Shippers who move sugar-based sweetener products by rail have joined the long line of those complaining to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board about poor rail freight service.
The Sweetener Users Association said in a letter to regulators that some of its members have been forced to shut down manufacturing operations to produce food and beverages.
The letter said the largest U.S. food and beverage producers rely on railroads for bulk movements of sugar.
“Intermittent switches at the plants are not only causing it to take twice as long to get the bulk rail cars, but even when companies get them, they are not consistently switching them into the manufacturing plants,” the letter said. “For example, a manufacturer may have 50 rail cars of sugar close to their facilities and still run out because the railroad is not switching them into the plants due to a lack of labor.”
The trade group wants the STB to act to solve ongoing rail service problems.
The letter can be read at https://www.stb.gov/wp-content/uploads/Sweetener-Users-Association-Letter-to-Chairman-Oberman-Regarding-Rail-Service-Concerns-April-13-2022.pdf
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