(The following story by Joshua Palmer appeared on the Times-News Twin Falls, ID website on August 26, 2007)
SHOSHONE, ID. – In the small community of Shoshone there is a viewing platform dedicated to the railroad that cuts through the center of town.
It marks a time when the town relied on the railroad to connect local farms to markets across the nation. Of course, that was before the railroad decided not to stop there anymore – causing the town’s economy to slowly wither away.
Decades later, business owners, lawmakers and economic development groups in south-central Idaho say little has changed regarding the railroads power and influence over rural communities that are isolated from major markets.
They say the Union Pacific Corporation, the state’s only mainline railroad refuses to stop in Idaho to load and offload freight containers that are used to transport everything from food products to farm machinery.
It’s a problem that people such as Kelly Bangerter, director of the Magic Valley Economic Development Association, say is choking economic development in one of the fastest growing states in the nation.
“If you want to export your product, the only way you can get it to a port is by shipping it there in a freight container on the railroad,”Bangerter said. “But in Idaho, the only way you can do that is by loading it onto a truck and then shipping it down to Salt Lake City where Union Pacific loads it onto a train.”
That’s because Idaho is the only state west of the Mississippi without an intermodal loading terminal where freight containers are transferred from truck to train.
The cost of shipping each container from southern Idaho to Salt Lake City costs between $600 and $1,600 – depending on the weight and distance from the terminal.
Bangerter said one business in south-central Idaho ships 175 containers each month to the terminal in Salt Lake City at a total cost of $150,000 per month, or about $7.2 million a year.
“Communities in Idaho have to live with the railroads every day because they cut right through them, but we can’t get the Union Pacific to help us out by letting us load containers right here,” He said. “Simply put, we are at the mercy of the Union Pacific.”
State-of-the-art service 300 miles away
The Union Pacific says the Salt Lake City Intermodal Terminal was built specifically to accommodate Idaho’s needs. The $83-million terminal, which was completed in September 2006, was described by Union Pacific officials as a state-of-the-art facility designed to serve both Idaho and Utah, handling 250,000 freight containers annually – far more than what it currently handles.
The idea was to create a high-capacity terminal in a central location, rather than building several smaller terminals that would increase operational costs.
Railroads are the most capital intensive industry in the nation, spending more than $2.3 billion annually to maintain existing track and facilities.
Idaho transportation officials say that’s precisely why Union Pacific will not likely build a loading terminal in Idaho.
“The railroads really have to be careful about where they build intermodal terminals,”said Ronald Kerr, senior transportation planner with the Idaho Transportation Department. “I’m not defending the Union Pacific, but you have to understand that we are considered a bridge state – meaning that the majority of traffic is passing through Idaho to get somewhere else – so building a terminal here is not going to maximize their returns.”
When the rails and businesses go south
Although lawmakers and economic development groups understand that the Union Pacific is simply watching its bottom line, they say their biggest concern is that businesses in Idaho will go elsewhere in order to near loading terminal and avoid the additional shipping costs.
“This issue is a top priority of mine and I am determined to come up with a workable solution that allows growers in Idaho to pay a fair and equitable price to ship their products to market,” said U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo in a written statement. “The high cost of rail shipment in Idaho is a symptom of a much larger, nationwide set of transportation issues. Any solution to the problem must be considered at the national level and applied to all affected localities.”
Kerr said the state took the first steps toward a resolution about a year ago when Idaho joined other states in forming Intermodal Commerce Authorities.
The ICAs, which must be established by counties and have no taxing authority, work with local businesses, state officials and the railroad to increase intermodal availability.
Not surprisingly, the first ICA was organized in south-central Idaho near Burley. However, almost one year after it was organized, the authority is still unable to convince Union Pacific to allow intermodal loading despite several months of discussions.
“This is something that has been going on for years,”Kerr said. “It’s something that’s going to take some time, and Idaho is only getting started.”
Editor’s note:
This is the first of a two part series on the challenges that agriculture and other industries in south-central Idaho face without certain railroad services.
Today: Lawmakers and economic development officials fear that industries in south-central Idaho are unable to compete with similar industries in other states with intermodal loading terminals.
Struggling to reach an agreement with the Union Pacific Corp., officials learn that there is no quick and easy solution.
Coming next Sunday: The economic impact worries state officials as some businesses consider leaving Idaho to be closer to loading terminals.
Railroad officials say the cost is too high to build a terminal – local officials say Twin Falls already has one.