(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 14.)
YAKIMA, Wash. — Produce shippers say Burlington Northern Santa Fe has gone back on a promise to expand rail service to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma this fall, leaving them scrambling over what to do with their potatoes, onions and fruit.
“This is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Pat Boss, former executive director of the Washington Potato Commission.
Since leaving the commission last spring, Boss has been working on behalf of the Central Washington Alliance for Rail Freight Transportation, based in Moses Lake. Boss said BNSF had promised shippers regularly scheduled service on refrigerated containers to the ports.
But two weeks ago, “they pulled the rug out from under us,” he said, resulting in lost business. Some shippers depend on exports to Asia for up to 40 percent of their sales.
BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said there is no agreement for scheduled, or dedicated, service. The company is working on serving the shippers but declined to elaborate on the dispute.
According to Boss, BNSF has mentioned providing other types of rail service that wouldn’t be regularly scheduled, but that’s not acceptable. Shippers don’t want their cargo sitting around in a rail yard for an undetermined amount of time until there are enough cars to make a trip.
Boss said the company told him it lacks locomotives and other equipment necessary for the service because of heavy demand elsewhere. He has asked Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, and Gov. Christine Gregoire to intervene.