US’ Fourth Largest Railway Company Joins Blockchain in Transport Alliance

US transport giant Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) revealed it is joining the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) in a company announcement yesterday, May 24.

The BiTA trade association formed in 2017 to popularize and develop blockchain applications in the transport and logistics industries, as well as to establish industry standards for adoption of the technology. It now has over 250 participants.

NSC, for its part, operates the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern US and is a major transporter of coal, automotive, and industrial products. Its railway subsidiary runs 19,500 route miles across 22 eastern US states and serves every major eastern US container port.

BiTA president Chris Burruss said that Norfolk Southern’s membership “brings a level of intermodal and rail expertise to the Alliance that will benefit all members … [as we] work toward common blockchain standards that will define the future of freight movement.”

To date, BiTA has been joined by major industry players such as FedEx, Uber, shipping giant UPS, and GE Transportation, a global supplier of railroad, mining, marine, drilling, and energy generation equipment. Warren Buffet’s BNSF Railway is also a precursor to Norfolk Southern’s membership. The alliance uses OriginTrail, a purpose-built protocol for supply chains based on blockchain.

Earlier this year, leading members of the logistics industry - which employs the most people in the world - told Cointelegraph that blockchain technology is “a matchless solution” for innovating the transfer of goods, services and value globally.