WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Wednesday denied a California poultry and feed producer’s request for an extension of an emergency service order covering Union Pacific grain trains.
Fowler Farms, the largest chicken producer in the West, last week sought a 90-day extension of the emergency service order, which expired on July 17. Thousands of dairy cattle and millions of chickens and turkeys depend upon corn UP delivers to Fowler’s facilities from the Midwest.
The STB says the emergency no longer exists.
The decision was a victory for UP, which had explained to the board that it has been delivering more grain than Foster Farms’ facilities in Traver and Turlock, Calif., can handle.
“According to UP, it diverted three of its 11 most recent loaded shuttles to other locations because the Traver and Turlock facilities were full, and another loaded shuttle was parked at Turlock for nine days because the facility lacked capacity to unload the train,” the STB noted in its decision.
Foster Farms told the STB that its corn supplies have been replenished since the board issued its emergency order, but that it worried UP’s service could falter due to ongoing crew shortages.
The STB will leave the docket open for six months in light of Foster Farms’ concerns. The board’s decision is available online.
“and another loaded shuttle was parked at Turlock for nine days because the facility lacked capacity to unload the train,” the STB noted in its decision.”
Meaning there was no room on the Foster siding for the next load to come in.
The name of the company is Foster Farms.
Is it Fowler or Foster? This isn’t the first question on the site about who is involved.
They obviously copied & pasted the previous post’s first few paragraphs (with the wrong name), dropped them here, and appended new information with the correct name, never bothering to proofread the story before running with it. Sloppy editing.