b'10American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(PARTNERScontinuedcongestionanddemurrage2018, international containersyouknow,thecomplexitydestination of a load, BNSF from page 9) chargesassessedagainstrailare dwelling in our yard afterof the supply chain relies onhas relatively few options to These reports have comeshippersoccurwhentheseunloading nearly 30% longer.theperformanceofnumer- maintainthefluidityofour from shippers, both large andshippers do not pick up theirThe reality is that significantlyous entities operating acrossintermodalterminalsifcon-small,inadditiontothirdcontainers on a timely basis. morefreightiscomingintoports,roadways,railroads,tainers are not picked up by party logistics providers. I amShe noted, At any givenBNSF facilities than is beingwaterways,andshipperandcustomers on a timely basis. particularlytroubledabouttimewehavearound30picked up and that simply isreceiverfacilities. Thechal- Unless BNSF can utilize the reports that Class I railroadstrains(holdingaround7500not sustainable. lengesbeingexperiencedfew tools we have available arecontinuingtoimposecontainers)stagedforpro- Shesaidthatthishasacross the entire supply chaintoincentivizetimelypickup these charges even in circum- longedperiodsoutsideourunderminedBNSFseffortsthat I raised in early July areincludingstoragecharges stanceswhenthereceivers,intermodal facilities becauseto increase rail fluidity: Wenowwelldocumentedandwhencontainersareleftin as a practical matter, have nothere simply is not space inhavecontinuedtotakethecontinuing.Asevenmoreour yards beyond free timemeans to facilitate the releaseour hub to get those contain- aggressive measures I sharedfreightisbeingputintotherailoperationswilldegrade of their containers. ers unloaded for pickup untilinJulytoincreasecapacity,globalintermodalpipeline,andultimatelycometoa Finally, Oberman requestedthe appropriate party coordi- improve rail performance, andthe shortage of chassis, driv- halt.This(STB)Boardhas information from the Class Inates the pickup of the olderget the most out of our assets.ers, and labor to support dis- recognizedtheimportance railroads:InordertobettercontainersfordeliverytoHowever,themeasureswetribution center unloading isofdemurrageandstorage understandthemagnitudeofprocessing locations. taketomaximizeefficiencycausing shipments to back upchargestoincentivizethe the current container conges- Farmerwentontosayin our handling of cars acrossinto rail facilities.efficientuseofrailassets tionandtheframeworkforthatmorefreightiscomingournetworkandwithinourAsarailroadcarrying(bothequipmentandtrack) theassociateddemurrageintoBNSFfacilitiesthanterminals are largely renderedcontainersbetweenpoints,by holding rail users account-fees, I am seeking informationisbeingpickedupandthatmeaninglessifreceiversareBNSF argues that it has rela- ablewhentheyusethose from each of the Class I rail- delaysofinternationalcon- notreadytopickupthosetively few options except toresources beyond a specified roadsregardingpoliciesandtainersdwellinginBNSFcontainers from our facility. resorttodemurragechargesperiod of time.practiceswithrespecttotheyardsisontherise:ForFarmersreplytoOber- on shippers who fail to pick assessment of demurrage feesexample, while we are trans- mandescribedequipmentuptheircontainers:AsaCSx SF ooTer eSpondSon intermodal containers. portingandunloadingvol- shortagesofchassis,driv- railroadcarryingcontainersIn his August 2nd response umesthisyearatapaceersandwarehouseworkersbetween points where we are(PARTNERScontinued on up r eSpondS exceedingourpeakyearofaspartoftheproblem:Asnot the origination or the finalpage 12)Inhisresponse,theUPs Fritzcitedresponsibilitiesfor congestionofothersupply chainpartners:Theinter-modal transportation pipeline isdrivenbythedecisions, actions,andcapacityofall stakeholdersinthepipeline, including steamship lines, ship-pers,receivers,ports,chassis owners, and drayage providers. Allstakeholdersmustmain- SPEED TO tain a consistent flow of freight at every step of the process to avoid bottlenecks.Hewentontocitemis- MARKETtakesmadebyshippersand receivers: Specifically, ship-pers and receivers are respon-siblefortheirdecisionsto over extend their capacity in shipping and receiving, which congeststhesupplychain.LOWER This over extension is beyond ourcontrolUnionPacific hasperformedefficientlyin out-gatingcontainersfromCOSTour intermodal ramps.Fritz said that the railroad has tried to ease the burden ontruckers:UnionPacific recognizesthecurrentdif-ficultyfordraycarrierstoExperience proves cargo shipped from Asia through manageefficientlytheout- the Seattle+Tacoma gateway gets there faster. Let bound movement of contain- us show you the difference less congestion, efficient ers once they are in a stackedmultimodal operations, and best-in-class customer location.Toeasethestresscare can mean to you. When time to market is on our ocean carrier partners,critical, choose The Northwest Seaport Alliance. NWSeaportAlliance.comUnion Pacific implemented a policy to cap fees at $2,450 inGlobal4(aChicagoUP intermodal facility) when the containerisin-stack.Addi-tionally, we have temporarily opened our Global 4 intermo-dal facility, near Chicago, to private chassis to allow more optionsforshipperstoout-gate their containers. Lastly, Union Pacific has re-opened its Global 3 facility, also near Chicago,toreduceconges-tion at Global 4Finally,Fritzsaid:We alsorecognizetheneedfor our demurrage and detention fees to be reasonable.bnSF SF armerr eSpondSOn August 4th BNSF CEO KatieFarmerrespondedto Obermansletterstatingthat'