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Shippers Complains * USA - They say, railroad industry has taken advantage of 'monopoly'
Norfolk,VA,USA -The Virginian-Pilot, by GREGORY RICHARDS -October 26, 2007: -- Alliant Techsystems Inc., which runs the Radford Army Ammunition Plant west of Roanoke, has a beef over service and rates with Norfolk Southern Corp. and has taken it public... Deliveries by the Norfolk-based railroad to Alliant's plant, which produces propellants for ammunition for the military, law enforcement and civilians, "frequently" slip, Ken Vander Schaaf, an Alliant supply chain director, told a Senate Judiciary Committee panel this month... The company copes by stockpiling extra materials, but that adds cost and overhead, he said in written testimony. It may start bringing in raw materials via truck but moving hazardous materials via roadways increases the potential for accidents, he said... The complaint by Alliant mirrors those by some other railroad customers across the country that contend there is no rail competition for their business. Those shippers say they are tired of paying exorbitant rates for poor service with the nation's biggest railroads, and are pressing Congress for change... Similar disputes are being played out, to varying degrees, across the country. About 30 percent of railroad customers, many in rural areas, are "captive" to a single railroad, said the Consumers United for Rail Equity, a shippers' advocacy group... The railroad industry's consolidation has left four large U.S. railroads - two in the east and two in the west, each wielding great power. Railroads carry more than 40 percent of the nation's cargo... The big railroads have created a "monopoly" over their customers, said Robert G. Szabo, the executive director of the shippers' group... Various forms of legislation aimed at reining in railroads' powers have been proposed in Congress since deregulation in 1980, but none were enacted. This time, however, may be different... (Photo, The Virginian-Pilot file: Railroad industry consolidation has left just four large U.S. railroads, two in the East, two in the West. Shipping customers say they pay ex orbitant rates in areas where there is no competing railroad and that the service is terrible)Labels: shippers complains
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