DUPONT SUES NORFOLK SOUTHERN OVER DELAYS
DuPont Co. filed suit Friday against Norfolk Southern Corp. over rail-service snafus that cost the world's largest shipper “losses amounting to millions of dollars,” the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., accuses NS of breaching its contract with DuPont to provide reliable transportation and delays forced the chemical shipper to slow production lines at a dozen plants, shift to more expensive transportation options and acquire alternative materials at higher cost.
Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp. have been struggling with congestion, delays and communications problems along their systems since the two companies began operating the sections they acquired of the former Conrail system on June 1, 1999. CSX was not named in DuPont's suit.
DuPont claims in its suit that Norfolk Southern said that transit times along the former Conrail routes it operates would be as good or better than transit times under Conrail. The service problems resulted in “lost cars,” blocked rail sidings, disrupted or slower intermodal service, reduced average train speeds and increased dwell times in yards.
A spokesman for DuPont said the railroad would not comment on the case, as attorneys were reviewing the complaint.
“We've been working diligently with all shippers who have claims related to the service issues,” said Robert C. Fort, vice president of public relations for Norfolk Southern, based in Norfolk, Va. “We have entered into good faith with DuPont, but unfortunately they haven't been successful.”
Fort said that complaints from shippers are largely related to the six to eight months following the split-up of Conrail.
“The service issues addressed, we are dealing with them,” he said. “Operational metrices are back to where they should be, as determined by the Surface Transportation Board.”