Norfolk Southern responds to STB on service issues

Norfolk Southern Railway's service "is not where we or our customers need it to be," the Class I's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James Squires acknowledged in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

Squires' letter was sent April 2 in response to the STB's recent request for the Class Is to submit 2018 service outlook reports, as the board looks into shippers' complaints about deteriorating freight-rail service.

Squires wrote that restoring service levels is NS' top priority. The Class I's recent service challenges started in the railroad's southern network with the September and October 2017 hurricanes followed by significant snowstorms in December 2017 and January of this year.

As a result of those challenges, weekly average speed during the first 11 weeks of this year is down 16 percent compared with the same period last year. It's down 11 percent in first-quarter 2018 (through March 16) compared fourth-quarter 2017, Squires said.

NS' weekly average dwell time is 21 percent higher during Q1 2018 compared with Q1 2017, and 9 percent higher compared with Q4 2017.

"Our local performance is currently 7 percent below where we typically perform," Squires wrote. "Terminals and yards in the southeastern portion of our network in particular are performing below historical norms. These metrics are not where we want them to be. But, we are committed to improving for our customers."

Some of NS' efforts to improve service performance include:
• resuming through freight operations on its Central of Georgia route. "While we never idled this line, we ceased through freight operations over the route in the first half of 2017. We restored full through freight service to help improve network fluidity," Squires wrote.
• deploying 100 stored road locomotives and began the process of finding and leasing 90 road locomotives. "Through March 23, 2018, we have 27 of the anticipated 90 locomotives on our property and have deployed 22 of these 27 in active service," Squires said.
• increasing crew head-count.
• applying technological solutions to improve operations.
• developing a new customer notification system when shipments are delayed.

Squires' letter also addressed actions taken specifically to address concerns of automotive and grain shippers.

To read Squires letter, click on this link.