b'SEPTEMBER 13 - 26, 2021INTERMODAL 9UP and BNSF say supply chain partners need to do more to relieve congestionBy Stas Margaronis, AJOTOnAugust5thUniontialchargesbeingleviedby Pacific(UP)RailroadCEOtherailroadsforcontainer LanceFritzwroteMartinstorage at these terminals. Oberman,chairoftheSur- Specifically,inrecent faceTransportationBoardmonths, the Board has received (STB), assuring him of UPsnumerousreportsrelatedto effortstoaddressrailcon- thelengthoftimethatcon-gestionissuesthatincludestainers are being held in rail connecting West Coast portsyards, and the sizeable stor-toMidwestdestinations:Iage fees (demurrage) some want to assure you that Unioncustomers have been required Pacificstirelesseffortsandtopayinordertoobtain continuous process improve- release of containers bearing mentswillyieldimprovedtheir shipments.fluiditywithinthenetworkOberman wrote that com-and clear congestion. plaints about Class 1 rail prac-Fritznotedthatrecenttices to the STB have come congestionontherailroadsfrom big and small shippers: will require supply chain part- (PARTNERScontinued on nersworkingtogether:Butpage 10) A BNSF train making a bridge crossingclearing our network will take some time, and it will require thecooperationofallstake-holdersinthesupplychain. Criticaltoclearingthecon-gestionandkeepingthenet-work work fluid will be vitalOutside the Boxnon-railroadimprovements totheinadequatetakeaway capacity at our ramps that is the root cause of the conges- Moving containers is big business, but the Port of Long Beach tion. We are working hard to help our customers understandthinks outside the box, too. Innovation, sustainability and long-the problem and improve theirterm vision make Long Beach the Port of Choice.operations.ThoughUnion Pacificisanintegralpartof the international supply chain, wecaptureandexecutea finite portion of the transpor-tation pipeline.In identifying congestion atrailterminalsFritzcited back-upsoccurringatware-houses and with harbor truck-ing operations:We discovered the uptick inthecontainercongestion directly correlated to the lack of available space in the custom-erswarehousesandourcus-tomersworkforcechallenges. Thedrayageandwarehouse operationsinmajormarkets havebeenslowduetoout-bound drayage processing.STb So bermanC onCerneda bouTr ailC ongeSTionFritzandotherrailroad executiveswereresponding toletterssentthemonJuly 22nd by Oberman. Athattime,Oberman wrote to the chief executives of U.S. Class 1 railroads includ-ingtheUnionPacificand Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads,whichserveU.S. WestCoastports,expressing my concerns about significant disruptionswithintheaspects of the international intermodal supplychainthatinvolvethe Class I freight rail network.Obermans July 22nd let-terstotheClass1railroads summarized complaints to the STB received from shippers: I am particularly concerned about significant increases in containercongestionatkey U.S. terminals, and substan-'