Officials from the six major West Coast ports sat down with senior railroad executives from the Union Pacific and BNSF on Tuesday to discuss how they can work together to promote trade through West Coast ports.

The executive directors from the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, Port of Oakland, Port of Portland, Port of Tacoma and Port of Seattle met at Oakland International Airport in separate meetings with the two railroads - one for the UP and one for the BNSF.

The talks focused on initiatives and policies that could help bring more containers and other international cargo through the ports - a common interest for both the ports and the Western railroads. What was not on the agenda was rail pricing, although that is a factor often cited for helping drive cargo from West Coast ports to East and Gulf coast ports.

 - The Cunningham Report