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Senate commerce committee addressed freight-rail issues at Wednesday hearing
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing yesterday on freight-rail challenges and issues.
Titled, "Freight Rail Transportation: Enhancing Safety, Efficiency and Commerce," the hearing focused on challenges facing the nation's freight-rail network due to higher demand, pending and proposed rules and regulations, and infrastructure needs.
"As 2013 and 2014's freight-rail delays and service challenges highlighted, rail service is absolutely critical to our nation’s economy. South Dakota farmers scrambled to find rail cars and watched as rail turn times worsened, delaying shipments and creating grain storage challenges for the record breaking wheat, corn, and soybean crops," said U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who chairs the committee, in his opening statement. "However, those delays were not just limited to the northcentral United States, they also extended across the country and impacted every shipping sector and industry. Thankfully, this winter’s relatively mild weather and better service have provided some improvements, but there’s still work to be done."
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