Turn AccessNS into an API

What you can build on AccessNS

• Track shipments

  Build this

  Looks up each car in AccessNS shipment tracking and reads where it is now, its current ETA and its NS Original ETA.

  Takes

  Car initials and numbers

  Returns

  Car, current location, current ETA, NS Original ETA, origin, destination, commodity, last event

• Get demurrage and storage charges

  Build this

  Reads the demurrage and storage charges AccessNS shows for one station and month, car by car, with Car Days and Credit Days.

  Takes

  Station, month

  Returns

  Station, invoice number, car, placement date, release date, car days, credit days, per car daily charge, amount

• Check open cases

  Build this

  Reads your cases on the Online Case Management dashboard, with each case's status and latest update.

  Takes

  Status (optional)

  Returns

  Case number, subject, cars, status, created date, last update, interested parties

• Create a case

  Build this

  Opens Manage > Create New Case, fills in the details and the cars, adds any Interested Party and submits the case.

  Takes

  Case details, cars, interested parties (optional)

  Returns

  Case number, status, created date

Automate AccessNS with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• Cars running late, every weekday morning

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 6:00

  Step 1

  Track the cars on your list in AccessNS shipment tracking.

  Step 2

  Keep the cars whose current ETA changed since the last run or is later than the NS Original ETA.

  Step 3

  Email you the list with car, current location, both ETAs and destination.

• Demurrage and storage charges by station, before the 5th

  Build this

  Starts

  Monthly on the 1st at 8:00, after the month's accrual closes

  Step 1

  For each station you name, get last month's demurrage and storage charges.

  Step 2

  Summarize the total and the cars with the most Car Days, station by station.

  Step 3

  Email you the summary so any dispute can go in by the 5th.

• Case updates posted to your support system

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 9:00

  Step 1

  Check your open cases on the Online Case Management dashboard.

  Step 2

  Keep the cases whose status changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Post case number, cars, status and last update to your webhook.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Track shipments” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "accessns.nscorp.com/track_shipments",
    "input": {
      "cars": [
        "ACMX 104822",
        "NWDX 2215"
      ]
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "shipments": [
      {
        "car": "ACMX 104822",
        "current_location": "Bellevue, OH",
        "current_eta": "2026-11-14T10:00:00-05:00",
        "ns_original_eta": "2026-11-13T18:00:00-05:00",
        "origin": "Decatur, IL",
        "destination": "Allentown, PA",
        "commodity": "Plastic pellets",
        "last_event": "Departed",
        "last_event_at": "2026-11-12T04:35:00-05:00"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

AccessNS’s own options

Norfolk Southern runs an API Resource Platform for customers' IT teams, with Shipment Status, Trip Plan and Gate Receipts among its APIs; you register online and the Customer Service Help Desk gets you started. Bills of lading can be sent by EDI in ANSI X12. Cases, claims, invoices and demurrage disputes are handled in AccessNS itself.

Read on November 12, 2026: Norfolk Southern: new tool increases customer supply chain visibility, NS 8002-A Accessorial Service Rules and Charges, Norfolk Southern business solutions.

Signing in to AccessNS

AccessNS accounts are created on Norfolk Southern's registration page, and you sign in at accessns.nscorp.com. With Fous you sign in once through AccessNS's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API or written to logs, code and AI agents never see it, and an expired session is signed back in.

Worth knowing

Demurrage disputes are due by the 5th

Disputes of demurrage or storage charges go in online through AccessNS by the 5th calendar day of the month after accrual closes. Later ones must be in writing within 30 days of the invoice date.

Charges are billed per station, per month

NS bills demurrage and storage monthly for the cars released that month, per customer per station, and billing for facilities at separate stations cannot be combined. A method takes the station as an input.

Instructions are due by midnight after notice

Car Days begin if your instructions are not received before 0000 hours of the day after notice of constructive placement. A notice sent through AccessNS or the NS mobile application counts as received when it is furnished.

Intermodal cases are no longer opened by email

Direct intermodal shippers moved to AccessNS Online Case Management on October 1, 2026, and drayage partners, BCOs and 3PLs on November 2, 2026. Cases start from Manage > Create New Case.

More in Logistics: trucking, rail and parcel

• Carrier 360 by J.B. Hunt
• Navisphere Carrier
• RXO Connect
• TQL Carrier Dashboard
• Highway
• RMIS
• MyCarrierPortal
• Triumph Payments portal
• C3 Reservations
• Kroger One Network portal
• NCR Power Traffic
• Opendock
• Walmart Scheduler 2.0
• One Network
• CassPort
• TIMOCOM
• Trans.eu
• WEX fleet card portal
• DAT One
• Truckstop
• B2クラウド
• BNSF Customer Portal
• MyUP
• ShipCSX
• Transporeon
• Toll Collect Kunden-Portal

Other industries: SupplyOn, P&O Ferries Freight, レインズ, KinderConnect, Lowe's Vendor Gateway, Tesco Partners Toolkit.