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May 15, 2014
This week several Senators from upper Midwest states wrote to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to reiterate concerns that railroads will be able to move fertilizer loads in time to meet farmers needs this spring. Joining Senator Heitkamp (D-ND) in signing the letter were Senators Klobuchar (D-MN), Franken (D-MN), and Johnson (D-SD). The letter points out that grain shippers are still trying to move crop from last fall, but fertilizer cargoes for spring planting are now more important.
Following a hearing last month, at which ASA representatives testified, the STB recently ordered BNSF and CP, the two carriers whose long-haul trains dominate traffic in the upper Midwest, to provide weekly updates on their efforts. BNSF and CP have pledged to pour more resources into moving critical cargoes.
