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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MAy 24, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
OUR VIEW
Railroads need to do better
t’s been a rough couple of
years for ag shippers. Truck
and driver shortages, port
delays in the U.S. and Asia and
spotty service from railroads. The
list goes on.
Except for one thing. While the
supply chain has always been sub-
ject to longshore union slowdowns
or other factors, the ability of rail-
roads to provide adequate, on-time
and consistent service had been
suspect long before the COVID-
19 pandemic or other supply chain
problems happened.
This year, an American Farm
Bureau analysis showed the seven
Class I railroads, which handle
94% of the nation’s freight, had
137,000 unfilled orders for grain
cars in the first three months of this
year.
This is not an isolated incident.
In the first three months of last
year, 93,000 orders were unfilled
and other orders were 11 or more
days overdue, resulting in lost con-
tracts, flour and feed mill closures
and other fallout, according to the
analysis.
That’s not all. The railroads’ per-
formance is so inconsistent that
some customers can count on them
only to be late.
“If our expectation is that
they’re 10 days late, but they’re
consistently 10 days late, we can
plan,” Paul Katovich, general man-
ager of HighLine Grain Growers in
Waterville, Washington, told Capi-
tal Press reporter Matthew Weaver.
“If we think it’s going to be 10
days late, but then it’s 40 days late,
that’s a big problem.”
Berkshire Hathaway, a rich con-
glomerate that owns PacifiCorp,
Geico and a bushel basket of other
corporations, bought BNSF Rail-
way — then known as Burling-
ton Northern Santa Fe Corp. — in
2009 for $44 billion. At the time, it
I
Getty Images
The Surface Transportation Board is requiring railroads to come up with recovery plans because of poor performance.
was Berkshire’s largest acquisition,
but within five years the railroad’s
profits had more than covered the
cost of the purchase, according to a
Business Insider article headlined,
“Warren Buffett Made A Deal
In 2009 That Was So Good You
Could Say He Stole It.”
Berkshire is managed by Buf-
fett, one of the richest men on the
planet. Early on, he spoke at length
about investing billions of dollars
in BNSF to improve it.
However, in his annual letter to
Berkshire shareholders in 2018, he
conceded that he and his managers
had come up short.
“During the year, BNSF disap-
pointed many of its customers,”
the Berkshire CEO wrote. “These
shippers depend on us, and ser-
vice failures can badly hurt their
businesses.”
Now, four years later, it’s the
same old story, even as BNSF con-
tinues to rack up profits as one of
Berkshire’s cash cows.
Last year, BNSF had net income
of almost $6 billion. To its credit,
BNSF plans to spend $3.5 bil-
lion this year on maintenance and
upgrades.
But what about other railroads?
Union Pacific also serves much of
the West. A publicly traded com-
pany, Union Pacific reported net
revenue last year of $6.5 billion. It
also spent $7.3 billion to buy back
shares from investors, according to
Zacks Equity Research.
At the same time, railroads have
cut their payrolls “to the barebones
in order to reduce costs,” according
to Martin Oberman, chairman of
the Surface Transportation Board,
the federal agency investigating
the performance of the nation’s
railroads. That’s 45,000 employees
laid off in the past four years, or
29% of the total workforce.
While both BNSF and Union
Pacific have been investing in
improvements, they still fall short
of providing adequate, on-time
service.
The Surface Transportation
Board, which oversees railroads,
has a big job on its hands.
It not only has to coax well-
heeled railroads to do a better job
serving their customers, but it has
to make up for the years in the
past the board itself let service
deteriorate.
At stake is the U.S. econ-
omy as a whole — and the finan-
cial well-being of every farmer,
rancher and food processor in the
nation.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Step forward
W
hile I am disappointed with the out-
come of the Gearhart firehouse bond
measure, I am encouraged by the large
number of residents who voted “no,” and
yet expressed strong admiration and grat-
itude for our volunteer firemen and fire-
women, and acknowledged the obvious
need to replace our present 60-year-old
structure.
I appeal to this specific group of resi-
dents to step forward and lead the project
to achieve the replacement of our outdated
facility. I agree with Teddy Roosevelt, who
famously said that it is not the critic who
counts, but rather, the doer of deeds.
I want to acknowledge and thank those
many residents who have devoted count-
less hours, with the goal of meeting a
critical need of our community, which
scores of city leaders have been promot-
ing since 2006. The cost of delay has been
enormous.
GARY GILLAM
Gearhart
New idea
A
few weeks ago, I wrote a letter regard-
ing the big giant hole in Astoria. I pro-
posed they fill it with wild donkeys and
name it the A**hole. Then I thought we
could keep the name, but fill it with statues
of politicians.
Now I have a new idea. I propose we
keep the name, but move the entire hole
to Gearhart. Then we fill it with photos of
those people who voted against the recent
firehouse bond.
They all deserve some credit for screw-
ing over their friends and neighbors. Espe-
cially their leader. It takes a special kind
of person to think only of themselves, and
yet when their house catches fire, or their
loved ones are involved in a car crash,
these same people will be praying out loud
that the fire department gets there in time.
These people refuse to support their
community, and yet demand and expect
the services the community provides. Fire-
fighters are willing to risk their lives for
you, and sometimes they die trying, and
this is how you repay them?
These people are volunteers, willing
to come out 24/7 just to save your butts.
Pretty disgusting all the way around. You
all must be very proud of yourselves.
Let’s move the big giant hole to Gear-
hart and give these folks the credit they
deserve. Everybody wins here. Astoria
gets rid of the hole, the “no” voters get
some recognition and the rest of the com-
munity knows whom they can count on.
DAVE BERGQUIST
Astoria
A civilizing influence
A
s a participant in a recent local authors
lecture series at the Warrenton Com-
munity Library, I had the pleasure of get-
ting to know the facility, its director, Kelly
Knudsen, and some of the library friends
board members. I was very impressed with
the facility, and Kelly’s strong commit-
ment to serving the people of Warrenton.
Kelly and the friends board are cur-
rently devising innovative programming,
such as the authors series, in order to
encourage more adults to familiarize them-
selves with the library, and begin visiting
more often. The presence of a food bank
drop-off site in front of the building attests
to the library staff’s dedication to feeding
the body as well as the mind.
Libraries nationally, particularly those
in small rural communities, have been
under siege. Securing funding to remain
open, pay for adequate staff and modernize
to include computer access, has been a big
challenge in the digital age. The Warrenton
Community Library is no exception.
To those who think that libraries aren’t
relevant any more, I say nothing could
be further from the truth. Libraries have
always been at the core of a healthy, coher-
ent community. Their quiet atmosphere
provides a safe place where all are equal,
and all are welcome; a place to slow down,
relax and open your mind to new ideas.
Libraries are a civilizing influence in
a world growing evermore chaotic. Their
success is indicative of a community that
cares. Please support your local library.
ROGER DORBAND
Astoria
highway.
FERNANDO ARELLANO SOTO
Astoria
Dangerous
How can we expect our younger gener-
ation to succeed? With the rise of housing
prices, how can we expect younger people
to be able to afford living on their own?
Many young people here are attend-
ing Clatsop Community College to further
their education in order to have a success-
ful future in the field they choose. While in
college, the amount of time these kids can
work is limited, and many cannot afford to
be paying thousands on an apartment with
such low income, while also trying to pay
for their education.
I believe if we cannot make more
cheaper housing and living options, then
we will have less people attending our
local college, and living in this area in
general.
TAYLIN REGIER
Astoria
ld Highway 30 needs to be fixed. I
first moved to Oregon five years ago,
and to this day, I still remember the first
time driving down that highway, having to
constantly sway away from potholes, and
taking on all the larger ones that could not
be avoided.
I will not lie — after a while, I did
become more accustomed to driving on
this highway, but for those who are just
passing through for their first time, it can
be dangerous combined with the heavy
rain and snow we get. It can, more often
than not, result in a car accident.
So I repeat again, something has to
be done to help fix Old Highway 30, or
more and more accidents will occur, caus-
ing more crosses to be put up along our
O
How can we expect?