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Reference · Updated October 2026

Chicago Drayage Directory.

Every intermodal rail ramp in the Chicago area, railroad by railroad, with the chassis, association and compliance resources a dispatcher, broker or owner operator needs on the same page. Maintained by Cushing Transportation.

Drayage in Chicago is the truck move of a container between one of these 15 rail ramps and a dock, a yard, or another ramp. The ramps belong to six railroads. None of them connect to each other by rail for most traffic, so a container changing railroads moves by truck: a crosstown.

The 15 Chicago rail ramps

Grouped by railroad. Distances are miles between ramps as the map measures them, rounded; the road adds some. Each ramp links to its own page with crosstown and access details.

Norfolk Southern

4 ramps · South and Southeast Side

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
NS 47th Street 361 W. 47th Street, Chicago, IL 60609. On Chicago's South Side, on 47th Street beside the Dan Ryan. I 90/94 CSX 59th Street (2 mi), BNSF Corwith (2 mi), NS 63rd Street (3 mi)
NS Calumet On Chicago's Southeast Side, near 106th Street and Lake Calumet. I 94 UP Yard Center (3 mi), CN Harvey (7 mi), NS 79th Street (8 mi)
NS 63rd Street On Chicago's South Side, along 63rd Street near the Dan Ryan. I 90/94 NS 47th Street (3 mi), NS 79th Street (3 mi), CSX 59th Street (3 mi)
NS 79th Street On Chicago's South Side, near 79th Street. NS 63rd Street (3 mi), CSX 59th Street (3 mi), NS 47th Street (4 mi)

BNSF Railway

4 ramps · Southwest Side, west suburbs, Elwood

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
BNSF Corwith On Chicago's Southwest Side, with gates on Kedzie Avenue near 41st Street. I 55 NS 47th Street (2 mi), CSX 59th Street (3 mi), BNSF Cicero (3 mi)
BNSF Cicero 5601 W. 26th Street, Cicero, IL 60804. In Cicero, along 26th Street and Ogden Avenue. I 55 and I 290 BNSF Corwith (3 mi), CSX 59th Street (5 mi), NS 47th Street (5 mi)
BNSF Willow Springs 7600 Santa Fe Drive, Hodgkins, IL 60525. In Hodgkins, beside Willow Springs, southwest of the city. I 294 and I 55 CSX Bedford Park (5 mi), BNSF Cicero (10 mi), CSX 59th Street (10 mi)
BNSF Logistics Park Chicago In Elwood, in Will County south of Joliet. I 55 UP Global 4 (5 mi), BNSF Willow Springs (26 mi), CN Harvey (27 mi)

CSX

2 ramps · Southwest Side, Bedford Park

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
CSX Bedford Park 7000 W. 71st Street, Bedford Park, IL 60638. In Bedford Park, south of Midway Airport. I 294 and I 55 CSX 59th Street (5 mi), BNSF Willow Springs (5 mi), BNSF Cicero (6 mi)
CSX 59th Street 2101 W. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60636. On Chicago's Southwest Side, on 59th Street. NS 47th Street (2 mi), BNSF Corwith (3 mi), NS 79th Street (3 mi)

Union Pacific

3 ramps · Northlake, Joliet, Dolton

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
UP Global 2 In Northlake, at Lake Street and Wolf Road, next to Proviso Yard. I 290 and I 294 CPKC Bensenville (2 mi), BNSF Cicero (9 mi), CSX Bedford Park (11 mi)
UP Global 4 3000 Centerpoint Way, Joliet, IL 60436. In Joliet, inside the CenterPoint Intermodal Center. I 55 and I 80 BNSF Logistics Park Chicago (5 mi), BNSF Willow Springs (24 mi), CN Harvey (28 mi)
UP Yard Center In Dolton, at 147th Street and Indiana Avenue. I 94, I 57 and I 294 NS Calumet (3 mi), CN Harvey (4 mi), NS 79th Street (9 mi)

Canadian National

1 ramp · Harvey

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
CN Harvey 16800 S. Center Street, Harvey, IL 60426. In Harvey, on Center Street south of the city. I 80 and I 294 UP Yard Center (4 mi), NS Calumet (7 mi), NS 79th Street (10 mi)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City

1 ramp · Bensenville and Franklin Park

RampWhereExpresswayNearest ramps
CPKC Bensenville In Franklin Park and Bensenville, along Franklin Avenue. I 294 UP Global 2 (2 mi), BNSF Cicero (11 mi), CSX Bedford Park (13 mi)

Five clusters

The distances above fall into five groups, and most Chicago crosstowns run inside or between them:

  • Southwest Side: NS 47th Street, BNSF Corwith, CSX 59th Street, NS 63rd Street and NS 79th Street, all within about six miles of each other. BNSF Cicero sits just west.
  • Southwest suburbs: CSX Bedford Park and BNSF Willow Springs, five miles apart.
  • South suburbs: UP Yard Center, NS Calumet and CN Harvey, within about seven miles.
  • Northwest suburbs: UP Global 2 and CPKC Bensenville, two miles apart.
  • Joliet corridor: UP Global 4 and BNSF Logistics Park Chicago, five miles apart and 24 or more miles from everything else.

Railroad gate and customer resources

Gate hours, appointment rules and equipment availability change at the railroad's discretion. Use the railroad's own customer portal; third party terminal listings go stale.

  • Norfolk Southern

    Intermodal customer portal and terminal pages at norfolksouthern.com.

  • BNSF Railway

    Facility hours, directions and the customer portal at bnsf.com.

  • CSX

    Intermodal terminal pages and ShipCSX at intermodal.com, CSX's intermodal site.

  • Union Pacific

    Intermodal terminals and customer announcements at up.com.

  • Canadian National

    Intermodal terminal pages and the customer portal at cn.ca.

  • Canadian Pacific Kansas City

    Intermodal terminal pages and the customer portal at cpkcr.com.

Chassis and equipment interchange

A container rides the road on a chassis, and in Chicago the chassis usually comes from a pool or an equipment provider rather than the railroad. Two things govern who may pick it up:

UIIA.
The Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement is the standard contract under which a trucking company takes railroads' and ocean carriers' equipment. A carrier that is not current in the UIIA cannot outgate rail or pool equipment. Details at intermodal.org/uiia.
Chassis pools and providers.
The chassis comes from the pool or the equipment provider named on the release; which one depends on the ocean carrier or the railroad.
Chassis splits.
When the chassis has to be picked up or returned somewhere other than the container, the move gains a stop. Ask the carrier how it prices one before the first tender.

Associations and compliance

  • Intermodal Association of Chicago

    The regional association for carriers, IMCs, railroads and equipment providers working the Chicago ramps. Member directory and ramp notices.

    intermodalofchicago.org

  • IANA

    Intermodal Association of North America. Administers the UIIA and publishes the industry's interchange standards.

    intermodal.org

  • FMCSA SAFER

    Look up any carrier by USDOT or MC number for operating authority, insurance on file and safety rating.

    safer.fmcsa.dot.gov

  • Illinois Department of Transportation

    Permits for oversize and heavy loads on Illinois roads, including the routes to the ramps.

    idot.illinois.gov

How to vet a Chicago drayage carrier

Six things to check before the first tender. Each takes a few minutes and each one, when missing, is the reason a container sat.

  1. Active authority and insurance on file

    Look up the USDOT and MC number on FMCSA SAFER. Authority should read "active" and cargo and liability insurance should be on file. Ask for the certificate of insurance anyway.

  2. Current UIIA participation

    Without it the carrier cannot interchange rail or chassis equipment, whatever its trucks look like.

  3. Daily ramp coverage, named ramp by ramp

    A carrier that pulls from every Chicago ramp every day knows the gates, the appointment rules and the lines. Ask which ramps are daily and which are occasional.

  4. Dispatch that answers outside business hours

    Ramps run nights and weekends. Last free days land on Saturdays. Call the dispatch line at 9 p.m. before you tender anything.

  5. Status back the way your system wants it

    EDI 204 and 214, API or webhooks, or email. GPS on the tractor. If status arrives as a phone call the day after, your tracking is only as good as your patience.

  6. A written carrier packet

    W9, hazmat registration if you ship placarded loads, SCAC certificate, IFTA licence, and the association memberships. A carrier that has the packet ready has sent it before.

Terms you will see on a Chicago tender

Drayage
The truck move of a container between a rail ramp or a marine terminal and a customer door, a warehouse or a yard. It is the road leg at either end of an intermodal trip, not the trip itself.
Crosstown
A container moved by truck from one railroad's ramp to another railroad's ramp in the same city, so it can continue its trip by rail.
Rail ramp
A railroad's intermodal terminal, where containers and trailers are lifted on and off trains and handed to trucks. The ramp is a place; the railroad that runs it is the rail carrier.
Last free day
The last day a container can sit at the ramp before storage charges begin. It falls at the end of the ramp's free time, which starts when the container becomes available.
Storage
The railroad's or the terminal's charge for a container left inside the ramp after its free time. Railroads usually call it storage; at ocean ports the same charge is usually called demurrage.
Per diem
The daily charge an ocean carrier makes when its container dwells at a rail ramp or a warehouse for an extended period, past the free time in its tariff or the shipper's agreement. The clock is the equipment owner's, and it runs wherever the box sits outside the ocean terminal.
Chassis split
A move where the chassis has to be picked up or returned at a different place from the container, which adds a stop and, often, a bobtail leg.
Street turn
Using an emptied import container for an export load without first returning it to the ramp, with the equipment owner's approval. It saves an empty trip.
Dry run
A trip that ends without the pickup or the delivery, for example because the container was not available, the dock was not ready or the gate turned the truck away.

The full glossary is on the intermodal terms page.

Directory questions, answered.

How many intermodal rail ramps are in the Chicago area?

Fifteen: four Norfolk Southern, four BNSF, two CSX, three Union Pacific, one Canadian National and one CPKC. They run from Bensenville and Northlake in the northwest suburbs to Elwood and Joliet in the southwest.

What is a crosstown in Chicago drayage?

A crosstown moves a container by truck from one railroad's Chicago ramp to another railroad's ramp so it can continue on the second railroad. Chicago has no through connection between most railroads, so the move is done on a chassis.

Which Chicago ramps are closest to each other?

NS 47th Street, BNSF Corwith and CSX 59th Street are within about three miles of one another on the Southwest Side. UP Global 2 and CPKC Bensenville are about two miles apart in the northwest suburbs. UP Yard Center, NS Calumet and CN Harvey sit within about seven miles in the south suburbs. UP Global 4 and BNSF Logistics Park Chicago are about five miles apart in Joliet and Elwood.

Which Chicago rail ramps are in Joliet?

UP Global 4 is in Joliet, inside the CenterPoint Intermodal Center. BNSF Logistics Park Chicago is just south in Elwood. They are about five miles apart, off I 55 and I 80.

How do I check whether a Chicago drayage carrier is legitimate?

Look up its USDOT or MC number on FMCSA SAFER for active authority and insurance, confirm it participates in the UIIA so it can interchange rail and chassis equipment, and ask which ramps it pulls from every day.

Does Cushing Transportation serve all 15 Chicago ramps?

Yes. Cushing dispatches from Orland Park and Joliet to every ramp on this page, 24 hours a day. Call 708.656.5050 or request a quote.

A Container on One of These Ramps?

Send the container, the delivery address, the weight and the dates. Dispatch follows up, any hour.

708.656.5050 Request a Quote Drayage for IMCs

Ramp locations and distances come from Cushing's own location pages. Railroad, pool and association details are the operators' to change; confirm with the operator before relying on them. Updated October 2026 by Cushing Transportation, Inc., 13301 Southwest Highway, Orland Park, IL 60462.