On a day when Union Pacific - the nation's largest railroad - was announcing a 28 percent second-quarter surge in income, a Chicago planning agency said the region needs to do more for its freight handling.

"Our region's competitiveness will depend on coordination among freight carriers (truck, rail, water, air), public agencies ... and civic organizations," the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning said.

The Chicago area has the nation's second largest freight cluster, and between a quarter and a third of all freight in the U.S. originates, terminates or passes through this region. But cities such as Memphis, Tenn., and Kansas City, Mo., would like to siphon some of that away.

Read the CMAP report here.

Follow BackTalk on Twitter@stbacktalk