NCTA Issue 2, 2019

ISSUE 2 | 2019

ENERGY IQ

How Do You Stop a Train?

Leveraging Big Data Within the Rail Industry Reflections: Ken Brockway

W E N This device allows for the fast and efficient release of hazardous stored energy (compressed air) from the door dump system components (reservoir, filter, valve, cylinder and connecting lines) in one easy motion. Simply push the red knob to exhaust the system. Add a safety pad lock or OSHA approved “LOCKOUT/TAGOUT” hasp for multiple safety locks and the door dump system is depressurized and can safely be accessed for servicing. Once service procedures have been completed, the system is easily re-pressurized by removing the lock or hasp and locks and pulling the knob out.

Use of this device is a huge time saver and adds a layer of safety for personnel while servicing or working near the door dump components on a rail car.

Features and Benefits • High flow design allows rapid release of hazardous stored energy (compressed air) • Can easily be retrofitted to any bottom dump car door circuit • Can only be locked in the exhausted (safe) position • Base is ported on both sides allowing maximum plumbing flexibility

isolation valve is based on the same The “sliding shoe” design that has been used in our Original Series and Second Generation Railcar Valves for more than 30 years. This design is extremely tolerant of the rust, scale and moisture typically found in railcar airlines. In addition to use on railcars, this valve can be used on any type of outdoor equipment, machinery or device that needs to be safely exhausted of hazardous stored energy (compressed air) per OSHA 1910.147 “LOCKOUT/TAGOUT” procedures.

Website: www.lexairinc.com E-mail: jjennings@lexairinc.com Ph: 859-255-5001 Fax: 859-255-6656

Contents Life:Powered – Raising America’s Energy IQ

PUBLISHED BY: National Coal Transportation Association 8181 Arista Place, Suite 100 Broomfield, CO 80021 Telephone: 801-560-9801 www.movecoal.org Editors: John Simpson Melinda Canter Phone: 720-227-1049 melinda@movecoal.org Production By: Suckerpunch Creative Inc. info@suckerpunch.ca www.suckerpunch.ca ©2019 NCTA. All rights reserved.

The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part, without the prior written consent of NCTA.

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Presidential Library Receives Coal Transporter!

ISSUE 2 | 2019

29

Reflections: Ken Brockway

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FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

6

2

Message from the NCTA President Emily Regis

4

Message from the NCTA Executive Director John N. Ward

14

Randy’s Railcar 101: How Do You Stop a Train?

Randall Thomure Railway Supply Institute

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Technology Junction: Leveraging Big Data Within the Rail Industry Martin Lew, Commtrex

CONFERENCES

2 4

NCTA Membership Benefits

12

2 5

Calendar of Events

25

NCTA Welcomes its Newest Member

3 5

Membership List

3 5

Index to Advertisers

3 6

View from the Caboose

20

Life:Powered Raising America’s Energy IQ

By Mike Nasi, Jackson Walker LLP and Katie Tahuahua, Texas Public Policy Foundation STB Update Sandra Brown Partner, Thompson Hine LLP

2 9

Presidential Library Receives Coal Transporter!

By Melinda Canter

3 0

Reflections: Ken Brockway Lumps of Coal

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2 6

Fall Conference Preview Baltimore, MD, September 9-11, 2019 O&M Conference Review St. Louis, MO, June 10-12, 2019 Spring Conference Review San Antonio, TX, April 1-3, 2019

The opinions expressed by the authors of the articles appearing in the Coal Transporter are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the NCTA, its Board of Directors or its member companies.

Publication of the articles does not constitute an endorsement of the views that may be expressed.

Fall Conference Preview

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COAL TRANSPORTER | 1

President’s Report / Emily Regis

A Message from NCTA President Emily Regis

Supply, Demand, and Staying Down on the Farm After Seeing the STB

W

hen was the last time you were offered a product so low in price that you received a credit invoice from the seller? “Take this off our hands; we’re making it faster than we know what to do with!” In fact, we’ve experienced this in the energy market lately.

With an excess of solar and wind energy on the market at certain times of the day, it is to be expected that some energy prices would be very low. But now we are seeing the same phenomenon with the cost of natural gas. A notable abundance of natural gas on the market due to robust production appears to have driven the market into negative prices. Confusing – but I have experienced this kind of thing before.

I was thinking about this during my recent visit to Washington, D.C., where I had the opportunity to provide testimony before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) at a hearing on railroad demurrage and accessorial charges. My testimony was scheduled at the end of what proved to be two very long days.

Sitting in a large room listening to more than 17 hours of testimony from more than 45 shipper and carrier participants with limited visibility to the outside world, I had some time to think (or develop a psychosis). At one point during the hearings, more people had entered the room than there were chairs available for seating. STB Chair Ann Begeman announced that more chairs would be arriving soon, and the hearings were halted briefly. My colleagues – Bette Whalen, President of Western Coal Traffic League, and John Ward, Executive Director of NCTA, both of whom were scheduled to testify with me on Panel XII at the end of the day – and I took notes to pass the time and fidgeted in our chairs. As the hours went by, people began to leave, with the result that we ended up with an overabundance of chairs and a scarcity of people. This struck me as a real-life example of oversupply and low demand. Who was now going to pay for (or use) all these empty chairs?

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We grow tomatoes at my rural home in southeastern Arizona. At about the time in mid-summer when the plants are bearing lots of fruit, it’s also about the time I want to get the heck out of Arizona because it will have been blazing hot for several weeks straight. The air conditioning will have been running full blast 24/7, and we begin getting on each other’s nerves like cats and dogs. However, those tomatoes must be picked and used.

Since I was raised not to waste food, I find myself forcing baskets of the ripe golden fruits on coworkers and neighbors in order to ease myself of the burden of an oversupply of vegetables. “Take these please – I can’t make tomato sauce fast enough!” The same thing happens to us later in the year when the zucchinis grown by everyone else in our neighborhood start to come in. We’ll find plastic bags of these things hanging on our doorknobs, left in our car, or hilariously thrust upon us while walking into the grocery store. What was once a commodity that we were willing to pay no less than $1.99/lb. for at the store now has become an obligation to accept whether you like squash or not! Receiving a little bit of something for free that you like and that you would normally pay for is one thing, but too much of a good thing means it ends up rotting on the counter!

As the STB hearing wrapped up and the few of us that were left gathered in the lobby to wait for our Ubers, Lyfts, or other transport, STB Member Patrick Fuchs entered the lobby carrying a large Dunkin Donuts box. As he passed by our group, Patrick opened the box to reveal one single doughnut with coconut topping and offered it to us free for the taking. Obviously, the box had been full of fresh fried confections earlier in the day. However, after all those hours of testimony had passed, after the chair-moving exercise, and even after a tornado warning had forced us to shelter in place in a hallway for 45 minutes, this single stale sweet snack was no longer appealing. We all had other refreshments in mind. Low supply; no demand! s

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Executive Director’s Report / John Ward

A Message from NCTA Executive Director John Ward

Getting On Board and Staying On Track

A

lert Coal Transporter readers have already noticed: “Hey, this is not Tom Canter.”

Hi. I’m your new NCTA Executive Director.

And with apologies for the rail pun, I’m happy to be on board. Permit me to begin with a little nostalgia.

Growing up in Murray, Utah, without air conditioning, my family would leave windows open on hot summer nights.

Three blocks away was the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad crossing at 6100 South. Better than Ambien, the whistle of trains approaching the crossing would be followed by the rhythmic click-clacking of steel wheels, followed by a farther-away whistle at the next crossing. Rinse and repeat. In the daytime, packs of kids would ride their bikes to the crossing at the sound of an approaching train and hope for a kindly conductor seated high in the caboose who would often fling candy down onto the street below.

Although I probably don’t rise to the obsessive title of “railfan,” to this day I actually enjoy getting stopped at a rail crossing so that I can count the number and catalog the types of railcars going by. I do, however, rise to the title of “coalfan,” if there is such a thing. Since my first posting at Utah Power & Light Company in 1983, coal has never been far from my daily grind.

I have worked, and continue to work, with producers, consumers, and managers of the leftovers of coal combustion. (Many of you who know me best know me as a used coal salesman.) I am excited now to take on this coal transportation role, filling in the last link in the coal value chain.

The D&RGW is long gone, of course, and the right-of-way near Mom’s house now hauls light-rail commuters back and forth on unnervingly quiet continuous welded rail. Gone, too, are cabooses. And packs of kids on bikes, for that matter. Times change. And as I pick up this NCTA assignment, it is during a period of intense transition for the coal industry.

We are consolidating. But we are not going away. Strangers who ask “what do you do” are often surprised when I tell them about coal. “Isn’t that about gone?” they almost invariably ask.

Only in Sierra Club press releases. We are an industry transitioning from making more than a billion of something to making maybe 600 million of something. That’s hard. But 600 million of something is still a lot. And it’s vital for the economy, comfort, and safety of our nation.

So how will I approach leading NCTA during this transition? I have discussed two key principles with NCTA’s active and very qualified Board of Directors.

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NCTA President Emily Regis (l) and NCTA Executive Director John Ward (second from right) testify in May before the Surface Transportation Board.

First, don’t fix what ain’t broken. NCTA’s fundamentals are solid, and the organization serves an important niche that is not addressed by any other organization. There’s no need to turn things upside down just because the new guy likes his eggs cooked a different way.

Second, focus on what matters. For an industry in transition, that means more communication and coalition building.

We will strive to get our members information they can use and get it to them faster, while expanding our concept of whom an NCTA member should be.

As I write this missive, I’ve been on the job a total of 69 days. It’s been a busy couple of months. I’ve testified on NCTA’s behalf at a Surface Transportation Board proceeding on railroad demurrage and accessorial charges, participated in NCTA’s annual Operations and Maintenance Conference, spoken at the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, met lots of new friends and allies, and launched a new biweekly publication titled with another rail pun, the On Track digital newsletter. It’s been great.

Firehose water is a favorite beverage.

Permit me to close with a little nostalgia and extend my sincere and profuse thanks to Tom Canter. In his 23-plus years as NCTA’s executive director, he served with unfailing diligence and integrity. It is because of his tireless service that NCTA is positioned to continue its important role in the evolution of the coal industry. We will never forget that Tom laid the foundation that NCTA will build upon as our industry, and the world, continue to change. s

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From fabrication to fit-up to final inspection—our Shoals facility has five production lines, fifteen quality-assurance checkpoints with automated welding, rotisserie 360-degree blast preparation and an army of high-tech paint robots. This is where skilled craftspeople, with thousands of years of collective experience, turn steel into commerce.

More than a place where railcars are made, this is where railcars are made great, one mile at a time.

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Energy Policy / Life:Powered

Life:Powered –

RAISING AMERICA’S ENERGY IQ

By Mike Nasi, Partner, Jackson, Walker LLP and Katie Tahuahua, Communications Manager, Texas Public Policy Foundation

I

n a Senate office building with filigreed wainscoting and ornate crown molding, young Congressional staffers are abuzz. Lured by the promise of free Chick-fil-A and expert panelists, nearly 150 people have packed the room to listen to a previously unheardof organization.

“Coal. Oil. Natural gas. Fossil fuels are essential to modern life,” begins the opening video as the lights dim.

“How essential?”

Life:Powered exists to answer that question. The answer, of course, is “Very.”

But in the era of the Green New Deal, many Americans have forgotten just how critical affordable, reliable energy is to their daily lives – and how instrumental it could be in lifting billions around the world from poverty and oppression.

This panel, and others like it for policymakers and the public alike, is the work of Life:Powered – a fledgling national initiative of one of the country’s largest think tanks, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF).

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Founded in 1989 to influence policymakers on liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise, TPPF has been a leading voice on a variety of issues in the Texas State Capitol and, in recent years, nationwide.

TPPF is best known outside the Lone Star State for its criminal justice reform initiative, Right on Crime, which was a key driver of the bipartisan First Step Act recently signed into law.

TPPF saw that model could be replicated in other policy arenas, including one in particular.

If any issue needs principled, policy-focused national leadership, it’s energy. Unfortunately for the American people, our national conversation about energy and the environment is increasingly fraught and unproductive, based tenuously on fear of doomsday scenarios – peak oil and apocalyptic environmental devastation – rather than sound science and economics. High school climate change protests get more news coverage than the issues that really deserve our attention.

And the decisions being made today will have generations-long ramifications, for better or worse.

Thus, Life:Powered was born to “raise America’s energy IQ,” inform the American public about our energy resources, and advocate for policies that promote economic freedom and advance the human condition.

The project is led by Mike Nasi, an environmental law attorney, and Jason Isaac, a former Texas state representative who served on the House Committee on Environmental Regulation. In less than a year, it has quickly expanded to include a policy analyst, communications director, a gaggle of interns, and several senior fellows, including former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Kathleen Hartnett White and former Trump EPA appointee Mandy Gunasekara.

Life:Powered has transformed from a scrappy startup into a national energy powerhouse, and it’s still growing.

Because there is no shortage of opportunities to educate.

Figure 2: CO2 Emission Reductions by 2050 if Fossil Fuels Were Eliminated in the U.S.

Figure 1: U.S. Total Energy Consumption (1950-2018) quadrillion British thermal units

Total global CO2 reduction 10.5 ppm

Most Americans don’t realize that the vast majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels – coal, natural gas, and oil – and has for decades, even as renewables have become a popular political buzzword. They are also shocked to learn that the United States has among the cleanest air in the world.

Despite the environmental doomsday narrative perpetuated in the media, our world is getting better, not worse.

Thank You, Coal: Energy Powers Life Take a look around you. How many things can you spot that are made from fossil fuels?

We have energy to thank for the quality of life we enjoy today. Beginning with the widespread use of coal and the invention of the steam engine in the late 18th century, fossil fuels powered the Industrial Revolution that liberated humanity from subsistence living and fostered a new age of prosperity.

More than 80% of the energy we consume and nearly all the products we rely on every day, from steel to smartphones to synthetic fabrics to pharmaceuticals, are derived from or depend on fossil fuels (see Figure 1). And all these products are transported using fossil fuels.

Source: EIA

Source: UN IPCC

Not only is energy essential to modern life, but America’s growing dominance of energy production is becoming a driver of prosperity at home and geopolitical stability abroad. Americans spent $300 billion less on energy in 2017 than they did in 2008, and most of those savings went to lower-income Americans who need financial stability the most.

We will also soon become a net energy exporter, helping to reduce the world’s dependence on energy from unstable and totalitarian nations.

Despite these great achievements, the modern environmental movement has promulgated the lie that anything that is not “renewable” is immoral and uses scare tactics to push people and politicians into supporting an impossible energy transition. But even total elimination of fossil fuel-related carbon

dioxide emissions would cut global temperatures by, at most, 0.053° C by 2050 (see Figure 2).

Life:Powered believes that environmental policy should serve mankind, not the other way around, and that growing our collective wealth through the use of energy-dense fuels is essential to our ability to protect our environment. Moreover, restricting the availability of fossil fuels and increasing their cost through mandates and taxes limit consumer choices and increase the cost of food, electricity, medicine, and essential goods, disproportionately harming the poor.

Energy Poverty Is Poverty

Aysha has bright eyes and an infectious smile. Like other 14-year-olds, she has big dreams – but the reality of life in

Steam engines and locomotives have helped power successive Industrial Revolutions.

COAL TRANSPORTER | 7

According to UNICEF, women and girls around the world spend 200 million hours a day collecting water for their families.

Ethiopia is stark. While her brother learns how to read and write, she spends her day walking eight hours to collect water for her family.

As you read this, thousands like her in third-world countries are making their daily trek to get water. According to UNICEF, women and girls around the world spend 200 million hours a day on this time-consuming and physically taxing work – work that prevents them from getting an education, pursuing meaningful work, and being civically engaged.

That burden could be lifted with reliable, affordable energy, such as coalto-power water systems and natural gas for cooking and heating.

Even in 2019, more than a billion people worldwide still don’t have access to electricity. They face lives of poverty and drudgery. Life expectancies are fully 20 years shorter in countries without electricity – countries where medieval-sounding sicknesses like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery still reign. An average man in Burundi, where less than 10% of the population has electricity, wouldn’t expect to live to 60.

Figure 3: Access to Energy Improves Life

As access to energy improves, so do life expectancy, child and maternal mortality, public health, economic growth, education, poverty, hunger, and nearly every other metric of human well-being (see Figure 3).1 Though we take electricity for granted in the United States, assuming the lights will come on when we hit the switch, its potential to improve the human condition around the world is boundless.

In fact, living conditions around the world are improving. In 1980, almost half of the global population lived in “extreme poverty,” unable to afford basic necessities such as food and shelter.

A few decades later, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has dramatically declined to less than 10 percent.

And yet, over 3.8 million people die every year from toxic indoor pollution created by burning wood, kerosene, and animal dung to cook or heat homes. Half a million die from diseases caused by contaminated water. Still more die, even in privileged countries, from preventable illnesses caused by lack of heating in the

“Over 3.8 million people die every year from toxic indoor pollution created by burning wood, kerosene, and animal dung to cook or heat homes.”

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Source: EPA

1. Epstein, Alex. “Why Green Energy Means No Energy,” Forbes. Mar 28, 2016.

winter. Those deaths could be prevented with access to electricity.

The United States produces more oil and natural gas and holds more recoverable coal than any other country in the world – and advances in technology mean we are increasing our recoverable reserves much faster than we are depleting them.

America is in a position to help lift billions in developing nations out of poverty and sickness by exporting American natural gas, low-sulfur coal, and oil, as well as pollution control technology.

Leading the World in Clean Air

Dressed in crisp suits with briefcases in tow, the Life:Powered team walks the halls of the U.S. Capitol, preparing to meet with the elected officials deciding our energy future.

“Did you know we’re leading the world in clean air?” asks Jason Isaac, the former state legislator who understands how to cut to the chase with harried congressmen whose schedules are perpetually over-booked.

Often, the response is something along the lines of, “Pfft.”

This is perhaps the best-kept secret in American politics. Over the last 50 years, the United States has dramatically reduced emissions of six key pollutants that harm human health. Toxic airborne pollutants such as lead, ozone, and carbon monoxide have declined by 73% – all while our economy, population, miles traveled, and energy consumption have

“Over the last 50 years, the U.S. has reduced emissions of airborne pollutants such as lead, ozone, and carbon monoxide by 73%.”

“

I have a lot to move every day.

Downtime stops me in my tracks.

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6/28/19 2:01 PM | 9 COAL TRANSPORTER

skyrocketed (see Figure 4). Our cities are no longer masked by smog and toxic fumes despite our dramatic growth.

In fact, the U.S. is the only highly populated nation to meet the World Health Organization’s standards for safe air. Of developed countries, only Canada and Australia have cleaner air (see Figure 5). It is worth noting, however, that both of their economies are considerably smaller – smaller even than the State of Texas’ economy alone.

Advances in emissions control technologies made this environmental leadership possible. Baghouses for particulate matter, selective catalytic reduction for nitrogen oxides, and catalytic converters for vehicles have been developed and used to great effect in the United States.

The prosperity afforded by our energy resources has also been critical to continuing technological advancement. Without energy to provide for our physical needs – heating and cooling our homes, cooking our food, shipping our medicine, and providing clean, running water – scientific experimentation would be nearly impossible. Energy gives us the freedom and flexibility to pursue new ventures. And it has paid off.

Given current trends, air quality in America should continue to improve as older emission control technology is replaced with new equipment.

Unfortunately, some nations don’t share our commitment to clean air.

China and India are among the world’s biggest polluters, and recent studies reveal that a significant portion of the West Coast’s pollution is blown in from Asia.

The U.S. can and must compel our

Figure 5: Cleaner Air in America PM 2.5 LEVELS 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 DIRTIER

CLEANER

trading partners to adopt our environmental control technologies – and relieve the regulatory burdens that hogtie American businesses with crippling taxes and fees, forcing them to send manufacturing jobs overseas to cut costs. As companies are forced to rely on China, India, and other heavily polluting countries in order to make ends meet, we end up exporting jobs and importing pollution.

The data is clear that fossil fuels – when mined, transported, and used properly – are not the enemy of environmental progress. In fact, our use of more dense fuels has allowed us to significantly reduce our footprint on the land. It’s not a joke to say that coal saved the forests, as attested by the dramatic increase in forested land in many developed nations during the 20th century. If we ignore the importance of energy density by prioritizing renewable power sources that require massive acreage,

Figure 4: Economic Growth and Declining Emissions from 1970 to 2017

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Source: EPA

we risk both driving up our energy costs and needlessly destroying wildlife.

Declaration of Energy Independence Nearly 250 years after our country’s founding, the quintessentially American spirit of independence hasn’t faded.

And yet, for as long as most of us can remember, we’ve depended on unstable and hostile nations across the ocean for a large portion of the oil that we consume.

T. Boone Pickens once called U.S. dependence on foreign oil “the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.” At last, that trend is coming to an end.

In December 2018, the United States became a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years. In April 2019, the U.S. produced a staggering 12.16 million barrels of oil every 24 hours. EIA projects that, for the first time since the 1950s, the U.S. will export more energy than it imports by 2020 as increases in crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids production outpace growth in U.S. energy consumption.

American dominance in global energy trade is good news for our country and our allies because it helps shift the balance of global power in our favor. As we produce more of our own energy and export the fuel our trade partners depend on, our interests will move front and center on the world stage. In the words of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “The more we can spread the U.S. model of free enterprise, of the rule of law…the more successful the U.S. will be.”

It means more good-paying, upwardly mobile jobs and the kind of opportunity many Americans are hungry for – Americans like Dwana Grace.

Like many adults, Dwana didn’t have the luxury of time or finances to go back to school after losing her marketing job. But she recognized that living on welfare wasn’t the future she had in mind. She took a risk and enrolled in an “earn while you learn” pipefitting course in Baytown, Texas, which gave her the skills she needed to get back on her feet.

Now Dwana earns $26 an hour, with full benefits, at an engineering and construction firm, joining the ranks of the nearly 7 million Americans powering the energy industry.

And energy independence means a lower cost of living for every American, not just those harnessing the coal, oil, and gas our economy depends on. It means lower gas and electricity prices and better deals on the countless goods we import from other countries. At the end of the day, we have more money to invest in our families, our education, our communities, and charity.

Powering the Future

Back at the U.S. Capitol, the policy panel ends, and the legion of Congressional staff trickles back to offices down the hall. A few linger to have their questions answered by the experts.

These staffers, though overworked and often frazzled, know their long hours are worth it. They’re shaping the future of our nation.

With the announcement of the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, which replaces the Clean Power Plan, things are looking up for energy. The ACE Rule refocuses federal environmental rules on science, rather than

“The Energy Information Administration projects that, for the first time since the 1950s, the U.S. will export more energy than it imports by 2020.” political machinations. It is an important step toward unleashing the full potential of energy to grow our economy, improve quality of life, clean our air and water, and even lift billions around the world from poverty.

The ACE Rule isn’t perfect, but the American experiment has never demanded perfection. It is a next-best step toward the ideals of liberty and prosperity that began at the nation’s founding and must continue for the generations to come.

Because energy isn’t a luxury, and it doesn’t just power our lights, our cars, and our smartphones.

Energy powers life. s

COAL TRANSPORTER | 11

NCTA 2019 Fall Conference / Preview

NCTA 2019

Fall Conference

Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, Baltimore, Maryland | September 9-11, 2019

T

he NCTA continues to offer “Conferences with Character” as it stages its 45th Annual Business Meeting and General Conference September 9-11, 2019, at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court in Baltimore, Maryland. Located on the city’s picturesque waterfront, the hotel offers easy access to Inner Harbor and nearby attractions, such as the National Aquarium, Camden Yards, Fort McHenry, and Fells Point, as well as proximity to some of the largest and most active coal terminals on the East Coast.

Check the NCTA website for the agenda updates and all the latest information.

PROGRAM:

NCTA is honored to welcome Alan H. Shaw, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Norfolk Southern Corporation, as our Keynote Speaker, who will provide an update on recent initiatives at the Class I freight railroad. Our Special Guest Speaker, U.S. Rep. David Bennett McKinley (R-WV-01), will offer his views as to what to expect from the remainder of the 116th Congress. Former Ohio Coal Association President Christian Palich will share his perspective from his new post as Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement. Kelvin Dowd, Partner at Slover & Loftus LLP, will give an update on Surface Transportation Board activities.

REGISTRATION:

Registration is now open for the Fall Conference. The rate is $600 for NCTA Members and $800 for Non-Members. This fee includes all conference activities, including two receptions.

ACCOMMODATIONS:

The Royal Sonesta Harbor Court brings refinement, charm, and a laid-back style that stands out among Baltimore hotels. The Sonesta was the winner of both the AAA Four Diamond Award and TripAdvisor’s 2017 Certificate of Excellence. s

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Photo courtesy of Visit Baltimore

RESERVATIONS: Call (410) 234-0550 (direct) or 1-800-766-3782 (toll-free) to book your room or use the NCTA website’s online reservation form under Events and specify 0909NCTA19 in the Group Code.

Photo courtesy of Visit Baltimore

ROOM RATES PER DAY: NCTA has negotiated a guest room rate of $175+ a night. This rate will be honored for the period September 4-15, 2019, based on room availability. Complimentary Wi-Fi access will be provided both in your guest room and the conference room. NCTA’s conference guests are entitled to a discounted parking rate of $22 per night for self-parking.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 All Day: Packets at Hotel Check-In 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm NCTA Board of Directors Meeting 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Welcome Reception

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 8:00 am – 11:30 am General Session 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Lunch by Individual Arrangement 1:00 pm – 3:45 pm General Session 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm NCTA Annual Business

Meeting for Members 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm Reception

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 8:00 am – 11:30 am General Session

COAL TRANSPORTER | 13

Technical / Randy’s Railcar 101

HOW DO YOU STOP A TRAIN?

H

By Randall Thomure, Railway Supply Institute

Photo: CC Attribution 2.0 Generic/jpmueller99

ollywood has done an excellent job at creating train disaster movies featuring runaway trains with inoperative brakes threatening a town. In one such recent film, Unstoppable, the heroic engineer, played by Denzel Washington, and his protégé, played by Chris Pine, overcome all the odds to stop an unmanned train carrying toxic chemicals before it crashes and endangers the nearby populace. Although it made for an exciting movie, the railroaders in the room were trying hard not to call “Bravo Sierra” on the whole thing. Granted, runaway trains can happen with sometimes tragic results – but not like in the movies.

Railroad trains have a very simple, reliable, and virtually fail-safe method of braking. The modern air brake system has evolved over the many years, but its roots go back more than a century. In the early days of railroading when there was a locomotive and a car or two, the locomotive’s brakes were enough to stop a train. As cars became heavier and more cars were added, an alternative method was needed. The initial idea was each car had a brake that was applied by a person, a “brakeman.”

When the locomotive engineer gave the signal, generally a series of train whistles, the brakeman would go car to car setting a brake on every car by hand.

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Brakemen had among the most dangerous jobs in the rail industry.

Needless to say, brakemen’s jobs were some of the most hazardous jobs on the railroad. Walking across the tops of moving freight cars in all weather conditions was not a long-term career move.

One of the first steps in the direction to today’s brake system was development of the “straight air” system, which involves sending air pressure through a series of pipes and hoses to brakes on each car in the train. The higher the pressure, the stronger the brake. It’s very similar to the method we use in our automobiles, except the railroad system uses air pressure instead of hydraulic fluid, and automotive brake shoes don’t directly contact the wheel. A version of the straight air system is still in use on locomotives today.

The straight air system was a major step forward. It eliminated the very dangerous brakeman job of going car to car.

Unfortunately, it had a major flaw: what happens when the pipe breaks or a hose separates between cars? Answer: no brakes and the runaway train scenario Hollywood loves to promote.

Fortunately, a bright engineer by the name of George Westinghouse turned the tables on the weakness and made it a strength. Patented in 1869 (U.S. Patent 88929), the “triple valve” invention was a simple solution to a complex problem.

George basically flipped the script: instead of increasing the air pressure, his valve applied the brakes when the pressure was reduced. This arrangement also provided an extra measure of safety over the straight air system. In the event of a separation or broken pipe, the brakes would automatically apply; so no more runaway trains. Sorry Hollywood.

So how did the triple valve accomplish this task? When the air line (trainline) was pressurized, the triple valve used the air to build pressure in a small tank (reservoir) on each car. When a car’s brake valve detected a reduction in air pressure in the train line, it would use air from the reservoir and apply the brakes on a car. When the pressure increased in the train line, the brakes were released. Brilliant!

The principle of the triple valve is still being used today along with many, many improvements and refinements. At the top of the next column is a picture of the Westinghouse AB freight car brake system.

The AB valve pictured in the diagram has been replaced by newer air brake valves that have many features far beyond the humble triple valve, but the basic principle remains the same.

Many of the other parts shown in the diagram haven’t really changed – a tribute to the very good vetting process for brake system components over the years.

The next step after a brake valve applies the brakes is transferring that to the wheels. There are two basic braking methods – foundation and truck mounted. Both systems use the air pressure from the reservoir to push brake shoes directly against the tread of the wheel, much like the method used on the old covered wagons.

Foundation or body-mounted brake systems use a system of linkages and levers to multiply the brake cylinder force and distribute it equally to the brake shoes at each wheel.

Truck-mounted systems, as the name implies, have a brake cylinder on each truck with levers to multiply the brake cylinder

Piping diagram of Westinghouse “AB” freight car brake equipment.

Train brake systems use methods not dissimilar to those employed on covered-wagon wheels.

B-3-A 8-1 1/2” Wabcopac Brake Assembly. force and apply the brake shoes to the wheels.

The pros and cons of body-mounted versus truck-mounted systems are often debated, but the decision to use one versus the other is dictated by the car design.

There are many, many aspects of the brake system and component parts that could be discussed, but for the sake of brevity we will stick to the basics. One point worth stressing is that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to George Westinghouse’s triple valve invention to provide us with the system still in use today.

If you want or need more information, there are many hundreds of sources of information to learn more about freight car braking systems. s COAL TRANSPORTER | 15

2019 O&M Conference / Review

2019 Operations and Maintenance Conference Ritz Carlton, St. Louis, Missouri | June 10-12, 2019

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he National Coal Transportation Association’s Annual Operations and Maintenance Conference June 10-12 in St. Louis attracted 97 participants. A robust speaker and roundtable program addressed issues such as corrosion, potential impacts of longer trainsets, bottom dump door closures, freezing air lines, carry-back coal, and much more. NCTA members have access to the presentations in the “members only” section of the NCTA website and via an email link sent to conference participants.

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O&M Committee officers were selected at the meeting. Cathy LeFevers of Duke Energy continues as Chair. Chris Tsang of DTE Electric Company will serve as Vice Chairman, and Jeremy Bowers of Omaha Public Power District will serve as Treasurer.

Other O&M Executive Committee members include Kevin Koepke of Appalachian Railcar Services, Tom Sedarski of Amsted Rail, Tod Boothe of Luminant, Charles Birch of TUCO Inc., Kevin Johnson of Nebraska Public Power District, Steve Dobies of A. Stucki, and DeWayne Bradford of Southern Company.

NCTA thanks the conference sponsors, including Double Black Diamond sponsor Progress Rail Services; Black Diamond sponsor FreightCar America; Platinum sponsors Amsted Rail and Emerson / Aventics; Gold sponsors IljinBearing, Lexair Inc., TrinityRail, and Wabtec/RR Friction Products; Silver sponsors Alpha Products, Appalachian Railcar Services, Illini Castings, A. Stucki, Timken, and Transportation Services Inc.; and Banner sponsor Miner Enterprises.

Mark your calendar for next year’s O&M conference, which will be held June 8-10, 2020, at the colorful and historic Strater Hotel in Durango, Colorado. s

COAL TRANSPORTER | 17

Photo courtesy of CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0/Buphoff

Technology Junction / Martin Lew

TECHNOLOGY JUNCTION

Leveraging Big Data Within the Rail Industry

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By Martin Lew, CEO of Commtrex

t is rare to attend a transportation conference or seminar these days without hearing catchy tech buzzwords such as “internet of things (IoT),” “artificial intelligence (AI),” “autonomous vehicles,” and/or “big data.” Are these just trendy technology concepts or is there real substance that will have a material impact on the transportation and supply chain industries? These technologies all have one common denominator: the underlying use of data that drives their respective functionalities. We are now entering the next phase of our modern industrialized society, which many experts refer to as a “data-driven economy.”

Information will be transformative to social and business interactions in ways that we are seeing only glimmers of today.

Big Data

Big data is a term that many use, but few truly understand. There is no question that technology touches all of our lives in ways that we do not realize, and it is important to understand the basic definition of big data. Put simply, big data is larger, more complex data sets from sources that are so voluminous and dynamic that traditional data processing software is not able to manage them.

Practically speaking, it is the science of harvesting large amounts of data about the past and using it to predict the future. All data has intrinsic value, but

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it is not useful until that value is discovered and applied. By developing ways to better understand data, we gain greater insight into real-time intelligence that leverages event-based information to help us increase the reliability, effectiveness, and efficiency of the operation being managed.

So, how can big data be valuable to the rail industry? There are a wide range of issues that big data can address, but predictive maintenance and operations analytics are two primary areas.

Predictive Maintenance and Operations Analytics In an industry in which fleet reliability is critical for increasing efficiency and reducing costs, predictive maintenance represents the greatest opportunity for reducing mechanical failures and unplanned repairs. With rail fleets operating for 35-50 years and maintenance costs accounting for 40-50% of overall costs, the main objective of rail operators is to efficiently increase fleet reliability. For components that are highly regulated, such as those that can lead to train failure (e.g., brakes), planned preventative maintenance is conducted based on time or usage. For many of the other components, unplanned reactive repair (e.g., fix when broken) is the maintenance strategy. However, both of these strategies have limitations and cannot prevent certain failures from occurring.

In order for the rail industry to increase safety and become more operationally efficient, it must transition from time-based and reactive maintenance schedules to predictive maintenance. This will ensure that locomotives and railcars are taken out of service for maintenance only when necessary.

Mathematical models, in conjunction with sensor data, are used to predict when parts are likely to fail so they can be replaced before unplanned downtime occurs. Sensor data can provide a real-time overview of the rail fleet, monitoring the condition of parts at all times. Predictive maintenance alone can lead to an overall reduction of at least 10-15%

For the rail industry to increase safety and become more operationally efficient, it must transition from timebased and reactive maintenance schedules to predictive maintenance. in maintenance costs. Additionally, predictive maintenance alerts operators before components fail by using multifaceted data analysis enabled by sensors to create machine-learning algorithms that raise red flags. Sensor technology and data analytics are changing the maintenance paradigm from time- and usage-based maintenance to predictive maintenance driven by the use of big data.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, damaged rails are the leading cause of train derailments in the U.S. Thus, it is imperative that railroads figure out a way to preemptively attend to these issues. Union Pacific (UP) states that Class I railroads are collecting data from past incidents, ongoing track maintenance, roadbed conditions, track materials, and physical wear. The engineering, safety, and decision analytics teams at UP report that they use this data to create predictive analytics models to assemble a list of the most at-risk track sections on a mile-by-mile basis. Ed Adelman, UP General Director of Safety, has stated, “The model looks at thousands of variables that make a piece of track stand out long before a failure occurs.” This is an example of how big data is changing the way rail logistics, operations, and safety issues are being managed.

The next-best thing to foreseeing the future is knowing what trends are occurring and adjusting operations to optimize these trends. This concept is known as predictive operations and analytics, which provide organizations with the tools necessary to make reasonable data-based

decisions. Until now, shippers have had no choice but to rely on historical data to create these forecasts. However with advanced technologies such as big data, shippers are now provided with real-time insight that allows for better allocation of resources and optimization across the entire supply chain. For example, one of the major keys to on-time delivery and optimal load factors is crew and equipment routing. Railroads are no different to trucking companies and airlines, which need to understand the implications of changing weather conditions, missed connections, crew work time limits, and maintenance schedules.

Big Data Challenges

While big data has tremendous promise, it is not without challenges. One of the major hurdles: big data is big. Even with new technologies being developed for data management and storage, data volumes are doubling in size every two years. Organizations are struggling to keep up with the sheer size of their data, and they are constantly trying to find ways to securely and cost effectively store their data. But storing data is just the beginning – companies must also figure out how to organize and manage their data in ways that allow for meaningful analysis.

Data scientists spend 50 to 80 percent of their time curating and preparing data before it can actually be used. Keeping up with the advances in big data technology is an ongoing challenge for the application of big data.

Conclusion

In order for rail to remain a leader in the transportation industry, it must continue to adopt technological innovations. Despite its challenges, the application of big data across rail networks and supply chains is crucial for future growth and efficiency. When thinking about the world’s largest tech companies, most of their value comes from data. They are constantly analyzing data to increase efficiency and develop better solutions for their customers. The rail industry should not be any different. In order to create a safer and more operationally efficient mode of transportation, it is incumbent upon the rail industry to leverage the vast amount of data that is collected and analyzed. Implementing procedures that utilize big data will be the key for the rail industry to remain competitive in the data-driven economy of the future. s

Commtrex is the largest online, open marketplace facilitating business between rail shippers, storage providers, asset owners, railroads, and service providers. Our members have over $510M in assets in the system, more than 180,000 storage spaces listed, and over 3,000 service locations in our directory. Commtrex has the rail industry’s first exchange-based pricing index for rail storage and leasing rates.

COAL TRANSPORTER | 19

Surface Transportation Board Update / Sandra Brown

Surface Transportation Board Update

By Sandra Brown, Partner, Thompson Hine LLP

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our years ago, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act expanded the Board by two seats to make the STB a five-person agency.

However, the STB has not yet expanded to a full five-person membership. There are three current STB members: Chairman Ann D. Begeman, Vice Chairman Patrick J. Fuchs, and Member Martin J. Oberman. Not having a full board was of concern because there had been reports that the STB would remain in an extended holding pattern without a full five-member complement. Nonetheless, the STB has been very active the last few months after the government shutdown caused a slow start to 2019.

Demurrage and Accessorial Charges On March 20, 2019, the STB announced that it would hold a public hearing on railroad demurrage and accessorial charges.

Railroads, shippers, third-party logistics providers, and other interested parties were invited to speak at the hearing and report their experience with demurrage and accessorial charges, including reciprocal commitments by railroads, commercial fairness of the charges, the relationship of the charges to operational and capacity issues, and effects of the charges on network fluidity.

The hearing followed the dispatch of letters from Chairman Begeman to each Class I railroad on December 17, 2018, requesting that they submit information on quarterly revenue from demurrage and accessorial charges for 2018 and 2019. Prior to Begeman’s request, several Class I railroads significantly altered their demurrage and accessorial practices in ways that have

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had significant adverse operational and monetary consequences for their customers. Many of those customers, in turn, protested those changes to the STB. The STB hearing was held on May 22-23, with nearly 50 entities speaking. Comments were filed by approximately 50 entities prior to the hearing and more than 30 after the hearing. In their written and verbal testimony, the railroads generally contended that the recent changes serve the statutory purpose of demurrage charges by increasing the fluidity of the rail network and the utilization of the assets. Railroads also asserted that the changes are not intended to create additional revenue for the railroads and that demurrage charges represent a small portion of their total revenue. The railroads also stated that they commonly grant relief for otherwise applicable charges, including providing additional credits, when they are the cause of the delays. They further asserted that they provide online service tools and certain other mechanisms to enable their customers to benefit from supply chain visibility and thereby take steps to avoid and limit demurrage or accessorial charges. The railroads contended that they have given adequate notice of the changes, and more than

the required 20-day period, for their customers to adapt to the changes.

On the other side, industry stakeholders complained about the insufficiency and the unreasonableness of the free time stipulated under the new rules.

One argument that stood out among others was that in certain circumstances, some shippers were not physically able to comply with the demurrage and storage rules for various reasons, including lack of available track storage nearby and lack of space to add track capacity to their yards. Thus, they were not able to avoid the demurrage charges. Because there was no additional efficiency that could be created for these particular locations, the purpose of the demurrage rules could not have been met. Some shippers spoke about how the brevity of the advance notice provided by the railroads limited their ability to adapt to the changes, especially when the changes impacted significant investments made by the shippers in reliance on the previous rules.

Other concerns raised by the interested parties included service failures and deficiencies (e.g., missed switches and bunching) that exacerbate the demurrage and storage charges, lack of reciprocity in the application of demurrage and storage tariffs, difficulties in disputing the

charges (e.g., insufficient time periods for disputes as well as additional fees applicable to late-filed disputes), and the railroads’ apparent lack of internal audit systems, which results in their sending frivolous demurrage and storage invoices to customers, thereby creating further administrative burdens.

The STB kept the record open for supplemental testimony until June 6, 2019. The STB seemed particularly interested in issues such as (i) whether shippers are concerned about retaliation from the railroads, (ii) whether the railroads provide a mechanism for relief when the demurrage charges are caused by railroad-origin events, (iii) whether the dispute resolution mechanism of the railroads is effective, (iv) whether the railroads have used any sort of metric when setting their demurrage charge rates (e.g., the compensatory and penal components of the charge or revenue projections), and (v) any potential framework for evaluating the reasonableness of the charges.

Rate Reform Task Force

On April 25, 2019, the Rate Reform Task Force, which was established to recommend improvements to the STB’s existing rail rate review processes,

COAL TRANSPORTER | 21

issued a detailed report. The task force noted that at the core of any discussion of rate reasonableness is the concept of “revenue adequacy,” i.e., whether carriers were earning revenues needed to cover expenses, earn a reasonable profit, and achieve other necessary financial goals. The task force recognized that a carrier’s revenue adequacy status was a “relevant factor” in rate proceedings and was incorporated into the various rate reasonableness methodologies used by the agency over the years. However, the task force also concluded that railroading today has changed “dramatically” since the passage of the 4R and Staggers acts: there are now only seven Class I railroads, which have rationalized their routings and increased rates substantially. The task force report noted that many railroads are “revenue adequate” and all are financially healthy.

The task force report discussed the changes and difficulties currently facing shippers: little bargaining power with “no realistic avenue for relief… from abusive practices by powerful, dominant railroads.” The report noted that the STB’s stand-alone cost (SAC) methodology, while originally “relatively manageable and affordable,” had become extremely complex and expensive. And the STB’s other rate review methodologies – simplified SAC, the three-benchmark approach, and a possible small rate dispute methodology – had their own problems of expense and complexity. The task force’s recommendations attempted to “remedy the situation without undermining the industry’s financial health.”

The task force made numerous recommendations, including: • Revise small rate dispute methodologies, including recommending to the STB to pursue legislation that would permit mandatory arbitration, final offer decision-making, and strict deadlines, as well as certain changes to the smallest rate case procedures.

• Standardize and streamline the current stand-alone cost methodology applied to very large rate cases.

• Create an entirely new rate case methodology – the “incumbent 22 | COAL TRANSPORTER

network cost analysis” (INCA) – for use in large cases, since all Class I railroads are at or near revenue adequacy.

• Adopt a working definition of longterm revenue adequacy for use in applying the revenue adequacy constraint, specifically to measure long-term revenue adequacy over the length of an entire business cycle. The proposal would then limit long-term revenue-adequate carriers from raising certain rates by more than specified amounts.

• In light of the financial changes to the industry since 1996, the task force thought there may be a rationale to change the “bottleneck” decision and permit challenges to the bottleneck rates of revenueadequate railroads.

• Revise the three-benchmark methodology (rate cases that are limited to $4 million in relief ) to remove the restriction on aggregation of claims, change the methodology for the comparison group, eliminate the revenue-need adjustment factor for revenue-adequate carriers, modify waybill sampling rates, and limit the consideration of “other relevant factors.”

• Simplify the market dominance inquiry for small rate cases and create a presumption that market dominance is met if a truck movement would exceed 500 miles in length.

In a June 4 letter in response to an inquiry from various members of Congress about the report, the STB said that it plans this summer to more formally consider potential actions to improve its rate review methodologies and processes through a notice-andcomment rulemaking.

AAR Seeks Restrictions on STB Regulatory Authority On March 14, 2019, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed a Petition for Rulemaking at the STB, asking it to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to adopt three new rules that

would impose three requirements upon the STB rulemaking process: • That the STB conduct a costbenefit analysis when considering proposed new regulations.

• That the STB evaluate cumulative impacts when considering proposed new regulations.

• That the STB base its rulemaking decisions on the most reliable and up-to-date data that is reasonably obtainable.

AAR asserted that cost-benefit analysis is a necessary part of good governance and sensible decision-making. AAR also cautioned that seemingly minor regulations can have a significant impact through the cumulative effect of a comprehensive regulatory scheme. AAR cited recent presidential executive orders and asserted that its three proposals mirror the standards that other federal agencies have already instituted.

If adopted, AAR’s proposals could have far-reaching impacts on the STB’s regulatory oversight. For example, the requirement for expert economic witnesses to conduct cost-benefit analyses could complicate the presentation of evidence in, and significantly prolong, rulemaking proceedings in a potentially quixotic search for “the most reliable and up-to-date data,” not only with respect to impacts upon the rail industry itself, but also on the hundreds of different industries that rely upon rail transportation and which lie outside the STB’s area of expertise. Under 49 C.F.R. § 1110.2(d), the STB’s response to AAR’s petition was due July 12 (i.e., 120 days after filing).

Rulemaking on Railroad Performance Data Reporting Rules On April 5, 2019, the STB announced that it would grant the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) petition for a rulemaking to amend the STB’s railroad performance data reporting rules at 49 C.F.R. Part 1250. The current rules became effective on March 21, 2017, and require the railroads to report certain performance metrics on a weekly, semiannual, and occasional

basis. ACC asked the STB to modify the rules, add certain commodityspecific metrics, and expand terminal reporting beyond Chicago by including the New Orleans, East St. Louis, and Memphis gateways (collectively referred to as “Mississippi gateways”).

AAR opposed the petition and stated that the additional burden is not justified. In granting the petition, the STB noted that it is not making a determination regarding the merits of ACC’s proposal, but that the petition warrants further consideration and additional information from the parties.

Parties filed reply comments during May and now await STB action.

Other Major Policy Initiatives

In two major policy initiatives, the STB implemented its 2017 ex parte communication rules, thereby allowing stakeholders to meet with STB members to discuss issues raised in the proceedings. The ex parte communication rules require that a memorandum of the meeting be filed and published

on the STB’s website in order to comply with the STB’s disclosure requirements. These proceedings include the Commodity, Boxcar, and TOFC/COFC Exemptions, Docket No. EP 704, and Reciprocal Switching / Competitive Switching Rules, Docket No. EP 711 (Sub-No. 1). Docket No. EP 704 seeks to revoke the existing class exemptions under 49 C.F.R. Part 1039 for crushed or broken stone, or rip rap; hydraulic cement; coke produced from coal; primary iron or steel products; and iron or steel scrap, wastes, or tailings; and possibly revoke other commodity class exemptions so that the currently exempt commodities and traffic would be subject to regulation the same as other commodities, such as coal.

Docket No. EP 711, the reciprocal switching/competitive switching rulemaking, seeks to substantially revise the STB’s reciprocal switching rules such that rail shippers would be able to seek to obtain single-line pricing from railroads that do not directly serve their facilities.

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Finally, on June 17, 2019, the STB responded to a Writ of Mandamus filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by the Western Coal Traffic League (WCTL) related to the Rail Fuel Surcharges (Safe Harbor), Docket No. EP 661 (Sub-No 1). The Safe Harbor proceeding has been dormant since 2014. The STB raised technical arguments about whether WCTL met the legal standards for a Writ of Mandamus. In addition, the STB explained the other major issues that it has faced in recent years, including other higher-priority matters, the impact of the new STB authorization legislation and its attendant mandates, the changes in STB membership, and changes in the White House.

The second quarter of 2019 has been very active at the STB. In addition to its regular workload of individual cases, the agency is taking on some big issues. How many major issues it addresses and which way it will rule should make for an interesting second half of 2019. s

We keep you moving.

No longer highly regulated, the transportation industry is a dynamic, innovative service sector presenting challenges and opportunities for shippers that shift and change frequently. Thompson Hine can help you navigate all of the commercial and regulatory complexities that impact shippers across the country.

Clients and peers rate our Transportation practice group among the very best in the United States, so you know you can depend on us to help keep your business on the move.

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COAL TRANSPORTER | 23

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Y

our company may belong to more industry associations than just NCTA, but no other association provides the unique combination of education and real-world results that come from NCTA membership. The financial impact associated with the procurement and delivery of coal demands this focus. NCTA maintains a high level of national prominence and credibility by participating in hearings, workshops, and symposiums, coordinating with ad hoc coalitions, providing resource material for governmental agencies, negotiating, and educating on issues of general membership concern with carriers.

Conferences with Character

For three days in the spring and fall of each year, NCTA provides coal industry professionals with an exclusive opportunity to share their outlook and knowledge and to exchange ideas.

NCTA conferences provide its members the opportunity to learn from the experiences of others with similar responsibilities and from outside experts in an open and noncompetitive environment. Think of the ideas you can borrow, the pitfalls you can avoid, and the valuable insight you can give and receive.

Members attend all conferences at a preferential rate.

Logistics and Planning Subcommittees

The Eastern and Western Logistics & Planning Subcommittees do much of the heavy lifting to solve problems with respect to the efficient operation of the coal delivery process. An important source of strength is the NCTA working committee system, which is made possible by the dedication and expertise of our member representatives and the cooperation of the rail carriers. Each Logistics & Planning group meets at least twice annually. These working group meetings are open meetings and are free to attend.

Operations & Maintenance Subcommittee

For companies that do not have the resources, or have diminished resources to support company representation on industry and consensus-based technical panels, the O&M Subcommittee helps to fill this gap. The annual conference program provides excellent information on new technologies and best practices for coal car design, maintenance, and repair.

Access to Railcar Leasing Exchange Board

NCTA members have exclusive access to a railcar leasing exchange board where excess train capacity can be posted for lease and where members can post railcar needs. With 86,000 private cars owned and operated by NCTA members, this is a good place to start when you need to adjust your capacity requirements.

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Commitment to Education

Education is a hallmark of NCTA. NCTA educates its members through its annual conferences and publications. NCTA also supports education through its scholarship program, which awards scholarships to students in transportation at several major universities as well as to the dependent sons and daughters of employees of member companies.

Policy Insights

The Board of Directors continues to meet in Washington, D.C. each year to visit governmental agencies and other trade associations. Maintaining a presence in Washington enables NCTA to have input into federal policymaking and to better represent member concerns on federal issues. NCTA fosters relationships with key personnel and departments within the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the Surface Transportation Board, the Federal Railroad Administration, and with various elected representatives. NCTA is an educational entity and does not officially lobby for or against legislation.

However, we do actively participate in hearings and rulemaking proceedings of interest to our membership.

Communications

Through its ever-growing web presence, NCTA communicates with the world about the coal industry and with NCTA member companies – linking potential customers to its members and linking its members to other useful Web sites throughout the Internet. A “Members Only” section provides detailed member contact information, valuable updates on current subcommittee initiatives, a railcar leasing marketplace, and other items of interest exclusively to NCTA members. The conference archives date back to 2004, creating a virtual library of information on energy and transportation issues. The semi-annual Coal Transporter magazine focuses on getting to know people in the industry, as well as informing NCTA members and the coal industry as a whole of new and relevant events occurring within the organization.

Membership in NCTA is a sound business decision with a solid return on investment, and we look forward to serving you. A member company of the National Coal Transportation Association is not just another utility, coal supplier, rail equipment supplier, or coal-related services organization. It is part of a tradition of excellence that, through affiliation with NCTA, signals exceptional commitment and obligation to the market, its customers, and to the public. s

NCTA WELCOMES ITS NEWEST MEMBER!

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he Board of Directors of the National Coal Transportation Association is pleased to announce the approval of Ramaco Resources for membership in NCTA. Ramaco operates and develops metallurgical coal mines in West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Welcome aboard!

NCTA CALENDAR

OF EVENTS

2019

September 2019 Presentation of NCTA Member Children’s Scholarship Awards September 9th-11th, 2019 Forty-Fifth Annual Business Meeting and Conference Royal Sonesta Harbor Court, Baltimore, Maryland December 30th, 2019 Receipt at NCTA office of all re-certification forms for the UMLER Fee Waiver for Calendar Year 2020

A complete list of NCTA member companies can be found on our website: movecoal.org/index.php/membership/current-members

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP • • • • • • • •

Focus on Coal Transportation Conferences with Character Logistics and Planning Subcommittees Operations and Maintenance Subcommittee Access to Railcar Leasing Exchange Board Commitment to Education Policy Insights Publications

2020

January 31st, 2020 Membership Dues Invoice Deadline February 4th, 2020 Advertising and Editorial Deadline for Issue 1, 2020 of the Coal Transporter Magazine April 4th - 8th, 2020 Spring Conference Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona June 8th-10th, 2020 Operations and Maintenance Conference Strater Hotel, Durango, Colorado July 7th, 2020 Advertising and Editorial Deadline for Issue 2, 2020 of the Coal Transporter Magazine July 31st, 2020 Scholarship Application Deadline September 2020 Forty-Sixth Annual Business Meeting and Conference Denver, Colorado

COAL TRANSPORTER | 25

2019 Spring Conference / Review

NCTA 2019 Spring Conference Hyatt Regency San Antonio – San Antonio, Texas | April 1-3, 2019 Issues and Answers, and a Plethora of Scooters!

By Emily Regis

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n the first morning of the NCTA Spring Conference, which began April 2 (fortuitously timed to begin the day after April Fool’s Day), we were welcomed by John Bonnin, Vice President of Energy Supply and Market Operations of CPS Energy of San Antonio, with an overview of his company, which is the largest municipality-owned electric and gas utility in the U.S. Emily Medine, Principal of Energy Ventures Analysis Inc., followed with the keynote address, in which she discussed the current coal market outlook; challenges for domestic, export, and short-term supply and demand; and coal plant retirements and their causes. Rounding out the first morning’s plenary session, we heard from Tom Wilcox, Principal of GKG Law, who discussed changes to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), including two new directors, major pending matters, and new STB goals.

Unsurprisingly, rail service and network disruption resulting from spring flooding in the Midwest was a featured topic. Representatives from both Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and BNSF Railways detailed their operating plans and recovery efforts during the well-attended Tuesday afternoon Western Logistics and Planning lunch session.

26 | COAL TRANSPORTER

Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) concerns were also discussed throughout the conference by various speakers. New PSR implementations, or what UP calls its “Unified Plan 2020,” are of concern to shippers after service issues were reported by CSX customers who implemented a similar program last year. STB members want to know more and are listening. Shippers got the opportunity to voice their concerns at a public hearing May 22-23 in Washington, D.C., in which railroads, shippers, receivers, third-party logistics providers, and other interested parties were invited to speak about their recent experiences with demurrage and accessorial charges, including matters such as reciprocity, commercial fairness, the impact of operational changes on such charges, capacity issues, and effects on network fluidity (see Surface Transportation Board Update on page 20). This proved to be a well-timed indoctrination opportunity for the STB’s two newest board members.

Elsewhere at the conference, we heard from Nicholas Cron, General Manager, Portfolio Optimization & Marketing, at Xcoal Energy & Resources, on international coal markets and

logistics, the key factors that influenced coal markets during 2018, and China’s influence on the seaborne coal market. Cron highlighted several wild cards to watch for in 2019, including China’s steel market and government policy, Australian supply, geopolitical trade tensions, environmental policy headwinds, and the proverbial “unknown unknowns.”

Bruce Rew, Vice President, Operations, of the Southwest Power Pool, discussed the regional transmission organization’s growth and resilience in dealing with changing resources, reliability challenges, and marketplace impacts. As far as what to expect in the future, he said that improvements to wind generation technology will continue to help operations, but fossil units must provide more flexibility, reduce minimum run output, and shorten start times.

Fossil-unit ramp capability will be an important market aspect, with transmission expansion dramatically helping to deliver new resources to load and reduce energy prices. Dispatchable generation is a must-have, as the production tax credits continue to impact growth with solar and energy storage on the rise. Rew’s final word was that the wind penetration limit is system dependent. With total wind energy approaching 30% today, there is the potential for 75% wind penetration.

How could we have a conference in Texas without hearing from the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)? Warren Lasher, Senior Director, System Planning, gave a brief history and overview of the ERCOT system and ended with a discussion on

future trends in battery storage development, increasing consumer options and market participation, electrification of transportation, and grid reliability challenges.

Wednesday’s keynote speaker was Mike Nasi, Partner at Jackson Walker LLP, who presented information on the state of regulatory reforms and electric markets and educating America about energy. A key message in Mike’s presentation was the lack of transparency in U.S. power markets, which leads to “grid parity” claims and “100% renewable” mandates that mislead ratepayers and endanger grid resilience. Other central points in Mike’s presentation were delivered in video format: “100% Renewable Isn’t Doable” and “Wind Power Isn’t Reliable.” Mike also promoted his pet project – Life:Powered – which is designed to focus the national conversation about energy resources on the importance of reliable, abundant, affordable energy to the American quality of life and the advancement of the human condition.

Incoming NCTA Executive Director John Ward – Principal of John Ward Inc., Chairman of Citizens for Recycling First, and Chairman of the American Coal Ash Association’s Government Relations Committee – spoke about national energy and environmental policies, and what it is like in Washington these days: in his words, “very weird.” He discussed what was accomplished in the last Congress and offered his predictions for what the current Congress might achieve. Ward also provided details of the Green New Deal before moving on to

COAL TRANSPORTER | 27

the elections, coal ash, and the ongoing reconsideration of EPA regulations by the Trump administration. He wrapped up his talk by giving his views on the future of politics, noting how different the climate now is in Washington, where old rules no longer apply and what he called a “permission-less” younger freshman class abounds. Ward reminded us that continuing to be engaged in the policy debate is imperative, and to be aware that business opportunities in the coal ash recycling world may be lurking somewhere in the inevitable fallout of that debate.

There was, of course, much more.

And I feel the need to mention the beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk, which conference attendees were able to enjoy just steps away from the Hyatt Regency –

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that is, if they weren’t run down by one of the four varieties of electric-powered scooters recently deployed on the city’s sidewalks. “They’re a nuisance!” I was told by my Lyft driver as we cruised into the city late Sunday evening before the conference. That was when I first noticed the pestilence – I mean “presence” – of scooters on every corner, curb, and cubic foot of concrete previously reserved for foot traffic. What’s more, when crossing the street, you needed to be aware of the trucks carrying scooters to their recharging centers. All of these scooters have, according to the locals, led to calls for new government regulations over how they are used. Welcome to our world, I thought, and that’s no April Fool’s joke! s

ing at

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Special Feature / George H. W. Bush Library

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY RECEIVES

COAL

TRANSPORTER! ER!

I

t was a crisp fall day in September 1980. The Fall Conference was abuzz with chatter as a tall, lanky, “honorary” Texan approached the podium.

When he addressed the crowded room, he told attendees that he recognized the importance of coal because red by Wisdom Sha . Bush of its affordability and reliability. No W .

H e rg eo G dress to NCTA 1980 Ad one could have known that this man, George H. W. Bush, was only two terms away from the White House.

NCTA reprinted Vice Presidential Candidate Bush’s address in Issue I, 2019, of the Coal Transporter magazine. The issue also featured a suite of pictures provided by Union Pacific of NCTA’s Melinda Canter the 2005-commissioned “4141” locomotive dedicated to the 41st President of presents the 2019 George H. the United States. The NCTA tribute W. Bush commemorative issue issue was accepted on March 12, 2019, of Coal Transporter to Warren

by Warren Finch, Director of the George Finch, Director of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. Our magazine and Museum. is now officially entered into the Archives of the Presidential Library.

NCTA was honored by George H. W. Bush in 1980 and again 39 years later in 2019! s ISSUE 1 | 2019

Blockchain

Reflections:

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COAL TRANSPORTER | 29

KEN BRO Reflections / Ken Brockway

30 | COAL TRANSPORTER

OCKWAY Lumps of Coal

By Ken Brockway

Prologue

“‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” This line by Alfred Lord Tennyson captures my 46 years of professional life. I have been privileged to work with incredible people and will cite some of them herein. To all, I want to express my gratitude. Thank you for enriching my career. We had our moments. Hopefully, you have fond memories of the good and will be able to dismiss the not so good!

A baby boomer, I had the good fortune of being born into a utility family. Lyle, my dad, was a co-pilot on a bomber crew in World War II. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for landing a damaged B-17 after one of his 35 missions over Europe. Maria Dalman, my mom, served in the Navy as a pharmacist mate. After the war, the two Vicksburg High School classmates returned to rural Michigan, fell in love, and married.

Dad found work at Consumers Power Company in Kalamazoo as a lineman. He suffered a broken neck when his car pool was in an accident. His climbing days over, Consumers transferred him into Engineering as a technician. Subsequently, he was promoted into Distribution as a manager.

I graduated from Western Michigan University (WMU) in 1970 with a major in marketing and a minor in accounting.

Wife Barb, family, and I greet my dad, Lyle Brockway, during his honor flight June 2016 at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. COAL TRANSPORTER | 31

Reflections / Ken Brockway continued After active-duty training in the Michigan National Guard, I returned to WMU. Believing that work experience would add value to my master’s program, I started to look for a job. Not surprisingly, Dad recommended Consumers. After a day of interviewing, including a long car ride for a site visit, I was hired as a division accountant assigned to the Northwest Region in Traverse City. Fifteen months later, I was promoted to rate (marketing) research analyst in Jackson. In 1975 I completed an MBA in finance at WMU.

The Beginning

Lee Mjovig was my mentor at Consumers. Lee and I met in Traverse City working in the Controller’s Department.

Lee subsequently became Assistant Director of Fossil Fuel.

Lee dominated table talk after work one night describing a new coal contract administration position. Lee’s punch line was that he had already recommended me to Executive Director Bob Atwater and Director Bob Wilkinson. The formal selection process would have to run its course, but the job was essentially mine for the asking.

Envision stacks of manila folders piled high on top of a desk in a nondescript office in the bowels of Consumers’ Parnall Road complex. That’s what greeted me on day one. Buried in the escalation provision of many term coal contracts of that era was a seemingly harmless phrase, “plus the cost of reclamation.”

Given new laws like the Surface Mine Reclamation and Control Act, suddenly the “plus” had become a very big deal, and Consumers was inundated with escalation requests.

Some were quite creative. For example, “here’s our budget, here are our actuals, and you owe the difference.” Others incorporated interesting operations decisions, such as mining right up to the property line, which prevented shooting the final high wall and forced expensive pan work to restore contour. And then there were instances of creative accounting, such as leasing equipment, exercising options to buy in December, and booking both lease payments and depreciation for the entire year.

Looking back, Consumers had one of the best coal departments ever assembled. There was enlightened leadership from Atwater and Jim Van Reenen, who would succeed Atwater when he was hired away by Consol to become their senior coal marketing official. With his photographic memory, Wilkinson was a tough negotiator. Lee Mjovig was brilliant with contract design.

His force majeure phrase, “contingencies of electric generation,” was sheer genius. Retired Director Frank Heatherman was an invaluable consulting resource. Jim Layer, from Internal Audit, ensured contract design approximated reality, while Paul Weir’s Don Dowlin confirmed reserve quality and quantity. I was lucky to learn the basics of the business from such a cadre.

32 | COAL TRANSPORTER

My Michigan National Guard photo.

Consumers diversified supply, buying coal from large and small producers, including Consol, P&M, Peabody, Bethlehem, Blue Diamond, Whitaker, and Industrial Fuels. Industrial’s field representative in Pikeville was Paul Patton. On one occasion, Paul tried to explain that a coal sampler Consumers paid for had just failed before my arrival. The rust and coal accumulation tended to say otherwise. As it turned out, that coal field debate was with none other than the future governor of Kentucky.

Out West

Westmoreland invited Consumers to take a western mine trip.

Wilkinson sent me. Joe Priesley and Jeannette Studer were our hosts in Billings. It was an impressive tour that totally sold me on the potential of PRB coal.

Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by Bob Roylance, a recruiter with STM Associates who was trying to fill a coal marketing position for Northern Energy Resources Company (NERCO).

When the offer came my way, the decision was easy. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Power and Light, NERCO had utility roots. They were a top-10 coal producer with the Spring Creek mine, a joint venture interest in the Decker mines, and the Antelope mine on the drawing board. NERCO also operated captive mines at Pacific’s Jim Bridger and Dave Johnston power plants. I attended my first WCTA meeting (predecessor to the NCTA) in September of 1980 wearing a NERCO nametag.

When the opening of the Antelope mine was delayed, I was dispatched with a team to negotiate with Al Hamilton, General Manager of Platte River Power Authority. The NERCO position was to supply spot coal at the contract price. Mr. Hamilton had a somewhat different view, which led to “shuttle diplomacy”: NERCO in one room, competitors in others, with Al going back and forth. A deal was struck without the parties ever coming face to face because of legal concerns.

Al Hamilton was a master of PR. The first train ceremony was an elaborate event with many dignitaries in attendance. The shiny BN train ran through a huge banner. There wasn’t much of a stockpile base when the first car was dumped, and the coal falling from the telescopic chute was picked up by a sudden

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Reflections / Ken Brockway continued wind gust and headed to Nebraska. The scene was memorable.

NERCO had an abundance of young talent, including Duane Richards, John Hart, and Gordon Fletcher, who would go on to forge long careers in the business. And then there was Ramesh Malhotra, who would teach me forward thinking. I can still hear Ramesh asking, “What is your next step?” as we reviewed sales prospects.

In 1984 I joined Perma Resources.

Dave Wolach selected me to help expand his coal marketing team with the Kaiser Coal acquisition in play. Perma operated the Chimney Rock mine in Colorado, whereas Kaiser operated the Sunnyside mine near Price, Utah, and the York Canyon and West Ridge mines near Raton, New Mexico.

As I walked toward the office on day one, I couldn’t help but notice a young lady bouncing down Tejon Street in Colorado Springs as in the intro to the old Mary Tyler Moore TV show. She turned out to be Baylor grad Linda Landers, who was also joining Perma from Kaiser as Manager of Marketing Services. Tragically, Linda would die in a plane crash in 1986 along with three customers and the pilots.

The Perma/Kaiser lead team read like a who’s who of industry talent, including Charlie McNeil, Clyde Borrell, Brett Harvey, long wall guru Johnny Palacios, Dan Baker, and Bob King. However, the acquisition burden and corporate issues ultimately proved to be too much.

In the fall of 1988 with the Kaiser bankruptcy lingering on, a coal sourcing and marketing opportunity with Total American Mining opened up. I accepted the position, moving to Houston in January of 1989. Total’s small PRB mine, Fort Union Coal, also hosted the controversial K-Fuel coal beneficiation project.

Total sold Fort Union in 1990, withdrawing from U.S. coal.

Back to the Beginning

Jim McCarthy, Fuel Manager at the St. Johns River Power Park (SJRPP), alerted me to an opening for a Supervisor of Coal at Florida Power & Light

Company (FPL). I had met Jim during my Consumers Power days when he worked for Detroit Edison and later marketed for Pickands Mather.

FPL had pursued coal projects for many years, utilizing the expertise of John Spencer, Tim McSherry, and ex-Peabody engineer Cindy Crooks. FPL and joint venture partner JEA built SJRPP, which had an ocean port and unit train rail service. During the hiring process, I learned that FPL and JEA intended to buy Scherer 4 from Georgia Power and convert the unit to burn PRB coal. With an oil back-out clause in place, the coal possibilities at FPL seemed limitless.

It didn’t play out that way, but my 28 years as FPL’s “coal guy” were busy, challenging, and rewarding.

The work took me from Wyoming to Colombia, South America, and all places “coal” in between. SJRPP, burning both domestic and foreign coal, consistently dispatched well. Plant Scherer was often the largest fossil generator in the U.S., with FPL’s burn on Unit 4 contributing to that notoriety.

When HL&P’s Terry Finley had to resign from the WCTA Board of Directors, I was asked to fill the vacancy. I was subsequently elected to two terms and served as BOD Secretary and President. Hopefully, my service gave back a small measure to the industry I love.

A group photo of some of the Scherer Plant’s co-owners, including Oglethorpe Power Corporation’s Quint Boyd and Larry Graus.

Epilogue

When FPL offered an enhanced retirement package, I decided it was time to start a new chapter in life this year. My wife, Barb, and I have yet to get into a retirement routine, but maybe that’s the idea. She retired from Lifecare of Florida in August of 2018. Barb still has occasional ownership opportunities at Lifecare, but we are generally free to do whatever. I vow to plan better going forward, as this past winter we managed to hit both the polar vortex in Michigan and the bomb cyclone in Colorado.

Hope your lumps of coal have been as good as mine. Happy coal sails! s

“My 28 years as FPL’s ‘coal guy’ took me from Wyoming to Colombia, South America, and all places ‘coal’ in between.”

34 | COAL TRANSPORTER

Visiting the general store in Bill, WY, at the end of a Powder River Basin mine trip day.

Here I am on another Powder River Basin mine trip.

NCTA Membership List A. Stucki Company AKJ | NALCO Alliant Energy Corporate Services Alpha Products, Inc. Ameren Missouri American Electric Power Amsted Rail Appalachian Railcar Services, LLC Arch Coal Sales, Inc. Arizona Electric Power Coop., Inc. Associated Electric Power Cooperative Associated Terminals LLC Aventics Corporation Basin Electric Power Cooperative Blackhawk Mining, LLC Carlile Enterprises, Inc. CDG Engineers, Architects, Planners CIT Rail City Utilities of Springfield Cleco Cloud Peak Energy Colorado Springs Utilities Commtrex CONSOL Energy Inc. Consumers Energy Company Cooper Consolidated CPS Energy Crown Products & Services, Inc. Dairyland Power Cooperative David J. Joseph Company Detroit Edison

Duke Energy Dynegy, Inc. Ecofab USA Empire District Electric Company Entergy Services, Inc. Evergy Exponent, Inc. FirstEnergy Florida Power & Light Company FreightCar America, Inc. GATX GE Transportation Grand River Dam Authority Great River Energy The Greenbrier Companies Hall St. Coal Terminal Hendricks River Logistics High Country Railcar IHS Global Inc. iIRX ILJIN Bearing ART Impala Terminals Burnside, LLC JP Morgan KCBX Terminals Co. Kiewit Mining Group Inc. Kinder Morgan Terminals Levin Richmond Terminal Lexair, Inc. LG&E and KU Energy Lighthouse Resources, Inc. Locomotive Service, Inc. Lower Colorado River Authority

Luminant Energy MEAG Power Metro East Industries, Inc. MidAmerican Energy Company Midland Railway Supply Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc. Miner Enterprises Inc. Minnesota Power MinTech Enterprises Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC Muscatine Power and Water Nebraska Public Power District New York Air Brake Northern Indiana Public Service NV Energy OG&E Electric Services Oglethorpe Power Corp.

Omaha Public Power District Otter Tail Power Company PacifiCorp Peabody Energy Corp.

Platte River Power Authority PNC Equipment Finance Portland General Electric Progress Rail Services Corp.

Rail Link Railroad Financial Corporation Ramaco Resources RAS Data Services RESIDCO RungePincockMinarco Salt River Project

Sandy Creek Energy Station Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc. Shur-Co, LLC SMBC Rail Services LLC Southern Company Operations Standard Steel T. Parker Host Tampa Electric Company Tennessee Valley Authority Three Rivers Marine & Rail Terminals Timken Company Transportation and Logistics Advisors, LLC Transportation Services Inc. TrinityRail Tri-State G&T Association TUCO/NexGen Coal Services Tucson Electric Power Company Wabtec Corporation WEC Energy Group Wells Fargo Rail Westar Energy Western Farmers Electric Western Fuels Association, Inc. Westmoreland Coal Sales Company WestRail, a Division of Aero Transportation Products Wolverine Xcel Energy Xcoal Energy & Resources

Index to Advertisers Appalachian Railcar Services, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Associated Terminals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Emerson Automation Solutions, AVENTICSTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 FreightCar America, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Lexair, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover

NexGen Coal Services, Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Progress Rail Services, Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outside Back Cover Slover & Loftus LLP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Thompson Hine, LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Xcoal Energy & Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover

COAL TRANSPORTER | 35

NEW!

The New View from the Caboose

THE VIEW FROM THEIt CABOOSE is all about you!

This section will now feature the unique, quirky, clever, scenic, and downright amazing things that you see while on the job. We would love to feature you in the next “View from the Caboose.”

Apache Station Rail Spur

When Apache Station decided they needed to get rid of the weeds, they chose to go with Roundup…the four-legged kind! (Contributed by Emily Regis, Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.) s

Two dozen bovine Russian thistle abatement technicians report for duty.

Please send your photos and captions to melinda@movecoal.org.

Hard at work…

Your s! o Phot Success!

36 | COAL TRANSPORTER

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