Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Norfolk Southern intermodal partnership announced
Schneider announced a Norfolk Southern intermodal agreement and reported enterprise revenues excluding fuel surcharge of $1.35 billion.
Revenue $1.6B (est $1.6B) · EPS $0.29 (est $0.30)
Key quotes
"this afternoon, we announced that Schneider has entered into an agreement with Norfolk Southern to serve as the primary rail provider for our eastern Intermodal network beginning January 1st, 2027."
"Traction on our $40 million cost savings target is driving productivity gains and cost reduction, which is enhancing our operating leverage as revenue improves."
"Absent additional regulatory reform following the Montgomery decision, insurance-related costs are likely to remain a structural consideration for the brokerage industry in the near term."
Analyst Q&A 10
2027 demand and peak season
Q (Ravi Shanker · Morgan Stanley): He asked for early views on 2027, what early bid season looks like, and whether demand will show up given current supply conditions. He also asked about peak season visibility and optionality for volume versus price.
A: Management said industry costs are 30% higher than five years ago and contract rates are only now approaching parity, so price recovery will take time. They expect opportunities to take price through allocation and selective orders, and call the market fragile. For peak season, they see demand patterns that look normal and say e-commerce in the back half is the swing factor for upside or downside.
"I said in my opening here that industry costs are 30% above where they were five years ago, and we're seeing that contract rates are just approaching parity." — Jim Filter (CEO)
NS deal impact and P&L items
Q (Dan Moore · Baird): He asked how disruptive the Norfolk Southern announcement and related horse-trading has been and how the new deal positions the company for growth. He also asked about higher insurance costs and the big change in interest expense from Q2 to Q3.
A: Management said they analyzed options and view the Norfolk Southern agreement as economically and strategically beneficial, citing past success when switching Mexico service to a single-line railroad. They expect improved service and growth if the merger closes. On P&L, management said two separate claims drove the insurance and interest movements, including a confidential brokerage settlement and reversal of accrued interest totaling $7 million this quarter.
"There are two separate claims related matters that are within the P&L, and they explain both of the questions that you have." — Darrell Campbell (CFO)
Rail partnerships and Mexico service
Q (Brian Ossenbeck · JPMorgan): He asked whether the Norfolk Southern deal affects the Union Pacific agreement and whether SMX service or other services with CSX/CPKC will continue or change.
A: Management said rail agreements are long-term and confidential, so they could not share details, but emphasized CPKC remains an important customer and that the company will continue to execute freight with them. They also said they will continue to provide service from Mexico into the Southeast and Northeast.
"But we're going to continue to provide service from Mexico into the Southeast and Northeast." — Jim Filter (CEO)
Driver hiring and inflation effects
Q (Ari Rosa · Citi): He asked about the difficult driver hiring environment and what inflationary cost pressures the company sees. He also asked whether the Norfolk Southern move could realign relationships with other rail partners.
A: Management said they remain disciplined, aligning pay increases to rate recovery and making targeted pay moves where returns justify it, while improving driver experience, freight selection, and using AI to serve drivers faster. They noted Intermodal truck counts are growing and emphasized they are not simply throwing money at the problem. Regarding rail partners, they assured CPKC that the Norfolk Southern deal does not change that relationship and said it is common to work with multiple railroads in different places.
"We align pay increases to rate recovery. This ensures everyone, customers, our customer-facing associates, recruiting, operations, and most importantly, our drivers, we all have a common goal, which is to grow safe, reliable capacity." — Jim Filter (CEO)
NS opportunity and industry insurance trends
Q (Chris Wetherbee · Wells Fargo): He asked how the Norfolk Southern deal could affect volume, pricing, and profitability, and how the company views insurance and settlement pressure for Logistics in 2027.
A: Management said the NS deal helps convert over-the-road freight and offers a strong transcontinental option that could unleash the most growth, while they will remain disciplined on which customers and lanes to grow. On insurance and claims, they said the industry is adjusting to new costs and access to insurance, which reinforces the value of an asset-based model and carrier vetting; on net, management views these industry changes as positive for the company.
"But on a net, I see this as a positive for Schneider." — Jim Filter (CEO)
Timing of transition and Intermodal pricing
Q (Scott Group · Wolfe): He asked what percentage of Intermodal volume is impacted by the change, whether the move is immediate in January or gradual, and whether Intermodal price increases will match Truckload in 2027.
A: Management said the official implementation date is January 1st, 2027, and they have a Dedicated transition team of Schneider and Norfolk Southern that has been preparing, with work starting in November to move freight. They said Intermodal pricing is improving into the mid-single digit range but will not match the larger Truckload increases; they expect the pricing gap to reduce as service levels improve, but not the same magnitude as Truckload.
"It is January 1st, 2027, is the official implementation." — Jim Filter (CEO)
Past transition experience and fleet changes
Q (Ken Hoexter · BofA): He asked about the company's past experience switching rail partners (BNSF to UP), how long until service normalized, customer or driver losses, contract length expectations, and why Dedicated and Network fleets have declined.
A: Management said they used a playbook from the prior transition, learned lessons, and that customer reaction to the UP transition was extremely favorable with no driver losses. On fleet declines, they said some decline reflects the anticipated loss of one large Dedicated customer; they are having constructive discussions with most customers and are pursuing price to reinvest into drivers, which is moderating declines.
"The customer reaction as we went through the UP transaction or transition was extremely favorable." — Jim Filter (CEO)
Productivity versus price and bid season
Q (Andre · Goldman Sachs): He asked about the revenue per truck per week rise and whether that reflects higher miles per tractor or rate per mile, and what contract bids look like for 2027 (double-digit or not).
A: Management said revenue per truck per week rose 21% and that productivity improvement was up high single digits from better freight selection and asset utilization. They expect productivity gains to continue but now need price improvement to further increase revenue per truck per week, and said bid season varies by shipper—some want long-term reliable capacity, others bid to current prices and recontract later.
"our productivity improvement was up high single digits, and we're able to get that through better freight selection" — Jim Filter (CEO)
Volume impact during transition and capacity outlook
Q (Tom Wadewitz · UBS): He asked whether the NS transition will put volume growth on hold during the change and whether that risk is realistic given bid season timing. He also asked which regulatory or training changes will affect Truckload capacity going forward.
A: Management said the constraint for Intermodal growth is dray capacity, not a slowdown from moving boxes between railroads, and they will not use the NS transition as an excuse for lack of volume growth. They said their focus is extracting price to reinvest in dray fleet, and on Truckload the key limiter is entry-level driver training standards, which now take five or six weeks and higher cost versus the shorter training of 2021–2022, so capacity growth may be slower and more durable.
"Matter of fact, our focus here is how do we extract enough price so that we're able to reinvest back into that dray fleet." — Jim Filter (CEO)
Specialty Dedicated end markets
Q (Bruce Chan · Stifel): He asked what end markets the company will focus on as it leans into specialty Dedicated and what investments that entails.
A: Management said specialty Dedicated spans many end markets—examples include retail lift-gate work, automotive specialty equipment, garbage, and lumber—and that they look for shippers with capacity concerns or Montgomery-related questions. They emphasized they prioritize opportunities where Schneider can solve a shipper's specific problem and bring differentiated value rather than targeting one single end market.
"It's more important that there's a problem that we're trying to solve that we think our organization can bring differentiation rather than picking a specific end market that we circle and say it has to be that one." — Jim Filter (CEO)