Feds say railroad must deliver grain to California chickens

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators have ordered Union Pacific railroad to verify a livestock producer will get the grain it wants in California to forestall hundreds of thousands of chickens and a whole bunch of hundreds of cattle from ravenous.

The U.S. Floor Transportation Board advised the railroad it should enhance service to Foster Farms to maintain it from operating out of feed for livestock it raises. It is is the second time up to now yr regulators issued an emergency order associated to supply issues at Foster Farms, which relies in Livingston, California, because the railroad struggled with a scarcity of crews.

This time, nevertheless, Union Pacific blamed the climate for its issues. Spokesman Mike Jaixen stated final month’s excessive chilly and blizzard circumstances slowed deliveries in 20 of the 23 western states the railroad operated in, and extra issues are doable due to the forecast for extra extreme winter climate.

“Union Pacific stays dedicated to serving all of our clients as effectively as doable, together with Foster Farms, climate allowing,” Jaixen stated.

Foster Farms known as on the STB to get Union Pacific to present precedence to grain trains heading from the Midwest to the livestock producer’s services in Traver, Turlock, and Delhi, California.

Union Pacific stated the issues at Foster Farms ought to enhance as soon as 5 trains hauling corn which are already en route arrive, however Jaixen declined to supply an replace on these trains Tuesday. The railroad is submitting updates to the STB, nevertheless it needs to maintain that customer-specific info confidential.

Foster Farms lawyer Thomas Wilcox stated in a letter to regulators that the corporate has little religion that UP will ship on its guarantees as a result of the railroad has did not ship any of its grain trains on time up to now two weeks.

So within the meantime, Foster Farms has been shopping for dozens of truckloads of pricy corn to maintain its chickens alive whereas it waits for the grain trains to be delivered, however these truck deliveries cannot proceed to satisfy its wants.

Union Pacific stated its efficiency has improved because the spring when Foster Farms and plenty of different shippers went earlier than the STB to complain about continual supply issues at many of the main freight railroads that have been disrupting their companies.

UP and the opposite main freight railroads have employed a whole bunch of recent employees because the begin of the yr to assist them higher deal with all of the shipments. However railroad executives acknowledge that their service nonetheless is not assembly buyer expectations and should proceed to enhance.

Regulators additionally just lately criticized Union Pacific’s apply of imposing limits on buyer shipments as a part of its effort to clear up congestion alongside the Omaha, Nebraska, based mostly railroad’s community of 32,400 miles (about 52,000 kilometers) of monitor throughout the Western half of the USA.