ANKENY, Iowa — Union Pacific (UP) railroad was selected as the top freight rail shipper for grains, according to the results of the Soy Transportation Coalition’s (STC) annual confidential survey of grain shippers.

In the STC Report Card, Burlington-Northern Santa Fe finished second to UP for the second consecutive year. CSX Transportation improved from fifth place in 2011 to third in the 2012 poll, which was comprised of 11 questions categorized under on-time performance, customer service and cost.

The presence of the poll – and of soybean industry watchdog group STC – seems to be having a positive effect for agriculture on freight railroads in recent years. Respondents to the 2012 shippers’ survey of Class I freight railroads rate overall railroad performance three points higher, on average, than in 2011.

“We are pleased that grain and oilseed shippers are overall expressing increased satisfaction with the service received from our nation’s railroads,” commented Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the STC. “Agricultural shippers particularly have been quite complimentary regarding the railroads’ response to last year’s record flooding and destructive weather events.

“Communication with customers was robust and repairs to the rail network occurred with great efficiency and precision. Rail customers took notice and were very appreciative.”

UP’s overall ranking increased by 5 percent over its 2011 score, setting the pace in areas such as on-time service, quality of customer service, around-the-clock access to service resolution, website content quality, service-to-cost ratio and adequate notification of price increases.

Of the seven Class I railroads included in the survey, all but two enjoyed an increase in overall ratings from grain shippers compared with 2011: Kansas City Southern Railway (-4 percent) and Canadian National Railway (unchanged).

Despite the increasingly favorable ratings given to the railroads, many shippers who responded to the poll remain concerned with “accessorial charges” assessed by some carriers.

“Railroads continue to receive higher ratings for customer service than for cost issues,” Steenhoek wrote in a summary of the poll circulated to media. “Respondents continue to express concern about accessorial charges, arguing that they are simply another avenue for generating revenue rather than a legitimate cost.”

The full results of the survey of grain shippers may be accessed online at www.soytransportation.org