# Turn AccessNS into an API

> Read your cars' ETAs, demurrage and storage charges and Online Case Management cases from AccessNS with one API call each. Or have a workflow check your cars every weekday morning and collect each station's charges before the dispute deadline.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/accessns
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own AccessNS account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on AccessNS

### Track shipments

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

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

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

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](/product/workflows) 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

Starts: Every weekday at 6:00

1. Track the cars on your list in AccessNS shipment tracking.
2. Keep the cars whose current ETA changed since the last run or is later than the NS Original ETA.
3. Email you the list with car, current location, both ETAs and destination.

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

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

1. For each station you name, get last month's demurrage and storage charges.
2. Summarize the total and the cars with the most Car Days, station by station.
3. Email you the summary so any dispute can go in by the 5th.

### Case updates posted to your support system

Starts: Every weekday at 9:00

1. Check your open cases on the Online Case Management dashboard.
2. Keep the cases whose status changed since the last run.
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](/product/methods), 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.

Example request:

```
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"
      ]
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "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.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| API Resource Platform | Shipment Status (location, ETA, commodity, origin, destination), Trip Plan movements and Gate Receipts for intermodal pickups. | Online registration; built for IT support professionals, with tutorial videos and an NS representative. |
| EDI | Shipping instructions (bill of lading information) in ANSI X12, sent through a VAN or directly to NS. | An EDI setup with NS; the alternative for bills of lading is IBOL in AccessNS. |
| NS Trax mobile app | An extension of AccessNS: inventory, live transit movements, a watchlist and waybills, plus car order and release instructions. | The NS Trax app, which Norfolk Southern describes as an extension of the AccessNS portal. |
| AccessNS by hand | Tracking, bills of lading, cases, claims, freight invoices and demurrage and storage charges and disputes. | An AccessNS account, created on Norfolk Southern's registration page. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Norfolk Southern: new tool increases customer supply chain visibility](https://www.norfolksouthern.com/en/newsroom/story-yard/the-power-of-data-new-tool-increases-customer-supply-chain-visibility), [NS 8002-A Accessorial Service Rules and Charges](https://www.norfolksouthern.com/content/dam/nscorp/pdf/tariffs/8-1-2026/NS%208002-A%2008-01-26.pdf), [Norfolk Southern business solutions](https://www.norfolksouthern.com/en/ship-by-rail/shipping-tools/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](https://fous.com/automate/carrier-360-by-j-b-hunt.md)
- [Navisphere Carrier](https://fous.com/automate/navisphere-carrier.md)
- [RXO Connect](https://fous.com/automate/rxo-connect.md)
- [TQL Carrier Dashboard](https://fous.com/automate/tql-carrier-dashboard.md)
- [Highway](https://fous.com/automate/highway.md)
- [RMIS](https://fous.com/automate/rmis.md)
- [MyCarrierPortal](https://fous.com/automate/mycarrierportal.md)
- [Triumph Payments portal](https://fous.com/automate/triumph-payments-portal.md)
- [C3 Reservations](https://fous.com/automate/c3-reservations.md)
- [Kroger One Network portal](https://fous.com/automate/kroger-one-network-portal.md)
- [NCR Power Traffic](https://fous.com/automate/ncr-power-traffic.md)
- [Opendock](https://fous.com/automate/opendock.md)
- [Walmart Scheduler 2.0](https://fous.com/automate/walmart-scheduler-2-0.md)
- [One Network](https://fous.com/automate/one-network.md)
- [CassPort](https://fous.com/automate/cassport.md)
- [TIMOCOM](https://fous.com/automate/timocom.md)
- [Trans.eu](https://fous.com/automate/trans-eu.md)
- [WEX fleet card portal](https://fous.com/automate/wex-fleet-card-portal.md)
- [DAT One](https://fous.com/automate/dat-one.md)
- [Truckstop](https://fous.com/automate/truckstop.md)
- [B2クラウド](https://fous.com/automate/yamato-b2-cloud.md)
- [BNSF Customer Portal](https://fous.com/automate/bnsf-customer-portal.md)
- [MyUP](https://fous.com/automate/myup.md)
- [ShipCSX](https://fous.com/automate/shipcsx.md)
- [Transporeon](https://fous.com/automate/transporeon.md)
- [Toll Collect Kunden-Portal](https://fous.com/automate/toll-collect-kunden-portal.md)

Other industries: [SupplyOn](/automate/supplyon), [P&O Ferries Freight](/automate/p-and-o-ferries-freight), [レインズ](/automate/reins), [KinderConnect](/automate/kinderconnect), [Lowe's Vendor Gateway](/automate/lowe-s-vendor-gateway), [Tesco Partners Toolkit](/automate/tesco-partners-toolkit).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does AccessNS have an API?

Not AccessNS itself, but Norfolk Southern runs a separate API Resource Platform for customers' IT teams, with Shipment Status, Trip Plan and Gate Receipts APIs. You register online and the Customer Service Help Desk gets you started. Bills of lading can also go to NS by EDI in ANSI X12. Cases and disputes stay in AccessNS.

### How do I dispute a Norfolk Southern demurrage charge?

Submit it online in AccessNS by the 5th calendar day of the month after the accrual closes. After that date the dispute must be in writing within 30 days of the demurrage or storage invoice date. Disputes outside those limits are rejected.

### Can I still open a Norfolk Southern intermodal case by email?

No. Direct intermodal shippers moved to Online Case Management on October 1, 2026, and drayage partners, BCOs and 3PLs on November 2, 2026. You create a case in AccessNS under Manage > Create New Case and follow its status on the dashboard.

### How do I send a bill of lading to Norfolk Southern?

By EDI in ANSI X12, through a VAN or directly to NS, or as an IBOL in AccessNS. NS charges $500.00 per car, per occurrence, for hazardous shipments with missing, incomplete or improper forwarding instructions.

### Is Fous affiliated with Norfolk Southern?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own AccessNS account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of AccessNS (Norfolk Southern). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.