how that sort of thing works, can it be true that for 100 years they have shipped to a terminal somewhere in the middle of the country, dumped cars onto sidings or switching yards, and then waited for some other company to come along and hook them up and carry on?

Both companies now say that these sorts of combos will save “at least” a day in transcontinental shipping. So apparently yes, to my question above. I would think saving 24-48 hours would have been a great benefit for producers and importers; why wasn’t this done long ago? Customer benefits generally result in better outcomes; where was BNSF all this time? (The other guys too, actually.)