WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has been in hot water with federal regulators over the level of service it’s providing to a Montana coal mine.
But now BNSF has found an ally in a Missouri utility cooperative that has praised the railroad’s service.
“BNSF Railway provides unit coal train rail service from Wyoming Powder River Basin coal mines to our two power plants in Missouri,” Associated Electric Cooperative CEO David Tudor wrote in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board this week. “We load a trainload of coal every 16 hours on average. We receive and unload 700 carloads of coal a week at each plant on average. Coal delivery requires a 1,900-mile round trip for one plant and a 2,600-mile round trip for the other. Normal round-trip cycle-time is 6.5 days and 9.5 days, respectively. Except for the occasional weather induced delay, we have experienced excellent service from the BNSF.”
This year BNSF has been cycling the utility’s coal sets faster than usual, Tudor wrote. The utility operates the New Madrid and Thomas Hill coal-fired power plants.
The Springfield, Mo.-based utility also praised BNSF’s contract structure, service design, and commitment to making the capital investments required to provide reliable service.
“We have consistently found the BNSF, and the people who operate it, to be very interested in our success, which is measured by delivering affordable, reliable electricity to our member owners,” Tudor wrote.
BNSF has appealed an STB decision requiring it to haul 4.2 million tons of coal for Navajo Transitional Energy Co. this year, plus another million tons when crew and train set supply permit increased service. BNSF moves the export coal from the Spring Creek mine in Montana to the Westshore Terminal near Vancouver, British Columbia.
BNSF and NTEC began squabbling over coal volumes and service levels last year. NTEC filed a lawsuit in federal court last fall and this year asked the STB to order BNSF to haul more of its coal and to find that the railway has violated its common carrier obligations to provide service upon reasonable request.
Last month the STB sided with NTEC by ordering BNSF to haul more of the mining company’s coal. The board has set a procedural schedule to sort out the common carrier complaint. The preliminary injunction ordering BNSF to boost NTEC coal shipments said it was likely that NTEC’s common carrier complaint would succeed, but BNSF disagrees and is appealing the decision in federal court.
The United States has the largest coal reserves in the world and BNSF Railway is a critical component in coal delivery for electricity generation, industrial use and export. The rail carrier offers efficient, reliable delivery through proven routes with broad access to western U.S. coal production. BNSF Railway is a vital link to low-cost Powder River Basin (PRB) coal.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Sounds like you read that out of BNSF supplied brochure for rail service…
The fact that NTEC and the Cheyenne Indian Nation are saying that their closest hauler of their products (BNSF) cannot increase its capabilities because it might mean having to hire more crews (or any other excuse for turning down MORE business) leads me to believe that BNSF is only reliable to those who it wants to be and not as concerned about everybody else which is why they lost Schneider National to Union Pacific because they got tired of paying for a premium service they didn’t feel they were getting. BNSF is kind of like saying they want to have their cake and eat it too! I don’t see that as very customer oriented.
Wikipedia?
BNSF doesn’t have issues going east…it’s BNSF going west and north.
What board is he on and how much was that guy paid to write that letter.They found one guy, forget the thousands that could easily write letters of the horrors of dealing with a railroad.
The BNSF didn’t find anyone…they utility wrote that of their own free will, there’s nothing anywhere that even hints at the BNSF asking customers to provide letters of support. That appears to be just one business supporting another that is doing it’s job.
I still say if the NTEC wants to export more coal via BNSF, then sign a contract for volume and pricing…but they don’t because they don’t want to be hemmed into a volume commitment they know they wouldn’t be able to keep. So instead they want to take advantage of the spot market and ship more ONLY when it’s more profitable, that is not how it works. Contracted freight takes precedence over non-contract freight, that is the way it’s been since contracts have been allowed.
Yeah well we all know how honest all business and government is. That letter writer I’m sure wrote that out of the goodness of his heart for the poor Ol bnsf.
Yeah and I believe in Santa Claus too…
Common carrier obligations is coming to the forefront as it should. Hopefully it is something that will fight PSR.