(The Associated Press circulated the following story on December 19.)
MINOT, N.D. — Federal regulators are planning to quiz the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad about a rail car shortage.
North Dakota grain shippers have been upset for weeks about delays in getting the cars they need.
Some industry representatives met with Surface Transportation Board chairman Roger Nober in Washington.
Governor Hoeven and Public Service Commission President Tony Clark were part of the group.
Hoeven says the Surface Transportation Board will be asking Burlington Northern representatives about the problem.
The governor says the rail car shortage is putting financial strains on grain elevators.
They have bought a lot of grain from farmers — and they need to get it to export markets. That can’t happen without rail shipping.
The Public Service Commission will be discussing the problem later today.
The PSC is backing a formal complaint with the Surface Transportation Board about Burlington Northern’s grain shipping rates. State regulators say the rates are too high.