A bill introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) that would address unreliable service and the high costs of rail shipping earned the support of the American Chemistry Council on Thursday.
The Reliable Rail Service Act would ensure the largest freight railroads would provide reliable service at reasonable rates to deliver products to market more efficiently and bring consumer costs down. The ACC said it supports the legislation because a recent survey of its members found that nearly a third felt rail service problems were worse in the second half of last year, and that more than three quarters felt service was worse that before the pandemic.
“The legislation recognizes freight service problems are systemic and require action by policymakers,” the organization said in a statement. “Years of railroad actions to cut workers, close rail yards, and take locomotives out of service have gutted network resilience, making service disruptions more frequent, severe, and long-lasting.”
During recent hearings before Congress and the Surface Transportation Board (STB), ACC has urged policymakers to address issues with freight rail service noting the problems are harming American manufacturing.
ACC said poor rail service and missed deliveries have caused lost production for chemical manufacturers and harmed other economic sectors from farms to factories.
The legislation would clarify that railroads have a statutory obligation to provide “timely, efficient, and reliable rail service;” as well as establish criteria to hold railroads accountable.
“If we want to fix our supply chain and make more things in America rather than in places like China – we need to make sure freight rail can deliver,” American Chemistry Council President and CEO Chris Jahn said.