9 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

To: All BNSF Customers

08/27/2005

Weather - New Orleans area Due to Hurricane Katrina


Hurricane Katrina is expected to make landfall by 8:00 a.m. CT, Monday, August 29, 2005 with a projected path near New Orleans, Louisiana. Flood gates in New Orleans, Louisiana will close at 10:00 a.m. CT, Sunday, August 28, 2005.

BNSF has begun to stage and hold New Orleans traffic at safe locations waiting for the storm to make landfall. The effects of the storm will determine the actual date and time that traffic will resume normal interchange operations.

Updates will be provided as conditions change.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Carload Customers

08/30/2005

Weather: Update on New Orleans Area due to Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Monday, August 29, 2005, and has impacted rail shipments moving through the New Orleans area.

BNSF is working with the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads to reroute shipments around affected areas, using the gateways of East St. Louis, Chicago and Memphis.

Customers may experience delays up to five days on shipments rerouted around the affected areas.

Additional delays could be experienced as water damages are assessed in and around the New Orleans area and with the other carriers. Additional updates will be provided as conditions change.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Intermodal Customers

08/31/2005

Weather Update: New Orleans and Southeast Traffic Impacted due to Hurricane Katrina

Southeast Update
In a BNSF Service Advisory regarding Hurricane Katrina dated August 30, 2005, we announced that BNSF would continue to accept traffic at origin for destinations in the Southeast.

However, due to the extensive clean up and restoration required in New Orleans and the Southeast, effective at midnight on August 31, 2005, BNSF will not accept shipments to Norfolk Southern destinations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina at its Los Angeles Hobart Intermodal Facility. This restriction will be in place until September 6, 2005. We will monitor the situation and will announce changes as conditions warrant.

Traffic that originated in the Pacific Southwest earlier this week destined for the Southeast can expect to be delayed until operations to the Southeast via the KCS and Norfolk Southern are returned to normal conditions. Several trains have been staged on line, and we currently have high eastbound inventory on hand at BNSF's Los Angeles Hobart facility.

We will continue to accept shipments to Norfolk Southern destinations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina at San Bernardino. This will give us operational flexibility in order to route trains over the various gateways, based on changing operational conditions. Please do not change your billing patterns; continue to route freight "BNSF-Dalas-NS".

Due to capacity concerns, we strongly discourage using a bill/rebill option to route your freight through Chicago if it is destined to Norfolk Southern destinations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

New Orleans Update
As a reminder, as of 12:00 noon today, Wednesday, August 31, BNSF will not accept any shipments (including interline shipments) destined to New Orleans at any of its intermodal facilities, including on-dock facilities. In addition, the BNSF New Orleans Intermodal Facility will remain closed, with service to and from New Orleans suspended, until at least September 6, 2005.

We will provide additional updates as conditions change.

[CNJRoss]

BNSF Today, 8/31:

Hurricane-Damaged Line Expected to Open Thursday

BNSF expects to open its line between Lafayette, La., and New Orleans late tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 1, after crews complete repairs to a bridge over Bayou Boeuf at Morgan City, La. The bridge was struck by floating equipment as a result of wind and wave action from Hurricane Katrina.

Darren Whitten, BNSF’s superintendent operations at Lafayette, plans a town hall meeting Friday, Sept. 2, to discuss train operating plans with employees in the area affected by the hurricane.

BNSF crews began working yesterday, August 30, to restore signal systems along with 145-mile line and remove trees and other debris from the trackage. The work should be completed by the time the Bayou Boeuf bridge is ready for service. BNSF’s principal New Orleans-area yard at Avondale, La., was unaffected by hurricane-related flooding.

However, the railroads with which BNSF connects at New Orleans reportedly have been affected by flooding, and the extent to which BNSF will be able to resume normal operations over its lines in the area depends on the other railroads’ progress on any necessary repairs to their trackage.

BNSF is working with the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads to reroute shipments around affected areas, using the gateways of East St. Louis, Chicago and Memphis. BNSF told carload customers in a Service Advisory issued yesterday that they may experience delays up to five days on shipments rerouted around the affected areas.

In a separate advisory, intermodal customers were informed that the BNSF New Orleans Intermodal Facility will be closed, with service to and from New Orleans suspended, until at least September 6.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000

For more information on the company and its transportation solutions, visit the BNSF Web site at www.bnsf.com

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Carload Customers

09/02/2005

Weather: Update on New Orleans and Carload Traffic Re-routes - Carload Traffic

To facilitate the movement of customers' freight, BNSF is re-routing carload shipments through alternative gateways, including Birmingham, Memphis, and East St. Louis.

Next week, following the holiday weekend, we expect shipments delayed due to Hurricane Katrina to reach eastern carriers by the end of the week. BNSF will continue to develop alternative traffic flows with all connecting carriers to minimize delays of future rail shipments.

Customers do not need to change their shipping instructions. BNSF is adjusting shipment routing of embargoed traffic. Customers with questions regarding demurrage related to the hurricane should contact their respective demurrage analyst.

We will continue to send additional updates as conditions change. If you have any questions, please contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Intermodal Customers

09/02/2005

Weather Update: New Orleans and Southeast Traffic Impacted due to Hurricane Katrina - Intermodal Traffic


Update on Service to the Southeast
In a BNSF Service Advisory dated, August 31, 2005, we announced that we would not be accepting shipments to Norfolk Southern destinations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina at our Los Angeles Hobart Intermodal Facility. This restriction continues and will be in place until September 6, 2005. We will monitor the situation and will announce changes as conditions warrant.

Traffic that originated in the Pacific Southwest earlier this week destined for the Southeast can expect to be delayed until operations to the Southeast via the KCS and Norfolk Southern are returned to normal conditions.

Update on Service to the New Orleans Area
The restriction on New Orleans traffic remains in place. BNSF will not accept any shipments (including interline shipments) destined to New Orleans at any of its intermodal facilities, including on-dock facilities. The BNSF New Orleans Intermodal Facility will remain closed, with service to and from New Orleans suspended indefinitely.

For traffic currently enroute to New Orleans that entered our system prior to the embargo, BNSF is working to determine alternate facilities where the freight can be delivered, deramped and picked up. Please contact your BNSF Customer Support representative to discuss alternate facility options. Some freight is currently deramped and available for pick up at BNSF's Houston Intermodal Facility. Please pick up this freight as soon as possible.

If you have freight currently at one of our west coast facilities (for example, Los Angeles Hobart) that has New Orleans as the destination, and you would like to divert or pick it up, you have until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 3, to do so. After 3:00 p.m., all remaining shipments will be loaded out of Hobart.

We will provide additional updates as conditions change. If you have questions, please contact your BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Intermodal Customers

09/06/2005

Weather Update: New Orleans and Southeast Traffic Impacted due to Hurricane Katrina - Intermodal Traffic

Update on Service to the New Orleans Area
BNSF's New Orleans Intermodal Facility remains closed until further notice. BNSF will not accept any shipments (including interline shipments) destined to New Orleans at any of its intermodal facilities, including on-dock facilities.

Many customers took action in response to our Service Advisory dated September 2, 2005. If they had New Orleans loads at one of our west coast facilities, they either diverted this traffic or picked it up. The remaining traffic was not loaded on trains as was mentioned in that advisory. If you still have traffic at one of our west coast facilities that has New Orleans as the destination, we urge you to either divert it to another destination or come in and pick it up. You may pick up your freight without penalty.

Traffic currently enroute that has New Orleans as the destination is now expected to be delivered to our Alliance, Texas Intermodal Facility. Customer Support will be contacting customers to discuss the disposition of this traffic.


Update on Service to the Southeast
In a BNSF Service Advisory dated August 31, 2005, we announced that we would not be accepting shipments to Norfolk Southern destinations in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina at our Los Angeles Hobart Intermodal Facility.

This restriction is being lifted immediately.

Traffic destined for the Southeast that originated in the Pacific Southwest last week is continuing to see delays, but the delays are shortening now that KCS has cleared its tracks of debris and is accepting interchange traffic.

We will continue to provide you with updates as conditions change. If you have questions, please contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Carload Customers

09/07/2005

Carload Traffic Embargo on New Orleans Traffic

As a result of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, BNSF is announcing an embargo, effective immediately, on all carload traffic moving to and from New Orleans, including interchange traffic.

Customers do not need to change their shipping instructions. BNSF is adjusting routing of the embargoed traffic.


Update on Traffic Currently Enroute
We continue to work with the eastern carriers to detour shipments around New Orleans to the gateways of Birmingham, Memphis and East St. Louis. As stated in our Service Advisory dated September 2, 2005, most rerouted shipments cleared last week have or are expected to reach our eastern connections by the end of this week.

Customers can expect an additional 48 to 72 hours transit time on shipments moving over the detours around New Orleans.

We will continue to send additional updates as conditions change. If you have any questions, please contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Carload Customers

09/12/2005

Weather: Update on New Orleans and Carload Traffic Re-routes

Effective Tuesday, September 13, 2005, BNSF will resume interchange of traffic at New Orleans with Norfolk Southern Railway on an as-needed basis. Shipments released for movement via New Orleans will automatically be routed to take advantage of this resumption of service.

Last week, BNSF also resumed interchange operations with the Canadian National Railway via New Orleans and is continuing to interchange traffic on an as-needed basis.

Traffic destined to embargoed stations on either the Norfolk Southern or Canadian National railways will not be interchanged.

We will continue to minimize shipment delays by re-routing shipments through alternate gateways with other carriers. As we communicated previously, shippers do not need to modify their shipping instructions. BNSF is continuing to adjust routing to the most expedient gateway.

We will continue to send additional updates as conditions change. If you have any questions, please contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.

[CNJRoss]

To: BNSF Intermodal and National Account Customers

09/13/2005

Weather: BNSF New Orleans Intermodal Facility Open for Out-gate Traffic Only


As a result of the continued recovery of BNSF operations from Hurricane Katrina, BNSF will open its New Orleans Intermodal Facility--effective immediately—so that customers can pick up containers currently at the facility.

No appointment will be necessary to pick up containers, and storage charges will be waived on these shipments. The facility will be open only for pick up of containers between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

BNSF will not accept freight at the New Orleans facility, and will not move any additional units into the facility for pick up beyond those currently at the facility. We continue to urge customers to either divert or pick up any New Orleans destined freight that is at BNSF's Los Angeles Hobart, Oakland International Gateway, Alliance or Houston Intermodal facilities.

We will continue to provide you with updates as conditions change. If you have questions, please contact BNSF Customer Support at 1-888-428-2673, option 2, or send an email to customerinterface@bnsf.com.