Hub Group extends Premier Service Network

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/1999

Hub Group Inc., the nation's largest intermodal marketing company (IMC), has reached a multi-year agreement with Norfolk Southern that extends Hub's Premier Service Network into the Eastern and Southeastern markets. Earlier this year, Hub and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway agreed to continue the container-management program for several years. Launched in May 1998, Premier Service Network combines the IMC's electronic data interchange (EDI) system, controlled-drayage program, and asset-management expertise with the railroads' intermodal networks.

When announcing the BNSF agreement, Thomas L. Hardin, president of the Hub Group, said, "We were very pleased with the [program's first- year] results. We provided more reliable service, improved utilization, and increased equipment capacity for Hub customers."

Through the Premier Service Network program, Hub manages and controls more than 2,000 48-foot and 53-foot containers. Under the new agreement with Norfolk Southern, the railroad will provide Hub Group with an additional 1,000 53-foot containers this year. BNSF will add a similar number of new containers this year. Hub says it will continue to add high-cube 53-foot containers as demand grows.

According to Hub Group's statistics, Premier Service Network in its first year reduced the IMC's load-to-load cycle times for containers to 11 days, a significant improvement over the industry average of 18 days. Container utilization has so far improved by 33 percent.