In a time when the auto industry needs a few new innovations and fresh faces, Union Pacific Railroad has proposed that a more direct branding plan can help it boost revenue by putting more used cars on its trains.
The idea is to change the name of both its subsidiary and website to “ShipCarsNow” as opposed to their more sterile and cold corporate focus name “Insight Network Transportation,” Union Pacific intends to approach the used-car market in cross-country shipments what the rail industry already does for new-car hauls.
“Nearly 20,000 U.S. auto dealers already receive new vehicle shipments from manufacturers by an efficient intermodal rail and truck network,” the carrier said in a statement explaining why it was adopting a hard-to-miss brand name. Until now, this network has not been readily available to used car shippers. ShipCarsNow was formed by Union Pacific to open up this robust transportation network to the remarketing and fleet industries.”
If the plan succeeds it could become the standard in the way used cars are shipped. The current system has dealers, retailers, and car hire or van hire agencies either pay drivers to move used cars from one market or location to another, or consolidate a number of them onto the mult-level trailers.
The plan will hopefully make use of the mostly unused “auto rack” railcars that may be sitting idle, after the new-vehicle market tanked in 2008 and 2009. Even with auto plants starting to rev back up due to the stimulus, forecasts are that yearly production may remain below previous levels for years to come.
Jeff Grandstaff, general manager of ShipCarsNow, said that unit “integrates rail and truck transport, providing our customers more options. The economics and value of rail means auto traders can buy and sell cars over longer distances and still maintain strong profit margins.”
Under its previous name, the used-car unit was formed in 2006 to apply the intermodal auto shipping model to the new-car services offered by UP’s Insight Network Logistics subsidiary.
UP says at its used-vehicle Web site customers can get freight price quotes with estimated transit times, place orders and track shipments.
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