Waste Shippers Critical of CSX Service

CSX service in the Northeast has drawn fire from the National Waste & Recycling Association.

In a letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the trade group representing 70 percent of the private sector’s waste and recycling market, said some of its members have been unable to load rail cars due to CSX service issues.

In some instances, shippers had to use other railroads to move cars that had already been loaded.

The letter contends the service issues stem from CSX having a backlog of cars to be processed at its Selkirk classification yard near Albany, New York.

Also cited in the letter were missed switches, longer transit times, unfilled car orders, and an inability to reach CSX customer service and operations employees.

The waste shippers have asked federal regulators to intervene.

CSX has acknowledged being short on train crews in the Northeast and said that workers have been told that no personal leave days will be approved for the period Sept. 9 to Sept. 19.

A CSX spokesperson told Trains magazine that it was talking with the waste shippers group about specific service issues.

The spokesperson said a high number of workers taking vacation days has adversely affected operations at Selkirk.

CSX has sent additional personnel to Selkirk in a bid to ease the service issues there, the spokesperson told the magazine. Additional workers have been hired and will be assigned to Selkirk once they complete their training.

The Trains report said the dwell time of railcars at Selkirk has increased by 58 percent over the past five weeks, going from 32.6 hours at the end of July to 51.6 hours in late August.

Tags: CSX, CSX Selkirk Yard, CSX service issues, CSX service problems, National Waste & Recyling Association