UP tops list, CN shows improvement in STC Rail Report Card

Union Pacific was selected as the top-performing railroad by leading U.S. agricultural shippers in the second annual Soy Transportation Coalition Rail Customer Satisfaction Index. Survey respondents provided Canadian National a 38 percent increase in its score from the previous year, giving the company a third place ranking among the seven Class 1 railroads. In 2010, Canadian National finished in last place. The survey was completed anonymously by agricultural shippers of various sizes and scale of operations and was comprised of the same eleven questions from 2010 categorized under: 1.) On Time Performance; 2.) Customer Service; and 3.) Costs. For most questions, participants were asked to rate each of the seven Class 1 railroads on a scale from 1-10 with ten being the highest and one being the lowest. UP finished first in eight out of eleven questions. BNSF, the top rated railroad in 2010, slipped to second place. Soy Transportation Coalition Rail Customer Satisfaction Index - Overall Ratings: 1.) Union Pacific 2.) Burlington Northern Santa Fe 3.) Canadian National 4.) Norfolk Southern 5.) CSX Transportation
 6.) Kansas City Southern 7.) Canadian Pacific Railway Of particular note was the dramatic improvement of Canadian National over the previous year. Steenhoek said, "According to the feedback received from a number of agricultural shippers, Canadian National has increasingly reached out to its customers, solicited their input and has instituted a number of performance measures to become a more service-oriented railroad." The seven Class 1 railroads annually transport more than 24 million tons of soybeans, 17 million tons of soybean meal and six million tons of soybean oil.