NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — Last week, shareholders of both Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern approved their merger. When the ink is dry, it will create the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
Mike Steenhook with the Soy Transportation Coalition tells us there could be some concern around consolidation. He says the pressure is now on other rail lines to follow suit, and warns that some customers are worried they will lose significant negotiating power.
Lawmakers are also worried about future rail choices. That is why Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., filed the Reliable Rail Service Act earlier this year.
“They preference their biggest customers, and they don’t recognize that they have a common carrier duty to all shippers,” Sen. Baldwin explained. “And so, my Reliable Rail Service Act helps us build a strong economy and lower costs for consumers and shippers by requiring the freight rail services to be reliable and to understand what their common carrier obligation means.”
Baldwin said her bill would put a definition to that term. Once that is accomplished, she says it will help the enforcement agencies hold rail shippers accountable.
Reed Marcum started hosting a toy drive in 2015. Since then, he has distributed thousands of toys across his home state of Oklahoma and in Texas and Arkansas. Now serving in the Army, Reed’s family and local 4-H chapter are running the event.
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Mike Steenhoek, with the Soy Transportation Commission, shares his outlook on current grain stocks and transportation lines amid bumper crops filling bins across the United States.
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Rep. Michelle Fischbach shares her appreciation for rural communities and outlines how the Working Families Tax Cut is aimed to support farm families on RFD-TV’s Champions of Rural America.
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