News Releases for December 2003
December 18, 2003
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Hoeven, Clark Request Surface Transportation Board Action On BNSF Shipping Delays
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven and Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark today sent a formal letter of request to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) regarding grain-shipping delays by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF).
The letter asks board Chairman Roger Nober to require railroad officials to appear before the board within a week and provide a schedule and list of additional resources they will use to catch up. Today's move comes a day after Hoeven, Clark and North Dakota grain elevator operators met personally with Nober and STB staff in Washington, D.C.
"BNSF needs to present the STB with a good-faith plan not only for catching up on the delays in the short term, but also for reforming service and rate policies in the long term," Hoeven said. "With the recent announcement of shipping rate increases for next year, we're being asked to accept premium rates with a lack of service. That is just not acceptable, and it requires an immediate response."
Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark said, "Yesterday's meeting was a good opportunity to give federal officials a first-hand account of the particularly acute problems we are facing in rail service this year. This next step we are taking is to ask the STB to bring the railroad to the table and demand concrete answers, timetables and benchmarks for resolution. Up to this point, we have heard plenty of excuses from the railroad about why this is happening, but it is now time to require specific solutions."
Steve Strege, executive vice president of the North Dakota Grain Dealers Association, said, "We surely appreciate Gov. Hoeven's involvement in this matter. Having our state's chief executive officer lead the North Dakota group certainly elevated the importance of the issue in the minds of the STB."
In a parallel move, Hoeven is organizing an effort to recruit other governors to sign a letter in support of federal legislation that will restore competition to the commercial rail industry.
In addition, Hoeven this year included $250,000 in his executive budget to enable Clark and the Public Service Commission (PSC) to lay the groundwork for a formal rail-rate complaint with the STB. The complaint will seek to remedy the monopolistic pricing practices of railroads serving North Dakota, and recover millions of dollars in revenues lost to exploitative rates.
Although the action would likely affect all rail companies, Hoeven has been sharply critical of BNSF in particular for its monopolistic practices. BNSF is North Dakota's dominant grain shipper.
"We have spoken with BNSF officials on numerous occasions and presented a reasonable case for reforming its service and rates for North Dakota producers and shippers," Hoeven said. "It appears now that the only effective means for promoting a change in rate policy is federal action. We will continue to put the full weight of state government behind the effort to win a fair deal for our producers and shippers."
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