Ran across a video of the CEO of Pilot/Flying J Truck Stops giving testimony about the implications of Union Pacific Railroad informing them that they must reduce their use of the railroad by 20% immediately, with the potential for a reduction of up to 50% looming. Pilot/FJ uses the UP for three critical elements: to receive tank cars of DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) for mixing at the truck stops. DEF is a chemical additive that reduces exhaust emissions in diesel trucks. The CEO informs us that a reduction of one tank car impacts 5 million truck miles. Biodiesel is shipped by truck and rail, and ethanol is also shipped by rail. I can’t find UP’s explanation for the reduction, but a shortage of crew members as a result of over-reduction of personnel seems to be one reason.



Trucking is impacted, so is agriculture because also impacted is shipment of fertilizer and ag chemicals.

Union Pacific restricts fertilizer shipments, will not accept new orders

US News and World Report, Freight Railroads Work to Resolve Service Problems, Delays

So, record inflation. Fertilizer shortages already because of dependency on China, now difficulty shipping the ag chems we have. Diesel already record high prices, now looming shortages of DEF, and biodiesel. I’m tempted to make some remark about the Secretary of Transportation, who took maternity leave with the supply chain broken, but I won’t

Wasn't it the Union Pacific that was going to be used to ship what was going to be transported using the Keystone pipe line that Potato nixed?

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Originally posted by triggertreat:
Wasn't it the Union Pacific that was going to be used to ship what was going to be transported using the Keystone pipe line that Potato nixed?

The rail map in the fertilizer article would seem to say “no.” Maybe BNSF

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
The rail map in the fertilizer article would seem to say “no.” Maybe BNSF

Buffet owns BNSF. BNSF and according to this article https://tinyurl.com/4xz7v24b CP (Canadian Pacific) and CN (Canadian National) also.

So is the root cause railroads cutting jobs? That's the gist I get.

Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway purchased 77.4% of BNSF shares for $100 each on November 2, 2009. Berkshire Hathaway already owned 22.6% of the company, so the acquisition gave it total ownership of BNSF.

The purchase had a value of about $44 billion, making it the largest acquisition in Warren Buffett’s career. The transaction also meant that Berkshire Hathaway purchased $10 billion of BNSF’s outstanding debt.

quote:

Originally posted by KBobAries:
So is the root cause railroads cutting jobs? That's the gist I get.

I guess it is. It was difficult for me to figure out exactly what the issue is. I may have misspoke about the connection between fertilizer and China; seems like now I remember that the U.S. gets a lot of fertilizer from Russia.

A couple of days ago I was at our County Weed and Pest office. I’m state licensed to apply restricted use herbicides and licensed residents can buy chems from the county at greatly reduced prices. All I needed was marker dye, which when spot spraying, shows you what noxious weeds have been sprayed. Found out that there’s a serious shortage of herbicides too. The County agent identified two reasons: The severe cold that Texas experienced last winter. Texas produces the majority of chemicals (of all types) in this country. A major chem plant was severely damaged by the deep freeze. The second reason is China. A chemical component that’s key in production comes from China. By now, there’s no excuse for continued dependency on China for things this country needs.

Urea production for DEF (32% Urea) and nitrogen based fertilizers is dominated by India. Russia and Indonesia are 2 and 3

the US is #5. about 25% of what India produces

China is not in the top 20

Lots of "tin foil hat" stuff with the connections between Blackrock Management, Union Pacific, and the Whitehouse. Ive not researched enough to draw conclusive opinion, I'll refrain from posting until its all verified

quote:

I can’t find UP’s explanation for the reduction, but a shortage of crew members as a result of over-reduction of personnel seems to be one reason.

I can just see some beancounter bucking for a promotion: "We gotta fire somebody, right? Biodiesel, ethanol and DEF are all flammable or toxic or something, right? If we stop shipping that stuff because we fired the guys who handle it then we can fire some emergency services guys too!"