By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freight rail service complaints voiced by the National Grain and Feed Assoc. (NGFA) and Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) have caught the attention of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

So, the STB announced earlier in March it is asking all Class 1 railroads to send the board their service outlooks for 2018. This is in response to concerns alleging deteriorating rail service and escalating accessorial charges imposed on shippers by the railroads, the STB acknowledged.

“In recent weeks, the board has become increasingly concerned about the overall state of rail service based on the weekly data collected by the board,” STB members said in a March 16 letter sent to the Class 1 CEOs. “Although there are exceptions, most Class 1 railroads’ data indicate that service is deteriorating.”

The STB noted that complaints received from the NGFA and AAM were similar in their concern about the reliability of the nation’s freight network. “The most numerous, persistent and egregious complaints reported to NGFA over the quality and responsiveness of rail service involve the Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railroads and CSX,” the NGFA stated in its March 10 letter.

“We appreciate the (STB’s) continued vigilance in holding rail carriers accountable for their lack of service performance.”

In the letter, NGFA officials took the Class 1s to task for a “systematic shredding of resources,” including locomotives and crews in an “aggressive effort to reduce their operating ratios to impress Wall Street investors and shareholders.” The result of the maneuver has been that service has “degraded to unacceptable levels” with “virtually nonexistent surge capacity” to meet increased demand.

In addition, rail service “has failed to improve for several months, resulting in some grain and grain product companies shifting their supply chains to just-in-time deliveries and increasing their reliance on costlier truck transportation just to get agricultural products moving,” according to the NGFA.

“These adverse repercussions do not appear to be abating – and, in fact, seem to be becoming endemic within the fabric and operating strategy of several Class 1 carriers ... and far transcend the routine imperfections in rail service to which rail customers have unfortunately become accustomed.”

The AAM said in its letter to the board its members experienced a serious shortage of availability of bi- and tri-level railcars for transporting finished vehicles in both February and March.

The Assoc. of American Railroads is reporting that the STB is asking Class 1s to report back on their locomotive availability, employee resources, local service performance, 2018 service demand, communication with shippers and capacity constraints.

The NGFA would also like for the problems to be examined by the STB Office of Public Assistance, Government Affairs and Compliance, with weekly check-in calls between the STB and the railroads required. For several of the railroads the NGFA would like the STB to require submission of Service Recovery Plans with specific deadlines for service improvements.

Jeff Adkisson, executive director of the Grain and Feed Assoc. of Illinois, said last week he had not received any more service complaints than usual from member elevators following the 2017 harvest.

“I don’t believe it has been much of a problem for us this year,” said Adkisson, reached for comment during the 2018 annual conference of the NGFA in Arizona.

The Soy Transportation Coalition issued results of a customer satisfaction survey ranking Class 1 freight railroads in terms of on-time performance, customer service and cost in regard to agricultural movements. The survey, issued in August 2017, ranked Union Pacific as the provider offering the most customer satisfaction.

Norfolk Southern Railway ranked second, followed by CSX Transportation. Canadian Pacific Railway finished last in customer satisfaction among the field of seven Class 1 railroads.

Both the NGFA and AAM letters to the STB are posted on the STB website at www.stb.gov