March 21, 2014

Despite two new late-winter storms that just hit the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, CSX Transportation continues to make consistent recovery from the brutal season.

Here are key points:

• CSX’s Northern and Mid-Atlantic regions have suffered from the two storms and backlog, but are expected to have solid near-term recovery.
• The Chicago Gateway has shown real improvement with interchanges current and line of road fluid.
• You can expect continued gradual improvement of network fluidity and equipment availability in the upcoming months, but the speed and depth of recovery will vary by commodity and geography, due to differences in backlog, expected demand surges and traffic characteristics.

System Overview.  The snow and storms in the eastern United States this week stalled some movements and created congestion that we generally expect to be temporary.  One result is that CSX processing yards in the Northern Region are congested and somewhat constrained.  Our operating team is focused on maximizing resource availability and service to you and has delivered some positive progress.  For example, locomotive availability has improved modestly as conditions moderate, though it has not yet reached normalized levels.
Fortunately, with the short reprieve from severe weather in Chicago, the industry’s cooperative and rigorous efforts to restore fluidity have gained traction, and there is sustained and meaningful improvement.  We are cautiously optimistic about the performance for you in this important region, which impacts our entire network.

Service Outlook.  In the upcoming months, we expect consistent recovery, but with varied levels due to heavy and uneven demand.   Some areas of the network will recover very quickly.  Others will take longer due to inconsistent demand trends driven by the weather events of the last several weeks.  For example, many customers have backlogs, in part due to limited car supply and in part due to stalls in activity in some segments of the economy as a result of the extraordinary winter conditions.  The team will take that backlog into account, and also will take into account a normal second quarter volume surge and the very real possibility of flooding in the spring thaw.

CSX employees remain dedicated to you, our customers, in returning to the high levels of service as quickly as possible, and we are intently focused on returning to superior operational performance in the second quarter.

As recovery continues, customers with questions about specific shipments can contact CSX Customer Service via www.shipcsx.com  or by calling 1-877-ShipCSX (1-877-744-7279) options 5, 6. Customers can also contact their customer service representative or local representative.