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Home My WebLink AboutWILLIAMS.docxOctober 21, 1997 Vernon Williams, Secretary Surface Transportation Board 1925 K ST Washington, DC 20423 RE: Surface Transportation Board Ex Parte No. 573 Dear Mr. Williams: I am the Administrator of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission’s Regulated Carrier Division. My division implements the Commission’s regulatory oversight of railroads in our state. We investigate proposed abandonments, shipper complaints, highway-rail grade crossing accidents, provide testimony at hearings and participate jointly with the Federal Railroad Administration in enforcing safety regulations. I am very familiar with the current status of Idaho’s railroad service. In particular, I contacted a number of Union Pacific’s Idaho customers in preparation for this hearing to familiarize myself with the level of service being provided by Union Pacific to its Idaho customers. It is clear to me that there are significant shortcomings in the service currently being provided by Union Pacific to its Idaho customers. Car availability is a recurring problem for many of Union Pacific’s customers; especially its grain shippers. Several of the customers that I spoke with indicated that they were having more problems with car availability this year than in the past. The majority of customers that I communicated with, however, indicated that car availability was about the same as usual. The biggest problem that Union Pacific’s shippers appear to be facing is getting the cars off and moving once they are loaded. In addition, the transit times from the locations in Idaho to the their various destinations are too long. Most shippers I spoke with stated that transit time had increased an additional seven to ten days over the normal time. It appears that, in many cases, loaded cars sit for days at the shipper’s location waiting to be picked up because of a lack of locomotives and manpower. Once the cars are moving, many of them stop and sit idle in intermediary yards for several days before they are off and rolling again. Obviously, outbound transit time is an important issue to Idaho shippers because their customers are anxiously awaiting receipt of the goods. Inbound transit times, however, are also critical. A good example is the Monsanto Company which needs to receive raw materials in order to continue the processing of its phosphate-based products. When those raw materials are delayed, the business is forced to scale back its production. This is a problem for numerous Idaho manufacturers. It is my opinion that the deteriorating level of customer service is due, in large part, to the recent merger of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. As is well known, Southern Pacific’s operations were fraught with problems at the time of the merger. It has become clear to me that Union Pacific has shifted its resources to Southern Pacific’s system in an attempt to remedy those problems. As a result, Union Pacific’s existing customers have suffered a deterioration in service quality. I believe that one of the major contributors has been Union Pacific’s insistence on scaling back personnel such as freight agents who are able to give good local service to customers. Union Pacific should have learned from this most recent experience that its National Customer Service Center in St. Louis, Missouri is in no way capable of handling the problems of the magnitude the railroad has experienced nationwide in just the last several weeks. It is critical that Union Pacific have people on the ground in local areas to be able to deal effectively with customers and to resolve problems. It is also clear to me that Union Pacific’s customers in the state of Idaho feel that they have no representation; that is, they have no recourse when they are experiencing problems with the railroad. They are not familiar with the STB, how it operates or how to voice their concerns. The most important goal should be to get the trains moving and return customer service to as normal as possible, as quickly as possible. To this end, Union Pacific has a service recovery plan that it asserts will eliminate the congestion currently being experienced on its system and restore service across the country. I also believe that the STB and the state agencies that deal with the railroads should be assessing exactly what caused the major problems that Union Pacific is currently experiencing and what can be done to prevent such a calamity from recurring in the future. In this regard, the ability of the individual states to possess regulatory oversight of the railroads with regard to customer service, safety and related issues is critical. To vest all of such authority in a single federal agency in Washington, D.C. will not allow us to prevent this type of problem from happening again. It is imperative at this time that there be a cooperative effort between Union Pacific, state and federal governments and rail dependent industries to get the problem solved, get the trains moving and restore business to normal as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this, I believe that Union Pacific should be given the opportunity to immediately implement the service recovery plan it has outlined. At this time, I don’t believe that anyone is in a position to second guess Union Pacific regarding the wisdom of the plan itself. The STB should closely monitor Union Pacific to ensure that the Company diligently implements the plan. Furthermore, the STB should develop a backup plan that can be implemented quickly should the UP’s plan not produce the desired result. Sincerely yours, Ron Law Executive Administrator BP/vld:L:williams.bp VERNON WILLIAMS, SECRETARY SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 1925 K ST WASHINGTON, DC 20423