The Spigot: How Commerce Flows from Southern California Ports onto U.S. Rails: Railroading's New Economy: Part 2 of 2

This article discusses the commerce flow through Southern California in terms of intermodal exchange between ports and railways. Intermodal containerized exchanges were substantial enough in the Los Angeles-Long Beach region to make it the world’s fifth largest such port after Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Most of the rail distribution of imported goods is handled by Burlington, Northern, Santa Fe (BNSF) and Union Pacific (UP), although other carriers also benefit through exchange. Most of the increasing traffic in this region is part of the increasing U.S. trend toward imported goods, particularly containerized goods, as opposed to domestic products, whose consumption has remained flat. The operation of the Los Angeles-Long Beach port is also discussed, and an article providing a list of the shippers that operate out of the port as well as a map indicating the overall integration distribution are included. The article also explains the manner in which the trains leave the Los Angeles area and extend into the rest of the country.