Tag: BNSF

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Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway has announced a 2023 capital investment plan of $3.96 billion. BNSF’s capital investments play a key role in its ability to operate a safe and reliable network while

“Our capital plan reflects our growth mindset and commitment to having the capacity and equipment we need to support our customers. Continued investment in our network through our capital plans helps ensure we run a safe, efficient and growing railroad that provides customers with the service they expect from BNSF,” said Katie Farmer, President and CEO.

The largest component of this year’s capital plan, $2.85 billion, is devoted to maintaining BNSF’s core network and related assets. Investing in BNSF’s existing infrastructure ensures the railroad is in top condition, which results in less unscheduled service outages that can slow down the rail network and reduce capacity.

Maintenance projects include replacing and upgrading rail, track infrastructure like ballast and rail ties, and maintaining its rolling stock. It will consist of nearly 14,000 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work and the replacement of 346 miles of rail and approximately 2.8 million rail ties. $402 million of this year’s capital plan is for equipment acquisitions. Over $700 million of this year’s capital plan will be for expansion and efficiency projects, adding to the nearly $2.5 billion invested in expansion projects over the past five years. This year’s expansion plans support the growth of BNSF Intermodal and Automotive, Agricultural and Industrial Products customers.

On its Southern Transcon route between the West Coast and Midwest, BNSF will support traffic growth by beginning the construction of a second bridge over the Missouri River at Sibley, Missouri, completing double track for one of the last segments of single track along the Southern Transcon. The plan continues projects that add several segments of new track in Eastern Kansas and Southern California. It will also begin a multi-year terminal and fueling project near Belen, New Mexico. All four projects will increase capacity throughout the corridor. Also, in the South, BNSF will complete a second main track expansion in Fort Worth. In the Pacific Northwest, BNSF will begin a multi-year project to add double track near Spokane, Washington, including over the Spokane River and by constructing a siding near Pasco, Washington. BNSF will continue multi-year intermodal facility expansion projects in Chicago (Cicero) and Stockton, California. Also, in California, BNSF will continue its track efficiency improvement projects in San Bernardino, along with property acquisitions in the Barstow area, enabling future rail facility and infrastructure development for the Barstow International Gateway Project.

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Bakken Energy, an innovative developer of affordable clean hydrogen, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BNSF Railway to work together on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, specifically the role of railways as consumers and transporters of clean hydrogen.

“We see our work with Bakken Energy and the Heartland Hydrogen Hub as part of our commitment to a more sustainable energy and transportation system, including exploring the role railways can play in a hydrogen economy” said John Lovenburg, VP of Environment and Sustainability at BNSF.

In collaboration with the States of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana, Bakken Energy is working on the design of the Heartland Hydrogen Hub, a regional clean hydrogen hub competing to obtain federal funding through the Department of Energy’s $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program announced on September 22, 2022 as part of the larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The foundation of the industry-led Hub is Bakken Energy’s large scale affordable clean hydrogen production using natural gas that would otherwise be flared, including carbon capture and sequestration.

“It is a privilege to be partnered with BNSF” said Bakken Energy Founder and Chairman Steve Lebow. “Railways could play a critical role in distributing our clean hydrogen production, and could also be consumers as trains transition from diesel. BNSF is the ideal partner to work out the role of railways in our Heartland Hydrogen Hub.”

“For Bakken Energy, and our Heartland Hydrogen Hub, it is all about making clean hydrogen abundant and affordable” said Bakken Energy CEO Mike Hopkins. “Part of the equation is production, but the other part is distribution and that’s where BNSF will be invaluable. Being able to transport our hydrogen by rail would dramatically reduce our distribution costs and therefore the cost to consumers.”

© 2023 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BNSF Railway Company has awarded four new locations for its Certified Sites designation. In order to be considered, sites must undergo a thorough analysis which includes an evaluation of environmental and geotechnical standards, available utilities, site availability and existing and proposed infrastructure.

“BNSF’s Site Certification Program creates tremendous value for customers who are seeking a rail-served industrial site by accelerating the process required for economic growth and development,” said Chris Danos, Assistant Vice President, Economic Development. “A customer who builds a new rail-served facility at one of these sites is expected to save six to nine months of valuable construction time as a result of this shovel-ready program,” said Danos.

The newly-designated Certified Sites feature acreage ready for industrial development:

• Dodge City Business Park, Dodge City, KS – This 244-acre location is the third Certified Site in the State. It is designated as light industrial zoning with all utilities available. Located off the BNSF network along US Highway 56 and 109.

• Reimann Industrial Center, Pasco, WA – Zoned for industrial use, this 150-acre site is conveniently located west of State Highway 395 and is six short miles from the Tri-Cities Airport. The first site of this size in the State, it is owned by the Port of Pasco, which offers a rail spur and runs adjacent to the BNSF network.

• Seward/Lincoln Regional Rail Campus, Seward, NE – This 194-acre industrial zoned site is the first-of-its-kind in the State with direct access to the BNSF network. Located in south Seward, 25 miles from Lincoln, with immediate access to Interstate 80.

• Upton Logistics Center, Upton, WY – This property consists of developable property with 295 acres of the logistics center recently certified. This site is zoned heavy industrial and is bordered to the east by BNSF Railway. Upton Logistics Center is operated by Tiger Transfer, a BNSF Premier Transloader.

Certified Sites are a part of BNSF’s Premier Parks, Sites and Transload program. The program is a strategic approach that addresses the increasing demand for customer site locations by developing various types of facilities across BNSF’s network. BNSF Certified Sites are reviewed by an industry expert in order to ensure accurate, reliable data. The goal of the program is to provide an inventory of rail-served sites that are available for immediate development.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BNSF Railway will invest more than $1.5 billion to construct a state-of-the-art master-planned rail facility in Southern California – and the first being developed by a Class 1 railroad.

The Barstow International Gateway will be an approximately 4,500-acre new integrated rail facility on the west side of Barstow, consisting of a rail yard, intermodal facility and warehouses for transloading freight from international containers to domestic containers.

The facility will allow the direct transfer of containers from ships at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to trains for transport through the Alameda Corridor onto the BNSF mainline up to Barstow.

Once the containers reach the Barstow International Gateway, they will be processed at the facility using clean-energy powered cargo-handling equipment, and then staged and built into trains moving east via BNSF’s network across the nation.

Westbound freight will similarly be processed at the facility to more efficiently bring trains to the ports and other California terminals.

“By allowing for more efficient transfer of cargo directly between ships and rail, the Barstow International Gateway will maximize rail and distribution efficiency regionally and across the U.S. supply chain and reduce truck traffic and freeway congestion in the Los Angeles Basin and the Inland Empire,” said Katie Farmer, President and CEO of BNSF. “This will play a critical role in improving fluidity throughout our rail network, moving containers off the ports quicker, and facilitating improved efficiency at our existing intermodal hubs, including those in the Midwest and Texas. The facility will also have an important positive economic impact, including the creation of new, local railroad jobs.” said Farmer.

“The significance of BNSF’s investment to improve the supply chain here in California cannot be overstated. Rail plays a critical role in moving goods safely and efficiently, while reducing emissions due to congestion in many of our high-traffic corridors,” said Trelynd Bradley, Deputy Director of Sustainable Freight and Supply Chain Development at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. He added, “Projects like BNSF’s will work to strengthen our inland local economies, such as that of Barstow in San Bernardino County. We look forward to continuing to work with projects like these, as well as others, to drive transformative investments that will enhance and elevate California’s supply chain ecosystem for a more efficient and resilient tomorrow.”

“BNSF’s planned Barstow International Gateway will improve cargo velocity through our port and reduce truck traffic on our freeways,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “This project will help ensure that goods moving through the San Pedro Bay will get to consumers, businesses and manufacturers with speed and reliability.”

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BNSF Railway will test battery-electric locomotives in its Southern California rail yards.

Built by Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company, the EMD Joule electric locomotives do not use diesel fuel and emit zero exhaust emissions.

Scheduled for delivery in 2024, Progress Rail will supply up to four EMD Joule battery electric locomotives to BNSF.

“The EMD Joule is a switcher locomotive meant for railyards not long distance hauling, and the environmentally friendly locomotive could help BNSF reduce emissions at locations in California. BNSF has faced stiff opposition to its proposed rail yard near the Port of Los Angeles by environmental groups that say it would increase pollution in West Long Beach.

The Joule locomotive is an exciting advancement in battery-electric locomotive technology with more energy storage and faster charging,” BNSF’s Vice President of Environment and Sustainability John Lovenburg said. “The project is well aligned with BNSF’s commitment to innovation and leadership in sustainable freight. We are focused on continuing to reduce the environmental impact in the communities where we operate and proud to do our part to assess the commercial and operational viability of emerging technologies that reduce emissions.”

Caterpillar’s Progress Rail is one of the largest integrated and diversified providers of rolling stock and infrastructure solutions and technologies for global rail customers.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Ballots will be mailed on September 9 to eligible members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), regarding the union’s tentative BNSF-Montana Rail Link (MRL) implementing agreement and Oregon Short Line Protective Agreement, according to BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce.

In January, MRL announced it would terminate its lease with BNSF, with BNSF resuming operations on the line.

The implementing agreement governs BNSF’s hiring of the BLET-represented MRL employees, their seniority, work rules, pay, benefits, and integration into the BNSF system. The implementing agreement and Oregon Short Line Protective Agreement govern approximately 500 BLET members who work for the MRL.

Before BNSF took over operations, the Montana Rail Link was a Class II regional railroad based in Missoula, Montana, operating over 900 route miles of track in Montana and Idaho and employing nearly 1,200 workers.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF Railway has made dramatic progress in reducing unfilled grain shipments.

According to figures submitted to the Surface Transportation Board for the week of 8/20/22-8/26/2022, there were only 167 orders 1-10 days past due and 34 orders 11+ days past due.

This is a marked contrast to the week of 6/18/2022-6/24/2022 when there were 711 orders 1-10 days past due and 1,199 orders 11+ days past due.

Grain Car Backlog Status Report:

Following STB’s hearing on “Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service” in April, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific submitted service recovery plans explaining the specific actions they will take to improve service and identify the specific metrics they will use to evaluate their progress toward such improvements.

Starting June 3, the STB required BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific to file service progress reports further explaining efforts to correct service deficiencies. They will continue to file service progress reports every two weeks for six months. Starting June 15, the STB is also requiring all class I railroads to report additional employment data for six months.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF, as well as Union Pacific, and CSX, have reached a tentative agreement with three of their labor unions. The agreement, which covers some 15,000 employees, came about after a Presidential Emergency Board, was created on July 18, 2022.

The three unions are the Transportation Communications Union/IAM, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

In a statement released by Transportation Communications Union/IAM, the union noted:

“The Tentative Agreement secures all of the recommendations of PEB 250. Under the terms of this Agreement, employees will receive the highest General Wage Increases ever achieved through National Bargaining – 24% in compounded GWIs over 5 years. The TA protects all great benefits of our Healthcare Plans and includes Healthcare Design enhancements related to the coverage and treatment for Autism Disorder and hearing benefits. It also provides an additional day of paid leave to be designated as an additional Personal Leave Day, Vacation Day or Personal Holiday. The Tentative Agreement also contains a ‘Me-Too’ provision which ensures that in the event any other union reaches an agreement that improves on the terms of this Agreement, TCU/IAM members will receive the same additional value.

This Agreement ensures that every single penny of the recommendations contained in PEB 250 go directly into our member’s pockets. TCU/IAM members will receive thousands of dollars in back pay as well as thousands of dollars from increased wages through this agreement. There is no question – getting to a PEB and receiving these recommendations would never have been possible without all of Rail Labor coming together. The Unions stood together, determined to fight the Carriers proposals to slash healthcare benefits, attack our work rules and eliminate two-man crews. We were successful in that fight.”

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BNSF Railway has received approval from the Commissioners of the Northwest Seaport Alliance to develop and operate a domestic intermodal facility at Lot M in the Tacoma Harbor.

The new BNSF facility will increase cargo volumes moving to and from the NWSA and inland U.S. markets via rail. The adoption of this lease uniquely positions the NWSA as a port directly served by two mainline railroads in the domestic movement of containers.

“Growing the NWSA’s domestic intermodal volumes has long been a goal for the Seattle and Tacoma gateway,” stated NWSA Co-Chair and Port of Tacoma Commissioner President Don Meyer. “The new facility will increase job opportunities while reducing truck emissions associated with moving cargo to inland markets.”

BNSF currently operates a domestic intermodal facility in Tukwila serving the NWSA’s Seattle Harbor. The new Tacoma intermodal facility will bring additional key rail assets to the Pacific Northwest region with the potential for more than 50,000 container lifts in subsequent years.

“The new Tacoma South facility builds upon our joint initiative with J.B. Hunt to substantially improve capacity in the intermodal marketplace while also meeting the expanding needs of our customers,” said Tom Williams, BNSF group vice president, Consumer Products. “Our collaboration with the NWSA will help support greater warehousing and distribution needs in the fast-growing greater Seattle area.”

Currently, cargo movement occurs by truck to more than 40 transload facilities in the Puget Sound or directly by rail to inland locations. The increase in domestic rail movement will add additional jobs to NWSA-licensed facilities while reducing fuel consumption and air emissions that are caused by trucks throughout the Puget Sound region.

Operations at the new facility are expected to begin in August of this year.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BNSF Railway Company is making progress in its plans to add a fourth main track in San Bernadino, California. At its meeting last week, the San Bernardino City Council voted to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for BNSF’s proposed gap closure project designed to expedite the flow of trains in and out of its existing San Bernardino Intermodal Facility.

The project will improve the facility’s efficiency, with approximately 4.3 miles of new fourth main track in two segments along the current BNSF corridor from the BNSF overpass at State Street/University Parkway to its intermodal facility.

The project will enhance goods movement for this critical BNSF east-west route that connects the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with the rest of the nation.

“We’re pleased that this project is moving forward, as it reflects our continued commitment to improve efficiency for our customers, while providing important benefits to the local community,” noted Tom Williams, Group Vice President – Consumer Products Business Group.

By eliminating track bottlenecks that forced trains to wait to enter BNSF’s facility, train idling will be reduced by 43%, with commensurate noise and air quality improvements. BNSF is also investing in new and enhanced roadways with new sidewalks and lighting, as well as stormwater, drainage and other improvements that exceed what is required.

Earlier this year, BNSF announced a $3.55 billion 2022 capital investment plan, of which $283 million is allocated to California. This project is part of that commitment and now moves into final design/engineering, with construction expected to be complete by 2024.

© 2022 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.