Mr. Murray is soooo correct in his last post. We refused to lease our lines and bought them outright and in our purchase agreements we demanded certain concessions from the Class I; one of which was five days of free time while the car was on our property to offset the piss poor service that we had to agree to (one 40 car delivery a week and two pulls).

Most shortlines are now receiving some sort of fuel surcharge which goes away immediately if the shortline surcharges on its own. Some also get some sort of "revenue supplement" if they get their interchanges in in a timely manner; only problem with a small shortline is the timeframe is so tight that the crew is still switching another customer at the exact moment the submission is due. Needless to say, customer service is far more important than a one or two percent "asskiss" to kiss ass.

Shortline Sammie