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5/9/2024
The Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD), formerly the National Association of Chemical Distributors, found in a recent survey that its members continue to be challenged by problems with their freight-rail service.
Conducted by John Dunham & Associates, the survey asked members about their rail transportation in the second half of 2023. Among the survey findings:• 77% of respondents said rail service was about the same when compared with the first half of 2023, while 10.4% reported service has worsened;• 43.8% said railroads only sometimes notified the companies when railroads were unable to make a delivery date, while nearly 23% said they were not notified at all when delivery dates were missed or changed; and• 35% said they would increase their use of rail service if the service was more reliable.
"Moving goods through rail is critical to chemical distribution as it is the safest form of transportation for certain materials," said ACD President and CEO Eric Byer in a press release. "Unfortunately, freight-rail service has significantly deteriorated in recent years and the most recent ACD freight-rail survey shows members continue to struggle to receive consistent, on-time rail service."
The survey also found that demurrage, the charge for the detention of rail cars, continues to be a problem, ACD officials said. Thirty-one percent of respondents report that they received more demurrage charges in the second half of 2023 than during the same period in 2022. About 13% of the charges were in error, and that they were successful in disputing an average of 7.4% of the charges that they received.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has taken several steps in recent years to address rail-service issues. ACD supports Congress giving the STB additional authority to ensure chemical distributors and other shippers receive adequate rail service, alliance officials said.