Agriculture was well represented in the two-day Surface Transportation Board hearing in Washington, D.C. Growth Energy Senior Vice President Chris Bliley testified that the biofuels business depends on reliable rail service. “There’s a lot of growth opportunity out there for us, particularly with low-carbon fuel markets on the West Coast,” said Bliley. “It all really hinges on efficient delivery of our product and that’s something that we are very much focused on.” The Fertilizer Institute Vice President of Government Affairs Ryan Bowley said his industry depends on Class I railroads. However, the fertilizer business continues to deal with service delays and higher freight rates. “For fertilizer companies, this has made questions like ‘how much more will this shipment cost me to move?’ ‘will this shipment arrive within the window the railroad estimated?’ Unfortunately, frequent answers of “a lot more,’ ‘no, it will be late’ and ‘The railroad doesn’t guarantee service’ are felt both by fertilizer companies and our farmer customers.” Railroad officials said they want to grow but need a predictable regulatory system.
