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Senators urge Surface Transportation Board to help improve rail service
A group of U.S. Senators is urging the Surface Transportation Board to ensure more reliable and consistent rail service.
Members of both parties sent a letter to STB Board Chairman Martin Oberman expressing concern about significant rail service disruptions that are affecting manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, and energy producers. In the letter, the Senators say rail service problems have affected production, and say if problems persist into summer and fall, significant portions of the world’s breadbasket could be cut off from assisting those most in need.
Senators say agricultural producers and grain shippers have been unable to get empty railcars, which have caused flour and feed mills to temporarily cease production, affecting everything from export sales to livestock operations.
Agriculture groups including the National Grain and Feed Association have also expressed concerns about poor rail services.
The letter was signed by twenty-one Senators including:
Chuck Grassley – Iowa
Joni Ernst – Iowa
Tammy Duckworth – Illinois
Richard Durbin – Illinois
Mike Braun – Indiana
Roger Marshall M.D. – Kansas
Tina Smith – Minnesota
Amy Klobuchar – Minnesota
Sherrod Brown – Ohio
M. Michael Rounds – South Dakota
Tammy Baldwin – Wisconsin
Patty Murray – Washington
Kevin Cramer – North Dakota
Shelley Moore Capito – West Virginia
Marco Rubio – Florida
Mike Crapo – Idaho
James Risch – Idaho
Mark Kelly – Arizona
John Hoeven – North Dakota
John Kennedy – Louisiana
Joe Manchin – West Virginia
