Limited Embargo Ending - A Message From Steve Bobb and Matt Igoe

Date
Aug 23, 2022

Dear BNSF Customers,

We are pleased to report that BNSF is lifting our temporary permit embargo in California. As announced, beginning Monday, September 5, shipments may move into California without a permit. We recognize the embargo has led to some additional disruption to our affected customers in the short term, and we sincerely appreciate your support and patience. Thanks to your continued collaboration, we’ve been able to reduce congestion and improve network fluidity in Southern California.

The decision to put the limited embargo in place was not one we took lightly. Still, it was a step we knew we had to take in response to significant ongoing service challenges, especially in Southern California. During the past two months, BNSF team members and contractors worked around the clock to reduce the backlogs and ensure that essential commodities flowed. Last week, we were able to grant 89% of permits requested for shipments moving into California. Moving forward, we will continue working collaboratively with individual customers to manage traffic flows and maintain fluidity.

Returning service to normal levels will require that we remain diligent and focused on controlling inventory levels on our network. As you know, the temporary embargo was one of several actions we’ve taken to improve network fluidity and restore service levels to the levels you expect from BNSF and we expect of ourselves. BNSF teams remain focused on our broader service recovery efforts and are driving improved operational conditions across our entire network. Our gains in network fluidity have enabled BNSF to reduce agricultural past dues, and are now current for fall harvest.

We also remain committed to continuing to provide transparent and frequent communications about the state of our network as recovery efforts continue throughout our network.

As always, we thank you for your business and the opportunity to serve as your transportation service provider.


Sincerely,

Steve Bobb                                       Matt Igoe
Executive Vice President                  Executive Vice President
and Chief Marketing Officer              and Chief Operations Officer