OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has virtually frozen its entire intermodal network in the face of harsh winter weather.
UP notified customers Monday night that, effective at 8 a.m. local time today, it would not accept loads at its intermodal terminals. The railroad expects the closures to last for 72 hours.
Exceptions include international shipments to and from on-dock facilities at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.; and westbound domestic interline shipments from Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern. All shipments to Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., will be affected for 48 hours, although international shipments to and from Tacoma on-dock terminals will be accepted.
“Please note that all terminals will continue to be open for outgates, and we strongly urge you to assist the network recovery process by continuing to pull notified units,” UP advised customers.
UP said the decision to bar incoming loads was necessary to maintain fluidity at its intermodal terminals after a blast of extreme winter weather that extended as far south as Texas over the weekend.
“Several areas of our operating territory have experienced widespread interstate and road closures as a result of this weekend’s winter storms,” UP noted in its advisory. “These closures have impacted our ability to transport crews in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington.”
UP also is contending with power outages across its Southern region as well as in the Pacific Northwest.
Another winter storm brewing in the West is expected to further disrupt operations in northern Texas, northern Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois starting tonight, while snow continues today in the Cascades and Columbia River gorge in Washington State.
“Customers should anticipate delays of a minimum of 72 hours for shipments in the impacted areas until conditions improve and severe weather recovery efforts are complete,” UP said in its advisory.
BNSF Railway said it, too, was struggling. But BNSF, while warning of “extended delays” in a service advisory on Monday, did not say it would be barring inbound loads at its terminals.
BNSF last week warned of weather-related processing delays at its Chicago-area terminals that were hit by a snowstorm, including Corwith, Cicero, Logistics Park Chicago, and Willow Springs. Like UP, BNSF urged customers to help alleviate congestion by prioritizing pickup of shipments that have been unloaded at its Chicago terminals.
“BNSF is confronting a broad range of major service challenges across our network due to ongoing extreme winter operating conditions,” the railroad’s Monday service advisory said. “An unprecedented winter storm brought record cold temperatures and significant snow deep into Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast this morning. Numerous power outages have been reported as well as road closures, which have affected our ability to move train crews and other personnel. As a result, many trains are currently holding until affected infrastructure has been assessed and operations can safely resume. Customers with shipments designated to move through the region should expect extended delays.”
