Intermodal Rail

In 1986, NWCS joined forces with the Union Pacific Railroad (www.up.com) to offer our customers an efficient and dependable overnight train service, the "Daily Direct." Since its inception, Daily Direct service has grown from the original three days per week to the current six day weekly schedule between Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle terminals. NWCS focuses primarily on meeting steamship line customer cutoffs but works diligently to keep its commitment to all customers.
In 2002, NWCS also partnered with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (www.bnsf.com) to offer intermodal rail service between Pasco, WA, Quincy, WA and Tacoma/Seattle, WA.

Rail Cars NWCS owns its railcars, which gives us the advantage of car availability and scheduling flexibility in an ever-changing market. In 1997, NWCS purchased 24, 5-well double stack container cars from Gunderson, Inc. (www.gundersoninc.com ) in Portland, OR. These cars were specifically designed for NWCS use and are the only cars of their type in the world. NWCS also purchased 6 additional 5-well double stack container cars from Gunderson in 2002, and 10 more in 2005. These cars are designed for heavy well capacity loadings and to allow for container size flexibility. These purchases have brought the NWCS car fleet to 40 cars.

Rail Car Maintenance and Cleaning NWCS performs minor repairs to its own rail cars at NWCS facilities. Major repairs are completed primarily by Union Pacific Railroad.

Rail Safety NWCS is fully compliant with the Association of American Railroad's Securement Standard Operating Practice and all other state and federal rail safety requirements. Rail personnel are trained to ensure compliance and securement audits are performed at each facility.

Long Haul Truck Drayage Primarily as a back up to logistic service, we can provide direct trucking for container loads and empties. We can provide this as an express service to meet your cut-off gate deadlines.

Short Haul Truck Drayage We can provide direct trucking, train to dock for container loads or empties. Additional local services are available upon request, including container and/or chassis repositioning with inventory management.