The following story appeared at CNNMoney.com on December 02, 2008)
NEW YORK (Associated Press) – The BNSF Railway Co. said on Tuesday it would put off fuel surcharge changes that were planned to take effect beginning next month.
BNSF, a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., had planned to extend its mileage-based surcharge to carload customers such as shippers of agricultural products, coal, industrial, and cars on Jan. 15.
Intermodal customers would have begun paying the surcharge on Feb. 18.
BNSF had also planned to increase the diesel price at which it adds a surcharge, from $1.25 per gallon for highway diesel fuel, to $2.50 per gallon. Instead, it will leave the $1.25 price intact. It had planned to adjust pricing for its carload shipments to reflect the higher strike price.
Fuel prices have fallen sharply since oil prices peaked in July.
BNSF announced the planned surcharge changes on Aug. 5.
Burlington Northern shares rose $1.08 to $72.63 in afternoon trading.