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8/22/2022
In light of recent freight-rail service problems, the Surface Transportation Board is expressing concern about the Class Is' ability to meet grain shipping demand during the upcoming harvest season.
In an Aug. 18 letter to Class I executives, the board said it is looking forward to hearing from them at the Aug. 25 meeting of the National Grain Car Council in Kansas City, Missouri. Created in 1994, the council provides information on current and emerging issues related to the transportation of grain by rail, as well as marketplace conditions affecting supply and demand for U.S. grain. The council’s members include representatives of the Class Is, large and small grain shippers, short lines and the private rail-car industry.
The council advises the board on "prevailing and operating conditions in the rail industry, as well as the railroads’ preparedness" to meet demand, the STB's letter states.
"The board is particularly interested in your reports related to your preparedness to meet the demands of the fall harvest as it begins to ramp up in September and extends through the turn of the year," the letter states. "In light of current challenges affecting the four largest Class I railroads, the board is concerned about the Class I railroads' ability to meet grain shipping needs and is highly focused on whether railroads will have sufficient crew, locomotive, equipment and capacity resources along key corridors supporting domestic and international markets."
In addition to hearing from the Class Is, the board is "very interested in the views of NGCC's shipper, short line and rail-car industry members on these issues," STB members wrote.
The letter, which can be read here, was sent to executives at BNSF Railway Co., Canadian Pacific, CN, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.