Michael W. Babcock
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 158
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Changes have occurred in the Kansas grain transportation system that have increased trucking of grain. Class I railroads in Kansas have encouraged the construction of unit train (100 or more railcars) loading facilities on their main lines. Kansas farmers will truck their grain a much greater distance to obtain the higher grain price at the unit train loading location. Farmers will bypass the local grain elevator, and the shortline railroad serving it, and truck the grain to the unit train loading facility, resulting in increased road damage costs. The increasing size of grain railcars threatens to reduce shortline railroad grain traffic and increase grain trucking. The new super jumbo covered hopper cars have loaded weights of 286,000 pounds, much higher than most of the shortline railroad track in Kansas is capable of handling. As the percentage of the grain car fleet that can move on shortlines declines, grain shippers will have no alternative but to truck their grain to terminal markets.
