(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Christopher S. Rugaber on July 10.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shipments of coal and other freight in the Midwest are still being delayed almost a month after record-breaking floods decimated the landscape from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Hannibal, Mo.
Railroads and other shippers have largely restored service as the floodwaters have receded, but some rail lines are still closed and heavy rains may have contributed to a derailment this week. Data from the industry’s trade group show the floods reduced shipments of coal, grains and other goods as demand for those commodities remains high.
Parts of two rail lines operated by BNSF Railway, a subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., are under water and remain closed, the company said.
“We’re still trying to get train service back to normal,” said Steven Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF.
Union Pacific Corp., the nation’s largest freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Corp. and others say they’ve repaired damaged tracks and bridges, and their trains are running on time.
But small local lines in hard-hit states such as Iowa and Wisconsin are still struggling with the flood’s aftermath.
The Iowa Northern Railway Company is “experiencing significant service disruptions” and its main office in Cedar Rapids is closed, according to a note on its Web site Thursday. The railway, which operates a 163-mile network, carries grain and ethanol. A phone call to Iowa Northern wasn’t immediately returned.
Separately, a freight train operated by Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad derailed Wednesday, near Guttenberg, Iowa. The company said recent heavy rains, before and after the floods, may have contributed to a landslide that caused the derailment. The railroad hopes to repair the damaged track by Sunday.
IC&E, which operates a 1,400 mile network in five states, said Thursday on its Web site that a separate track in Wisconsin remains out of service due to flood damage.
The impact of the historic floods also can be seen in rail shipping data. In June, freight rail shipments dropped 3.6 percent compared to June 2007, according to the Association of American Railroads, with flooding responsible for much of the decline.
Shipments of coal fell 3.2 percent, after rising for much of the year, according to AAR spokesman Tom White. Grain and ethanol shipments, while higher than last year, were lower than expected due to flood-related delays and production cuts.
Shipments began to rebound this week as rail operators cleared out backlogs, White said. Rail cargoes increased 1.1 percent in the week ended July 5, according to data released Thursday.
Most of the affected industries say that shipping problems stemming from the floods have eased.
“We think things are pretty much back to normal,” said Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, which represents Arch Coal Inc., Peabody Energy Corp. and others.
Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said shipping is “mostly back to normal.”
Getting business back on track has not been easy for the railroads. Forsberg said it took a “Herculean effort” by BNSF’s repair crews to reopen a rail line near Gulfport, Ill., that was heavily damaged when a levee broke.
Company engineers rebuilt a mile-long section of track through a 28,000-acre lake created by the flood. The effort required 165,000 tons of rock and 24-hour shifts for 10 days, Forsberg said.
BNSF is still working to restore two lines near the Mississippi River. One line that connects Burlington, Iowa, and St. Louis still has more than seven miles of track under water.
The two lines carry mostly coal and mixed freight that has been rerouted, Forsberg said, and up to 35 trains had used them every day. That’s out of 1,300 trains that operate daily on the company’s 32,000-mile network.
The disruptions also have had a financial impact on the rail companies. Burlington Northern last month reduced its second quarter earnings estimates by 10 cents to $1.30 per share. Union Pacific said it expects the flooding to reduce its earnings by 5 cents a share.
Spokesmen for Mississippi River barge operators American Commercial Lines Inc. and Kirby Corp. did not return calls seeking comment.
Trucking companies say the worst of the flooding impact is over.
Mike Smid, chief executive of YRC North American Transportation, a unit of Overland Park, Kan.-based YRC Worldwide Inc., said delays “settled down” at the beginning of last week.
The nation’s largest trucker is still seeing some delays in its intermodal service, which transports freight from railroads to trucks for final delivery.
“The rails are running regular schedules, but right now they are still a bit slow,” Smid said. “But major thoroughfares and major arteries in the Midwest are clear, and our trucks are running on schedule.”