News Release

BNSF Expands CarsOnTrack Service

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 16, 2001 :

Direct Rail Service Added from Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston to Chicago

The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) has added three new rail lanes to its CarsOnTrack vehicle shipping service. Direct rail service is now offered from the cities of Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston to Chicago, BNSF announced today.

Launched in December 2000, CarsOnTrack is a Web-based vehicle shipping service designed to allow the individual consumer to move their personal vehicle anywhere in the United States.

Initially, CarsOnTrack offered direct rail service from the Los Angeles area to Chicago. With the new lanes announced today, CarsOnTrack now offers direct rail service from four major metropolitan areas into Chicago. Through partnerships with over-the-road trucking companies, CarsOnTrack also offers door-to-door service to any location in the continental United States.

“We launched CarsOnTrack with every intention of offering consumers additional rail options once we determined market demand,” said Ricci Gardner, vice president, Automotive. “Because of significant traffic moving from Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston to Chicago, we decided to add CarsOnTrack rail service in these lanes. We know that moving vehicles by rail can save customers up to half the cost of over-the-road service on the same route.”

CarsOnTrack, located at carsontrack.com, allows customers to get instant shipping rates, arrange for shipments, pay for service and track their vehicles from origin to destination completely online. Further, CarsOnTrack is the first service from a Class I railroad that targets the individual consumer and allows for service payments via credit card.

“CarsOnTrack is still the only individual vehicle shipping service that offers instant online quotes and allows customers to complete the entire transaction online,” said Gardner. “We’re going to continue to expand the CarsOnTrack service.”

Headquartered in Fort Worth, BNSF operates one of the largest rail networks in North America, with 33,500 route miles of track covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. Moving more than 2.5 million new vehicles annually, BNSF hauls one out of every six new cars or trucks sold in the United States.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000