Just looking at google maps here, there is a large industry in Charlotte called Spartan Motors located on the Southwest end of town right along the CN main. Looks like they make fire trucks and other vehicles.
I wonder if CN marketing has approached them. I read an article in October 2020 issue of Trains Magazine that CP is really going after new business. Maybe CN can follow their lead and go knocking on some doors, starting with Spartan right in their own back yard. Maybe they have already approached Spartan, or maybe its not worth it to them, but from the maps image, its an impressive place in my opinion.
C'mon CN, lets get after it! Get that new business and add to your revenue!
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Not as simple as that I know, but with the absence of coal these days, and lower carload volume elsewhere, I think the railroads need to consider getting after more business to make up for these recent losses in carloads and revenue. The article in trains about CP states that CP has gone after small things here and there, individually not much, but TOGETHER, they are adding up to something. This is how the mindset needs to be, or...I wish it was. Current thinking is less industry along the way and thru trains point to point, PSR, efficiency, and the like, but creativity and thinking outside the box wouldn't hurt either.
So far in my career, I have worked in the auto industry for 5 years, now back in Defense work. During that time I remember the term, "change or die". Now obviously railroads are not the auto industry, but I still think this generalization can be applied to any business, sooner or later.
David Lang