ISSUE 2 | 2012
Eastern L&P visits Convent, Louisiana
Member Profile:
Westmoreland Coal PRSTD STD US POSTAGE PAID DENVER, CO PERMIT #353
Physical Therapy for Coal Cars
Looking to lower your overall operating costs?
Is the big decision to Repair or Replace?
Do you manage a fleet of coal or aggregate hauling cars that are past due for preventive maintenance on their door operating systems? Do you have cars that are operating sporadically or not at all? Are you tired of costly spill cleanups due to vandalism or some other inadvertent operation of your doors? If so, you should consider replacing your door operating valves with new state-of-the-art Lexair Second Generation Railcar Valves. From an added benefits and features standpoint, it is less expensive and more cost effective to replace valves on older cars with our newer, improved design. Changing to these new valves with all their great features helps assure correct and proper operation of your cars. This action will assist you in lowering your overall costs and help you keep your “cost-per-mile” of operation as low as possible.
Second Generation Valve Features:
• Main valve element is based on our rugged “sliding shoe” construction – the same trouble-free design that has been used in our railcar valves for over two decades. • A sequenced mechanical lock maintains the valve in the “door close” position regardless of outside forces or vibration. • The locking feature is released only when an electrical or manual signal to shift has been received. • A visual indicator is operated via the lock mechanism that clearly shows whether the valve is in the “door close” position with the valve element locked in place or if the valve is in the unlocked or “door open” position. • Because they are mechanically locked in the “door close” position, the valves may be mounted in any position or orientation - the valve element does not have to be perpendicular to the rails. • The units can easily be modified so that they can be linked to ECP Brake Systems in the future for communication of valve position status. • The modular design allows the main valve unit to be removed/replaced in minutes without disturbing the electrical connection or plumbing when repair due to age or service conditions becomes necessary. • Self closing solenoid cover/junction box can be locked to prevent unauthorized access to manual overrides. • Our patented “Safety Check” technology (U.S. Patents 7,093,455 and 7,328,661) is available as a “no-charge” option. • Innovative lock/indicator features latest Lexair, Inc. technology (Patent Pending).
Typical Before Installation Photos
Typical After Installation Photos
Website: www.lexairinc.com E-mail: jjennings@lexairinc.com Ph: 859-255-5001 Fax: 859-255-6656
Contents 8 20
ISSUE 2 | 2012
48
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
6
Meet Your Board: Sharon Robinson
2
8
Member Profile: Westmoreland Coal
Message from the NCTA President – Betsy Monseu
4
PUBLISHED BY:
20
Facilities on the Lower Mississippi
Message from the NCTA Executive Director – Tom Canter
National Coal Transportation Association
27
18
NCTA Welcomes New Members
4 W. Meadow Lark Lane Suite 100 Littleton, CO 80127-5718 Phone: 303-979-2798 Fax: 303-973-1848 www.nationalcoaltransportation.org
MoonPies: The Snack that Sent Miners over the Moon
30
NCTA Committee Updates
34
Physical Therapy for Coal Cars A Cost Saving Strategy
52
Calendar of Events
42
AAR Interchange Manual - Rule 83
46
Christening the Talley-Perez
48
Update on Coal Ash Regulations
54
Midstream Stevedoring
62
NCTA Road Trip
66
Reflections: Connie Thede
Editor: Pat Scherzinger Phone: 303-993-7172 scherzinger@ nationalcoaltransportation.org Production By: Suckerpunch Creative Inc. info@suckerpunch.ca www.suckerpunch.ca Cover Photo: Pat Scherzinger ©2012 NCTA. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part, without the prior written consent of NCTA. 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.
63 Statistics 64
Members Sound Off
74
View from the Caboose
76
Membership List
76
Index to Advertisers
CONFERENCES 14
Thirty-Eighth Annual Business Meeting and Conference Westin Denver Downtown, Denver, Colorado
28
Spring General Conference Memories
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, April 15-18, 2012
40
Operations & Maintenance Conference Wrap-Up Hershey, Pennsylvania, June 11-13, 2012 COAL TRANSPORTER | 1
President’s Report / Betsy Monseu
President’s Report A Message from NCTA President, Betsy Monseu.
T
here is nothing like a power outage to make one appreciate the electric utility industry. A consumer experiencing some involuntary “down time” caused by a lack of power to keep lights, air conditioners, heaters, appliances, phones, computers and other gadgets running may reflect on the impressive ability of his or her electricity supplier in providing that power most days of a year. Or, that consumer may use the down time to dial the utility’s customer service department and wait for a human at the other end (instead of a recorded message) in order personally tell that human just how much the disruption to his or her life is “appreciated”. I prefer the glass half full version. It’s amazing to me that we electric consumers get what we need so often and so reliably. Yes, we pay for it and we should receive the service for which we pay. Maybe I have the perspective I do because I’ve been in and around the industry for some years and have had the opportunity to be involved in addressing the things that can go wrong. At the moment, I am an appreciative but hot consumer. Due to an intense storm, the power has been out at my home for two days already. We have a generator, but it can’t run the air conditioner AND keep food cold and frozen in refrigerators/freezers AND charge all of the gadgets that MUST be kept
2 | COAL TRANSPORTER
“A consumer experiencing some involuntary “down time” caused by a lack of power... may reflect on the impressive ability of his or her electricity supplier in providing that power most days of a year.” charged. Conditions must be adapted to and choices must be made. In my family, the bottom line is “Save the meat!” Though hot summer weather is welcome from a professional standpoint, increased weather-related coal demand won’t compensate for continuing weak domestic and international market conditions, plentiful gas supplies, and the oppressive policy and regulatory environment. Business conditions must be adapted to, and hard choices must be made. The bottom line for coal industry players is preserving their businesses. However, as streamlining and rationalization occurs, attention to safety and best practices remains paramount. To that end, I want to give you an update on Ginny, Alpha’s (and the world’s) first mine rescue dog. I introduced Ginny in this column last year, and she has been very busy since then.
She has trained in both underground mines and on the surface. She has worked on simulations with some of Alpha’s mine rescue teams. Ginny tests weekly on search and rescue techniques. Her job also includes being an ambassador and educator. She traveled to Seattle to attend the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration conference, and will visit Virginia Tech’s mining engineering school and meet its students. As NCTA continues to fulfill its mission of education and outreach, we are gratified by our conference attendance levels this year. I believe that one of the strengths of NCTA is providing good value for the dollar at our conferences, and we will continue that focus. I hope you can attend NCTA’s 38th Annual Business Meeting and General Conference at the Westin Downtown Denver on September 10-12, 2012. s
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Executive Director’s Message / Tom Canter
Truth in Policy A Message from NCTA’s Executive Director, Tom Canter.
“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes. It may even lie on the surface; but we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions — especially selfish ones.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
4 | COAL TRANSPORTER
W
hat is truth when it comes to setting public energy policy? Is it based on perception or reality? Does it matter? The NCTA Director of Communications has proffered interesting philosophical questions for the Member Sound Off article in this issue. We appreciate the thoughtful input from our members to this provocative question. Common sense dictates that there is absolute truth regarding the physics and economics of energy. Amazingly, political opinions, social viewpoints, and educational backgrounds distort the truth and lead to amazing misstatements or misleading statements of data. These distortions are particularly evident when politicians desire a predetermined, politically-correct energy policy, or want to dictate energy winners and losers. For example, politicians from the left complain that the U.S. uses about 21- 24% of the world’s annual energy consumption, but they choose to ignore the fact that the U.S. produces 24-26% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), a generally accepted measure of economic output. This fact is an affirmation of a reasonably efficient use of energy leading to a high standard of living. If the goal is to have the lowest per capita use of energy (a worthy goal in some quarters that consider energy use as inherently bad and unnatural), we would aspire to the standard of living found in Haiti and Eritrea, two countries with the world’s lowest per capita energy use. Noting the poverty, hunger, infant mortality, and crime in these two nations, one must conclude that the lowest possible per capita use of energy by a nation or region does not result in a Utopian society. It simply is not true that the denial of the productive use of energy is beneficial to mankind. Amazingly, a goodly number of
politicians and special interest groups are advocating policies that have such an end result. Please do not assume that this column is written as a self-serving argument to promote greater consumption of the nation’s most abundant and affordable fuel simply because it will especially benefit the coal industry. No, this article is a reminder that energy use is directly-related to the standard of living of a nation that uses domestic fuels wisely. Since the advent of the Industrial Age, the wealth of nations has been and still is created by extracting raw materials and using manufacturing and ingenuity to convert the raw material to an end product that meets consumer demand. This is the simple “miracle” of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) economies. Should we be amazed that their GDP growth mirrors their energy use; and, do I dare say it, their demand for both domestic and imported coal. Yep, coal is the fastest growing fuel on a worldwide basis and this is leading to the phenomenal creation of a new middle income class in the countries that use affordable coal. The mathematical constant relating energy usage with GDP output may change with energy efficiency and innovation, but the bond between energy and wealth creation appears to be unbreakable. Remember, software needs hardware to create wealth. Speaking of truth, if you can’t grow it, you must mine it. This is why our industry is so important. As long as the bureaucrats insist on picking winners and losers in energy production and goods and services, the standard of living of the United States will not improve as it should. This is not a desirable legacy for our children. Continue to talk up a truthful common sense energy policy. Have a safe day producing energy and wealth for the good people of North America. s
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Meet Your Board / Sharon Robinson
MEET YOUR BOARD Sharon Robinson
S
Sharon Robinson
Director of Transportation and Logistics Patriot Coal Corporation
“Every day brings a different challenge and an opportunity to learn something new. It never gets boring.” - Sharon Robinson
6 | COAL TRANSPORTER
haron Robinson is the Director of Transportation and Logistics for Patriot Coal. Located in the heart of Patriot’s operations in Charleston, West Virginia, Sharon’s logistics group manages shipments from nine active mining complexes in West Virginia and three in Kentucky. Sharon enjoys her job because, “Every day brings a different challenge and an opportunity to learn something new. It never gets boring.” If you want to know the history of the ownership of any of the mines in Central Appalachia, just ask Sharon because she has lived it! Her first job in the industry was with Red Ash Sales Company, a subsidiary of CoalArbed International. Red Ash was a small mining operation so Sharon learned multiple aspects of the business in a short period of time. In her “Girl Friday” role, she assisted in document preparation for all levels of management, including engineering, preparation, laboratory, human resources, and purchasing which allowed her to develop a complete picture of the business from the outset. After some time spent raising her family and a brief stint outside the industry, Sharon began working at Virginia Crews Coal Company in southern West Virginia, one of the predecessors to Alpha Natural Resources. After thirteen years with Virginia Crews and affiliates Herndon Processing Company, located in Herndon, WV and AMCI Coal Sales in Charlotte, NC, Sharon accepted a position with Enron, managing logistics for their coal trading operations in the east. After the demise of Enron in 2001, Sharon and a couple of other “Enronians” went to work for Cline Resources and Development. Cline opened a sales office in Charlotte, NC where all sales, contract administration and sales accounting functions that had formerly been handled by Enron were performed.
Cline Resources later sold its Central Appalachian portfolio to ArcLight Capital Partners. In late December 2005, ArcLight merged its mining operations with several of Arch Coal’s properties in the area in a joint venture operation named Magnum Coal. In 2006, Magnum relocated its office to Charleston, setting up shop in the same office building that Sharon had worked many years before when she was with Enron. In July of 2008, Magnum Coal was acquired by Patriot Coal, a relatively new company formed by a spin-off of Peabody’s Eastern operations the prior November. Sharon’s involvement with the NCTA began after Patriot’s acquisition of Magnum, initially by lending her expertise to discussions at Eastern Logistics and Planning Committee meetings and more recently by participating as a member of the Board of Directors. Her experience with Eastern mines and their logistical challenges brings valuable insight to the Association. Sharon was born and raised in McDowell County, the southern-most county in West Virginia. She comes from a very large close-knit family. She is the eighth of fourteen children and feels very blessed that with the exception of one sibling that passed in infancy, the rest are still around and still healthy. Sharon and her husband Jim recently enjoyed a trip to Barcelona, Spain where they visited the famous Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, Mirador de Colom, La Rambla and Park Guell. Both Park Guell and the Basilica are designed by the famous artist Antoni Gaudi Cornet whose work can be seen all over Barcelona. Sharon and Jim have two children each, three daughters and a son. They are also delighted to be able to spend time with their first granddaughter. Sharon also enjoys reading, hiking, and tending to her flower garden. s
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NCTA Member Profile / Westmoreland Coal Company
Westmoreland
158
Coal Company
One Hundred Fifty-Eight and Going Strong
8 | COAL TRANSPORTER
I
ncorporated in 1854, Westmoreland is the oldest continuously operating coal company in the United States and takes great pride in this accomplishment. Operating for 158 years has not been without some major challenges and significant restructuring. The company currently produces sub-bituminous coal and lignite from six mining operations in four states and also owns and operates a coal-fired power plant in North Carolina. Westmoreland began in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Over the next few decades, the mining operations expanded from Pennsylvania into Appalachia, with metallurgical and steam coal mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. The company was a large exporter of high quality met coals from the piers in Virginia and a part owner of the DTA Terminal in the 1970s and 1980s. The company also developed the Absaloka sub-bituminous mine in Hardin, Montana with several partners in 1974.
Restructuring Assets and Reducing Volatility As the 1990s began, the reserves began to deplete, mining costs were increasing and coal prices were dropping. The Appalachian mines were represented by
the UMWA and there was a large group of retired miners and their families receiving benefits from their years of dedicated service to the company. All of these factors converged to weigh heavily on the company’s financial situation. Management realized Westmoreland had to make major changes to insure its survival. The company sold the Appalachian mining assets and relocated the headquarters from Philadelphia to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1995. In 2001, the company purchased the coal mining assets of the Knife River Coal Company and Montana Power Company, which included the Rosebud mine in Colstrip, Montana, the Beulah mine in Beulah, North Dakota, the Savage mine in Savage, Montana, and the Jewett mine in Jewett, Texas. Each of these operations included long term coal supply agreements with a power plant located adjacent to the mine or in Savage’s case, the power plant was a short truck haul away. Combined with its ownership in the Absaloka mine in Hardin, Montana, Westmoreland was now surface mining western sub-bituminous and lignite coals from five mining operations west of the Mississippi River. However, most significant in this transformation was going from a free market seller of coal to a primarily mine mouth operator,
providing coal to host utility plants on a cost plus basis and as a contract miner. This change established a strong financial platform based on long-term relationships and stable requirements contracts.
Diversifying and Focusing on Financial Health During the 1980s and 1990s, Westmoreland diversified into power production. It was a joint venture partner in the development and construction of eight small to mid-sized power plants and cogeneration facilities in the eastern United States. Eventually, Westmoreland sold its partial ownership interest in all but one of these plants and retained 100% ownership in the Roanoke Valley Energy Facility (ROVA) facility in Weldon, North Carolina. This facility is a two-unit bituminous coal fired plant with a total generating capacity of approximately 230 megawatts. The coal comes from eastern Kentucky mines and is delivered via CSX Transportation in leased private railcars. The units were brought on-line in 1994 and 1995. They each have modern air pollution control systems to enable them to operate with low emissions levels. By 2007, the new Westmoreland had transformed itself into a western coal mining company but was still
COAL TRANSPORTER | 9
not performing well financially due to its debt level and high operating expenses related to the heritage medical liabilities of the eastern retired coal miners. That year, the Board of Directors hired Keith E. Alessi as President and Chief Executive Officer and tasked him with reducing corporate costs, restructuring the debt and streamlining the mining operations. Mr. Alessi was a skilled corporate turn-around specialist, having successfully led several other companies through trying financial circumstances to a solid financial footing. Over the next few years, Mr. Alessi and the executive management of Westmoreland reduced corporate overhead, sold off non-core assets and led initiatives to reduce mining costs. He also worked with the UMWA and the company’s medical insurance provider to reduce medical expenses and prescription
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drug costs. Mr. Alessi also worked with his management team to centralize accounting and financial functions to corporate headquarters to further reduce costs. Westmoreland’s financial health improved significantly under Mr. Alessi’s leadership and by 2011, the company was in a position to look for opportunities to grow the mining business. In January 2012, Westmoreland purchased the Kemmerer mine in Kemmerer, Wyoming from Chevron Mining Inc. The Kemmerer mine has been seamlessly integrated into the Westmoreland system and has added financial stability to the company’s improving bottom line. More acquisitions are being researched with the emphasis on finding additional mine mouth operations that fit the company’s unique business model. As of July 2012, the active mining operations are listed below along with their approximate annual coal output:
Mine Name Location Approx.Tons/ Year Absaloka Hardin, MT 6,000,000 Beulah Beulah, MT 3,000,000 Jewett Jewett, TX 4,200,000 Kemmerer Kemmerer, WY 5,000,000 Rosebud Colstrip, MT 10,000,000 Savage Sydney, MT 300,000 Total 28,500,000 In March 2012, Westmoreland announced the hiring of Robert P. King as its new President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Alessi remains the company’s Chief Executive Officer.
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Mr. King brings to Westmoreland an extensive mining background and a deep level of operating experience. Most recently, Mr. King worked for CONSOL Energy as Executive Vice President-Business Advancement and previous to that, held the position of Senior Vice President-Administration. His duties included strategic development, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain management, environmental permitting and research and development. Prior to working for CONSOL, Mr. King worked for Interwest Mining, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, for 17 years. Mr. King also held the position of Vice President of Operations and Engineering, as well as General Manager of Centralia Mining Company in Centralia, Washington.
Safety is a core value at all of the Westmoreland mines, with results showing incident rates at approximately half of the national average for all mining companies. Westmoreland has implemented a company-wide safety program and created a culture where all employees are in the safety department and have the responsibility to both work safely and insure the safety of others. This program has reduced safety incidents significantly over the past ten years and been a great success story for the company. Of particular note, the Beulah, North Dakota mine won the Sentinels of Safety award from the State of North Dakota in 2004 and 2010 for their stellar safety record in the state, amongst other important recognitions.
In addition to improving the financial health of the company with management changes and cost controls, Westmoreland’s mining operations have been recognized nationally for their safety record and environmental stewardship. “The addition of Bob King as President and Chief Operating Officer rounds out our executive team that will continue to grow Westmoreland” stated Richard M. Klingaman, Westmoreland’s Chairman of the Board. “His broad leadership experience in the coal industry will add depth to our strategic vision.” In addition to improving the financial health of the company with management changes and cost controls, Westmoreland’s mining operations have been recognized nationally for their safety record and environmental stewardship. 12 | COAL TRANSPORTER
While mining coal efficiently is of great importance, so too is returning the land to its pre-mining condition. Reclamation and environmental stewardship is another core value of Westmoreland and is taken very seriously by all of the mines. The mines’ efforts have been recognized by federal and state agencies with reclamation awards. The Jewett, Texas mine recently won a 2012 reclamation award from the Railroad Commission of Texas for its work on stream restoration processes. The Rosebud mine in Colstrip, Montana has won three reclamation awards since 2005
from the Office of Surface Mining for its work in returning the land to its original pre-mining condition.
Moving up I-25
Westmoreland moved its corporate offices from Colorado Springs to Englewood, Colorado (greater Denver area) in November 2011. This move was a further step to promote the future of the company through better technology, a skilled workforce, better access to outside consultants and professionals and easier access to a major transportation hub. Westmoreland’s business model of investing in mine mouth coal operations with stable long term supply agreements has enabled it to weather the recent downturn in coal markets and cheap natural gas prices. While it does not have coal able to be sold in the boom markets that were the norm in 2007 and 2008, the majority of its coal production is insulated from the volatility that inevitably follows these market swings, such as the current market. Westmoreland has successfully transitioned itself from an eastern Appalachian bituminous deep miner to a western coal producer, using surface mining methods. The tough medicine that Westmoreland took has enabled it to land on firm financial footing and has put it in a position to grow in the coming years. Westmoreland plans to leverage the current business model towards growth opportunities in its niche market and expand the company to provide value to its employees, bondholders and stockholders. s
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NCTA 2012 Fall Conference / Preview
NCTA 2012 Fall Conference Westin Denver Downtown,
Denver, Colorado | September 10-12, 2012
T
he NCTA continues to offer “Conferences with Character” as it stages its 38th annual Business Meeting and General Conference, September 10-12, 2012 at the Westin Denver Downtown (formerly the Westin Tabor Center) in Denver, Colorado. The theme of this year’s conference is “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”. We live in an age when superheroes are a huge part of today’s pop culture. Coal has been the superhero of the energy business for the past century, providing affordable electricity and creating jobs for people, businesses, and industries across North America. You don’t need Spidey sense to know that continuing to undermine domestic coal is detrimental to the long term security and the health of the economy. Will the truth prevail to preserve our way of life or will arbitrary and expensive regulations lead to further injustice to the average energy consumer? The 2012 Conference is an opportunity to learn the facts and explore the issues directly with knowledgeable executives, regulators, consultants, and industry leaders. NCTA always strives for a balanced agenda representing both sides of the issues. While you might not always agree with what you hear, you will leave with a well rounded perspective. Please check the NCTA web site for updated information and online registration.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone to register! 14 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Monday, September 10 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
NCTA Information Desk Open
3:00 pm – 5:30 pm
NCTA Board of Directors Meeting
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Welcoming Reception
Tuesday, September 11
REGISTRATION
Registration is required for each attendee of the NCTA Annual Meeting and Conference. The registration fee is $450.00 for those representing an NCTA member company and $585.00 for all other attendees when registering prior to August 24, 2012. After August 24th an additional $50 fee will apply. There is no fee for spouses. The registration fee includes access to presentation materials; entry to all sessions; the receptions on Monday and Tuesday evenings; continental breakfasts on Tuesday and Wednesday; and all refreshment breaks.
It may have a new name, but the Westin Denver Downtown is the one of the traditional sites for the NCTA’s annual business meeting and conference. Located on the vibrant 16th street mall, the Westin Denver Downtown is convenient to, well, just about everything. The Westin’s 430 guest rooms and suites have views of the city or the amazing Rocky Mountains. In room amenities include 37” flat-screen LCD TVs, iPod and laptop interfacing capabilities, and the Westin Heavenly Bed®. The Westin is located at 1672 Lawrence Street, Denver, CO 80202.
Telephone: 888-627-8435 or 1-800-937-8461
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
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Reception Sponsored by Suppliers
Wednesday, September 12 8:00am – 11:30am
General Session
RECREATION
ACCOMMODATIONS
RESERVATIONS:
8:00 am – 11:30 am
September is a perfect time to get in those last couple of rounds of golf before snow blankets the land yet again. Stay in the flatland around Denver proper or head to the high country and discover the many courses tucked into the most scenic nooks and crannies imaginable. Come a day early and catch the Bronco’s Sunday home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at nearby Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Rockies are also in town for all three evenings of the conference, facing off against the San Francisco Giants at Coors field, just a 10 minute walk away. s
ROOM RATES PER DAY: $179.00/day Single/Double
The last date to get the guaranteed NCTA rate is 5 p.m. MDT on August 18, 2012
COAL TRANSPORTER | 15
New Member Announcement
NCTA WELCOMES ITS NEWEST MEMBERS!
T
he board of directors of the National Coal Transportation Association is pleased to announce that the applications for membership in NCTA of the following coal industry participants were approved. They join NCTA’s existing member companies working every day through NCTA to foster the cooperation needed to resolve issues faced by coal consumers, coal producers, transporters, rail equipment manufacturers. and services companies.
Hall St. Coal Terminal Hendricks River Logistics Three Rivers Marine & Rail Terminals, LP
A complete list of NCTA member companies can be found on NCTA Web site: www.nationalcoaltransportation.org
Hall St. Coal Terminal, a division of American Commercial Lines
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Infrastructure / Facilities on the Lower Mississippi
Thyssen-Krupp Stacker/Reclaimer In the stacking mode coal from the ladder unloader flies off the end of the conveyor belt beside the bucket wheel, and is directed into the appropriate stockpile. In the reclaim mode the bucket wheel is placed into the appropriate stockpile for the ship being loaded, and coal is moved back onto the conveyor belt leading to the traveling shiploader.
INTERNATIONAL MARINE TERMINAL World Class Terminal on the Lower Mississippi River BY: Dave Gambrel 20 | COAL TRANSPORTER
W
hen the Queensland metallurgical coal mines were flooded during the winter of 20102011, metallurgical coal prices rose from $225 per ton to $325 per ton; they stayed above $300 per ton until July, 2011. Would-be coal brokers literally popped out of every crack in the woodwork. The excitement was palpable. They often found coal sources, but frequently failed to find logistics. Barges were scarce, rail cars were scarce, and terminal space was scarce. Everyone thought it would last. In the past year the export market for metallurgical coal has remained strong, but steam coal prices have plunged. In the U.S. the steam coal market has dropped so sharply that some major producers have shut in 15 to 20 million tons of Powder River Basin coal production rather than sell it at a loss. Coal inventories at power plants are so high that many unit trains are now parked, and coal terminals that once had no room are now looking for cargoes. Concerned, some coal terminal owners decided to pursue private strategies, and may now be difficult for the terminal user to evaluate.
Table 2. PRINCIPAL EQUIPMENT OPERATIONS It is notable however, that one coal terminal has weathered severe Design Capacity, Actual Operation, economic and actual storms, and has Equipment net tons per hour net tons per hour no fear of moving forward. When BRUKS Rockwood Traveling Shiploader 5000 Hurricane Camille struck in 1969, IMT was totally destroyed. IMT Dravo Stationary Loader 3000 2000 rebuilt. When Katrina struck in 5000 3500 2005, a storm arguably stronger than Dravo Bucket Ladder Unloader Camille, IMT hunkered down and Krupp Trencher Bucket Wheel repaired damages. IMT knows where • Reclaim 4600 3000 it is going and is patiently preparing for additional business that is not • Stack 6000 3500 based on weather-driven panic across SHI Luffing Crane 1150 1150 the globe. During the panic months and the price slump that followed IMT has remained on course, improved its facilities, and has prepared itself for steady growth. IMT is a seasoned professional in off-loading coal barges, Operations storing coal in stockpiles, loading ocean-going vessels, and workWhen a tow of barges arrives in the vicinity of the terminal, the ing cooperatively with shippers and their agents. IMT is owned barge company is directed to park the barges alongside the river two-thirds by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) and onebank in a fleeting area. Then, according to a sequence deterthird by AEP, two prestigious companies who are very capable mined by IMT, the barges are brought to the ladder unloader and who are likely to stay in business for a very long time. The by a fleet operations boat one barge at a time. Since barge delays terminal is ideally situated for loading Panamax and Capesize can be costly IMT assists barge company line boats in placing vessels, and will be capable of storing almost 2 million tons of barge tows into the unloading fleets. IMT owns its own fleet coal after expansion work is complete. When the expansion of tug boats and crew boats, which are used in the operation of work is complete, it will be capable of storing up to 15 Capesize the barge fleet. This equipment, which is summarized in Table cargoes on the ground. IMT employs 145 dedicated local Loui1 below, is used principally to move loaded and empty barges siana employees, and is open for business year around, 24 hours from and to the barge fleeting area in tight coordination with per day excluding major holidays. terminal operations. Located 57 miles north of Southwest Pass on a gentle The newly replaced Dravo Bucket Ladder Unloader is outward bend of the Lower Mississippi River, the ship channel designed to operate at a capacity of 5,000 net tons per hour, but actually operates at about 3,500 net tons per hour due to repositioning and other delays. Coal is scooped out of barges by a continual chain-fed series of wide buckets, and is lifted onto a Table 1. FLEET OPERATIONS system of conveyor belts that carry the coal into an assigned area of the stockpiles. TUG BOATS Essential pieces of equipment utilized in the operation of • M/V IMT Emerald – 1350 HP, V12-149 Detroit Engine (2) IMT are summarized in the table below. The traveling shipload• M/V Haley Brooke – C-32 Cat Engines (2) er is new, so there is insufficient operational data on it at this • M/V IMT Progress – C-12 Cat Engines (3) time to give a number for actual operation. The shiploader and • M/V Tammy T – 1000 HP, V12-71 Detroit Engine (3) other major pieces of equipment are summarized in Table 1. CREW BOATS Barge unloading may take place at any time that IMT • M/V IMT Express – 200 HP Detroit Engine (2) deems best. Since barges are not unloaded directly to waiting • M/V IMT Provider – 200 HP Detroit Engine (2) ships, the ships need not be present when barges are unloaded. Coal that is lifted onto the conveyor system by the Dravo Bucket Ladder Unloader is moved out to the Thyssen-Krupp Stacker/ at IMT is naturally scoured by the flow of the river. When the Reclaimer for stacking into the assigned stockpile area. Each customer of the terminal has one or more assigned stockpile areas. New Panama Canal locks are completed in 2015, Capesize vesReclaimed coal is put back onto the conveyor system and sels carrying 150,000 metric tons or more will be able to pass, moved back out to the traveling shiploader, where it is loaded ideally placing IMT to load such vessels up to the ruling draft onto ocean vessels. The traveling feature of the shiploader (currently 46’) of Southwest Pass, as determined by the Associenables the ship to tie up once and usually be completely loaded ated Bar Pilots. Vessels headed for the Pacific Rim are currently without moving to another position. While the conveyor system limited (roughly 55,000-60,000 metric tons) to the dimensions of the Panama Canal lock chambers. The only physical limitawould allow the shiploader to load continuously, it is necessary tion to future cargo size in the Lower Mississippi River will be in the interest of ship safety to stop loading from time to time to permit the ship’s master to calculate loading stresses. To avoid the depth and width of Southwest Pass, the final outlet to the buckling stresses it is often necessary for the master to request Gulf. Southwest Pass is dredged and maintained by the U.S. the shiploader move to another hold before continuing. Army Corps of Engineers. COAL TRANSPORTER | 21
Contracts and Key Alliances
Progress Energy’s Crystal River power plant in Citrus County, Fla. In recent years, and due to higher demand, an increasAlpha Natural Resources (ANR) Throughput Agreement ing portion of domestic terminal capacity has been allocated On February 24, 2011 Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) to coal exporters, including both metallurgical and steam coal. announced it had entered into a long-term services agreement This contract is an important part of Progress Energy’s ability with Massey Coal Export Company to handle up to 6 milto fuel the Crystal River power plant to meet customer electriclion tons of coal annually through its IMT Terminal in Myrtle ity demand for the long-term. The contract would also provide Grove, La., on the lower Mississippi River. Since the execution savings for Progress Energy Florida customers by enabling more of the Agreement ANR has acquired Massey and assumed its flexibility in transporting domestic coal - such as Illinois Basin obligations under the Throughput Agreement. or Central Appalachian coal - to the power plant. “We are pleased to enter into this contract with Massey, Under the contract IMT will handle up to 4 million tons which reflects continuing strong demand for coal export capacof coal per year. The base 10-year agreement commences in ity,” said Jeff Armstrong, president of Kinder Morgan’s Terminals 2013 with options for up to 20 years. The coal will be delivbusiness segment. “We will invest approximately $70 million to ered from Central Appalachian or Illinois Basin regions by expand our IMT Terminal to river barge or other means to handle this additional coal.” IMT. There it will be stored, The majority of the coal combined and delivered for that ANR intends to ship barge delivery across the Gulf through IMT will be metalof Mexico to Crystal River, lurgical coal originating from where Progress Energy FlorANR’s Central Appalachia ida operates four coal units mines destined for the export totaling 2,311 megawatts. market. River barges will “This is one of the many transport the coal from various aspects of fuel procurement upriver origins to IMT where that takes place behind the the cargo will be offloaded scenes, but that is vitally and stored before being loaded important to a secure and onto ocean vessels. The term efficiently priced supply of the agreement is 15 years of coal to support reliable with a minimum anticipated power plant operations,” said throughput tonnage of 4 milVincent Dolan, CEO and International Marine Terminal (IMT); Myrtle Grove, LA.; lion tons per year. president of Progress Energy Mile 57 above Head of Passes, looking south. In order to accommoFlorida. date the additional tonnage, “KMP is delighted to KMP will expand the storage yard, add conveyor belts and enter into this long-term contract to handle coal for Progress environmental control systems, and make other improvements. Energy, which is expected to be accretive to cash available to These upgrades are expected to be completed by early 2013. KMP unit holders when the services begin in 2013,” said Jeff Armstrong, president of KMP’s terminals business. “We continue to invest substantial capital to help provide long-term soProgress Energy Terminaling Services Agreement lutions for the coal industry and to meet our customers’ needs.” Progress Energy Florida and KMP announced October 3, 2011 He noted that KMP and its partner, AEP, are investing approxia long-term agreement under which KMP would provide IMT mately $106 million to expand and upgrade the IMT terminal terminaling services to facilitate a more secure supply of coal for to handle the increased needs for export and domestic coal.
Burnside Terminal In June 2011, Impala, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trafigura, acquired Ormet’s Burnside terminal in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The objective of the acquisition was to transform the facility into a state-of-the-art major bulk terminal for coal, bauxite and alumina. The project represents more than a $100 million investment in Ascension Parish. Once completed, the Burnside Terminal will reopen as one of the top ten coal and bulk logistics facilities in the U.S. The shiploader has been purchased and will be used for loading bulk solid materials, like coal, into marine vessels on the river. The shiploader is expected to arrive at the terminal in late 2013. The old stacker used for piling and co-mingling bulk material has been demolished. A floating Gottwald Crane, a high-performance crane with a lifting capacity of 1,850 tonnes an hour, has been ordered and will be delivered before the end of the year. 22 | COAL TRANSPORTER
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Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 22,000 megawatts of generation capacity and approximately $10 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve about 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. The company has earned the Edison Electric Institute’s Edison Award, the industry’s highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence, and was the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder’s Award for customer service. Based on an enterprise value of over $90 billion KMP is the fourth largest energy company in North America. KMP owns an interest in or operates more than 75,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals. Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and handle such products as ethanol, coal, petroleum coke and steel. Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) owns the general partner interest of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:KMP) and El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:EPB), along with limited partner interests in KMP, Kinder Morgan Management, LLC (NYSE:KMR) and EPB. KMP is also the leading provider of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America. One of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America, KMP has an enterprise value of over $33 billion.
AEP-Strategic Partner In 2001, AEP acquired MEMCO Barge Line, Inc., thereby greatly enhancing AEP’s coal transportation resources. AEP’s transportation infrastructure now includes approximately 7,500 rail cars, 2,850 barges and 75 towboats. AEP operates a major fleeting area at Convent, LA, which is strategically located for down-bound loads and up-bound empties serving IMT.
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Traveling Shiploader This newly-commissioned shiploader is capable of traveling the entire length of a ship without requiring the ship to reposition itself during the loading process. Also, IMT has installed an extended boom which will enable the loader to reach the offshore side of the wider post-Panamax bulk carriers, eliminating the need to utilize mobile equipment to trim vessel holds. These features greatly improve the efficiency of loading. A coastal notch barge is being loaded in this photograph. AEP-owned barges carry coal up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and along the Gulf Coast. However, these barges are not only moving coal for AEP; they’re also transporting coal and other commodities for outside customers along the way. In fact, AEP is now the second-largest inland barge company in the U.S., transporting more than 64 million tons of freight on the inland waterways system in 2007. AEP has interests in two terminal facilities. The Cook Coal Terminal, located on the Ohio River, has 20 million tons per year transfer capability, including rail-to-barge transfer. AEP’s maintenance/fleeting operations include a railcar maintenance facility in Metropolis, Illinois, a full-service shipyard in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, and five barge repair and cleaning facilities in the lower Mississippi River. s Dave Gambrel is a consultant and writer for the coal transportation business. The former director of transportation for Peabody Energy Company, he may be reached at bunkgambrel@earthlink.net.
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Capesize Berth in Operation at A.T. Myrtle Grove The surge of export coal through the U.S. Gulf continues and transloading companies like Associated Terminals have seen a significant increase in this business over the past eighteen months. New midstream cranes have been added, existing land-based terminals have announced expansions and new terminals are being built in the Lower Mississippi River corridor to handle this new opportunity. However, the one thing missing to date has been a berthing location for the efficient loading of Capesize vessels. Associated Terminals recognized this missing service and acted to create a berth at their Myrtle Grove facility to handle these large vessels. Located at milepost 56 AHP, this extended berth is capable of handling vessels up to 1,150 feet in length. In addition, the Myrtle Grove location allows shippers to negotiate the best possible ocean freight rates, as all Capesize vessels come into the Mississippi River in ballast and want to load at a berth as far south on the river as possible to minimize their port costs and steaming time. The barge shifting service for this berth is provided by Associated’s sister company, Turn Services, which operates a 200 spot barge fleet adjacent to this berth. The combination of Turn’s large fleeting capacity and fleet boats on site allows Associated to provide expedited loading of these large vessels. The first Capesize vessel to utilize this berth, M/V Pacific Creation, completed loading on May 13, 2012. Using three of its high capacity Gottwald cranes—the “K. Robertson”, the “T.Lange” and the “Attitude”—Associated was able to complete loading in excess of 120,000 metric tons in less than three days! This additional service offered by Associated Terminals and supported by Turn Services will give coal shippers another competitive option to continue large scale movements of export coal through the Lower Mississippi River.
Few companies in the rail industry match the capabilities and strength of GATX with nearly 164,000 railcars worldwide and approximately 660 locomotives supported by deep financial, operational, management and support expertise. GATX is an experienced rolling stock and locomotive lessor with an industry-leading fleet and infrastructure. We provide full-service and net leasing, railcar financing, and purchase lease-back options, making it easier for you to adjust to your changing railcar needs. For more information on how GATX can assist you with your coal car needs, please contact:
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MoonPies: The Snack that Sent Miners over the Moon
W
e have all wished upon a star, but in 1917 one miner’s wish was granted by the “moon”. The MoonPie is more than a sweet treat; it is a snack with its roots in the coal mines! Its creation is
legendary. In 1917, while servicing his territory of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, a bakery salesman (believed to be Mr. Earl Mitchell, Sr.) was visiting a company store that catered to the coal miners. He asked them what they might enjoy as a snack. The miners said they wanted something for their lunch pails. It had to be solid and be filling because often they didn’t get time to break for lunch. “About how big?” Mr. Mitchell asked. It was late evening and the moon was rising as a miner held out his big hands, framing the moon, and said, “About that big!” So, with that in mind, Mr. Mitchell headed back to the bakery with an idea. Upon his return, he noticed some of the workers dipping graham cookies into marshmallow and laying them on the window sill to harden. So they added another cookie and a generous coating of
chocolate and sent them back for the workers to try. In fact, they sent MoonPie samples around with their other salespeople, too. The response they got back was so enormous that the MoonPie became a regular item for the bakery. During the ‘30s and ‘40s, the MoonPie found its place in Southern folklore and culture, probably because it was larger than all other competing snacks. It was said that a worker would go to the country store and pick up an RC Cola (10 ounces) instead of a Coke (6 ounces) for a nickel, then go to the snack shelf and pick up a MoonPie, the biggest snack there, also for a nickel. For ten cents, he had the “working man’s lunch.” The brand was further heralded as a Southern folklore classic when Lonzo & Oscar, and later “Big Bill” Lister, recorded the famous “RC and a MoonPie” country music hit in the early ‘40s. Music, movies, the famous and lots of the notso-famous have embraced the MoonPie ever since. Today, nearly a million MoonPies are produced each day at the Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, TN and are distributed in all 50 states across the country.
COAL TRANSPORTER | 27
NCTA 2012 Spring Conference / Recap
NCTA 2012 Spring Conference The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia | April 15-18, 2012
T
he NCTA hosted its 2012 Spring Conference at the fabulous Greenbrier, located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Everything about the Greenbrier was elegant, including the architecture, interior design, amazing landscape, and impeccable service. The Greenbrier has hosted 26 presidents, as well as royalty and celebrities from around the world since 1778. The Greenbrier’s seemingly endless series of parlors provided attendees numerous places to network. The conference opened with the 17th annual golf tournament on the Greenbrier’s Meadow Course. It was a beautiful spring day and the perfect way to enjoy the panoramic beauty of the Allegheny Mountains that surround the resort. Meanwhile, about 90 attendees and guests were not only indoors, but were deep beneath the hotel’s West Virginia Wing in a once top secret Cold War U.S. government relocation facility for Congress. The Bunker Tours are just one of the unique things highlighting this resort’s amazing history. The annual NCTA Spring Conference dinner began with a reception in the beautiful Cameo Room. Kelley Goes, West
Gary Rogers and Dwight Porter Dave Boltz
Virginia State Director for Senator Joe Manchin was the featured dinner speaker, discussing a common sense approach to energy policy. Jim Justice, the current owner of the Greenbrier, welcomed attendees in the Tuesday morning general session. Kevin Crutchfield, Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Natural Resources gave the Keynote Address. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Daniel Elliott III presented an update on activities at the STB and called for greater harmony among industry participants. Shale gas and global coal demand were hot topics and were covered from both technical and market viewpoints. It would not be an NCTA conference without some rail carrier updates, this time courtesy of the Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific. The NCTA Spring Conference heads to the desert southwest next year, returning to the Westin La Paloma in Tucson, Arizona and its fabulous panoramic view of the Catalina Mountains. Conference dates are April 14-17, 2013. s
Curtis Hoover
Barb Porter, Mike Smith, Brenda Craven
Robert DeGroot and Gayle TenBrink
2012 SPRING SPONSORS Old White Classic
Springhouse
Windsor Club
Alpha Coal Sales Peabody Energy Progress Rail Services
Amsted Rail Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC Patriot Coal
Macquarie Rail Inc.
28 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Lanyards NexGen Services
Thank you!
Bruce and Danette Miller, and Al and Terri Abruzzese
Jerry Christianson, Sonny and Mary Pat Williamson, Kenny Draper
Bruz and Traci Hicks, Matt Siemer
Tom Canter and Kelley Goes
Clint Carpenter
Perry Newton and Amy Goodwin Mason Caperton and Sandy Goad
Judi Connelly and Daniel Ochoa Bruce and Kim Taylor, Terri Humphries Rob Ortner, John Mayer, Nancy Ortner
COAL TRANSPORTER | 29
NCTA COMMITTEE
UPDATES
NCTA Committee work is at the heart of the Association. The committees provide valuable information and education to members, foster best practices, improve communications among the parties, and keep members up-to-date on new rulings and technologies. This is where members get payback many times over for their annual membership fees.
Western Logistics & Planning
The Western Logistics & Planning Committee met at the Radisson Downtown Minneapolis on July 19th. While Vice-Chairman Kathy Brown (Arch Coal) will continue to be involved with the committee, she is passing the baton to Molly Mitchell (Peabody Energy) who will now serve as ViceChairman. Greg Key (Ameren) continues to serve as Chairman. Railroad updates in Minneapolis were provided by Andy Schroder for the Union Pacific and Will Cunningham of the BNSF. Both the UP and BNSF have been working on improvements to their Mobile Web sites and enhancements to their forecasting web pages. Terry Coss of Xcel Energy services presented the latest coal ash regulation scenarios and indicated that it is unlikely anything will be finalized before the election. The Midwest ISO’s J.T. Smith provided insight in the changing generation mix and its impact on system reliability and the cost of ancillary services. He fielded questions on the integration of wind resources into the transmission system and on the process for identifying and relieving congestion on the grid. There were plenty of opportunities for networking and much discussion of SPAM, from the Sparkly Princesses and Aquatennial Marchers to the stuff that comes in the can (and the nearby museum dedicated to it). The next meeting will be on February 21, 2013 at the Platinum Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(top) Molly Mitchell, Greg Key, Kathy Brown (bottom) Plantinum Hotel in Las Vegas
s
Eastern Logistics & Planning
The Eastern L&P Committee met on May 17, 2012 at the Omni Royal Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the last NCTA meeting for Chairman Jan Figgins who announced her retirement from American Electric Power as of the end of May. Vice-Chairman Edwin Fisher (Arch Coal) will assume the Chairmanship and Laurel Klingensmith (FirstEnergy Solutions) has agreed to serve as Vice-Chairman. The meeting kicked off with a welcome to New Orleans by John Crane of St. James Stevedoring Partners. John also served as a tour guide on the afternoon bus ride up the river to AEP’s River Operations facility. Jim Weber of Weber Merritt presented some very interesting survey results chronicling attitudes towards coal in the public energy debate. Emerging opportunities for US coal exports were discussed by Thomas Springer of Biehl & Company. Railroad updates were provided by Jack Burgess of CSX and Mark Hamilton of Norfolk Southern. After the formal program, the group boarded a bus for lunch and tour of AEP River Operations Convent facilities. St. James Stevedoring then took the group on a boat tour of the 30 | COAL TRANSPORTER
AEP Fleet and the St. James midstream stevedoring operation. The cover photo on this issue was taken on that boat tour so you can see what an awesome day it was. The next EL&P meeting will be held on October 25th at the CSX REDI Center in Atlanta, Georgia. See the NCTA website for details. s
New EL&P Chairman Edwin Fisher with retiring Chairman Jan Figgins.
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NCTA COMMITTEE UPDATES Operations and Maintenance
The Operations & Maintenance Committee just completed its annual conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was a great event, full of information and camaraderie. An online feedback survey is available for attendees to pass on their praises, criticisms, and future ideas. Committee members are encouraged to use the discussion board in the Members Section of NCTA website to seek out solutions to maintenance challenges, get questions answered and share best practices.
Tom Sedarski (Ellcon National) has been appointed to fill a vacant position on the Executive Committee. Rich Kotan (OPPD), Kevin Waite (Detroit Edison) and Gayle TenBrink (TrinityRail) were reelected to 3 year terms at the all member Round Table. Participation on any of the Operations and Maintenance subcommittees is open to all members. Volunteer by contacting the appropriate subcommittee chairperson if you are interested in helping out. s
Tom Sedarski, here with Vice-Chairman Carmen Sparks, has joined the O&M Executive Committee.
Partial AAR Technical Services Committee Meeting Schedule Courtesy of Mike Gray (First Union Rail)
Location: Colorado Springs, CO Coupling System & Truck Castings Committee August 20-21, 2012 Contact: Jon Hannafious, (719) 584-0682, jon_hannafious@aar.com Brake Systems Committee August 20-22, 2012 Contact: Steve Belport, (719) 584-0668 steven_belport@aar.com
32 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Wheels, Axles, Bearings & Lubrication Committee August 20-22, 2012 Contact: Ken Rownd, (719) 584-0670, ken_rownd@aar.com Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Car Repair Billing Committee October 15-16, 2012 Contact: Betty Pague, (202) 639-2140, bpague@aar.org Arbitration & Rules Committee October 17-19, 2012 Contact: Tom Stahura, (202) 639-2139, tstahura@aar.org
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Technology / Wheels
Physical Therapy for Coal Cars A Cost Saving Strategy
BY: Stephen P. Dobies – VP Technical Services, A. Stucki Company
W
hat is every car owner’s biggest ailment when it comes to operating and running high mileage coal cars? It always comes back to the same thing, wheels. Wheels, wheels, and more wheels continually add up to the highest cost of maintaining freight cars to AAR Standards and railroad operating compliance. Bottom line, it’s always wheels. No other freight car maintenance item can compare in cost to that of wheels, and not even come close. As wheels can be condemned for multiple types of failures, such as shelling, spalling, slid flats, thermal cracks, built up tread, etc., newer M976 truck performance standards have prolonged wheel life targeted at specific failure types such as shelled tread. Efforts to suppress stress in wheels which address shelling
have left some other failure modes more visible to coal car fleet managers such as Thin and High flange, Codes 60 and 64. These failure codes have risen to the top of the list as the highest incidence rates for wheel failures in some fleets. Traditionally, shelled tread was the number one cause for failure now replaced by Thin flange.
Why the New Shift to Failure?
Newer M976 truck standards, introduced in 2004, have extended wheel mileage for shelling and suppressed shelled tread damage to reveal other weaknesses in the system. Excessive play between the truck side frames, and misalignment of conventional brake systems allow shifting of the brake beams/shoes to wear different patterns into the wheel tread on opposite sides of the same axle.
1000 800
1995 Blt 1999 Blt 2004 Blt
600 400 300 0
Thin Flange AAR Code 60 Failures
Wheel Performance from 500c/s Aluminum Coal Gon’s 34 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Steve Dobies A. Stucki Company
This disparity (shown below) may take several hundreds of thousands of miles to develop and causes the wheels to ride off of center on the rails, (essentially with one “flat tire”). As the wheels now take uneven shapes on the left and right side of the same axles, it steers differently and skews toward one side. The axle set always steers the truck according to the taper and rolling radii on each wheel tread. As the wheel tread taper is erased on one side more than the other, the axle rides off center and the wheel flange eventually makes contact with the rail head, wearing the one flange. The second axle on the same truck wears the opposite wheel flange in a similar fashion.
How does one Manage Wheel Failures? Is Therapy the answer? Combined brake rigging and M976 trucks together have shown themselves in high mileage coal to surface in a new type of failure, thin wheel flanges, sometimes called Asymmetric Wheel Flange Wear. Wheels condemned for thin flange are particularly expensive due both to forcing the replacement of a high cost capital item and worse, the failure mode destroying the core wheelset, not allowing an opportunity for either wheel to be reconditioned, double whammy! Almost everyone has had some type of physical therapy in their lives, to correct stretched tendons, twisted joints, misaligned bones, strengthen muscles – the list goes on. The benefit of therapy has proven endlessly as a low cost solution to much higher, more painful, risky, jeopardizing, time consuming alteratives.
Asymmetric Wear on Left and Right Wheel Coal cars in a sense are the same way when it comes to wheel wear and controlling it. In the ideal world, one would desire both the left and right side of the wheel tread to wear evenly together. This would allow the wheel set to continue steering without bias to one side or the other, preventing the wheel flange from making frequent contact with the rail head. This, in turn, will reduce the wheel incidences of thin flange.
So how does one accomplish such a feat of wearing the wheels more evenly? Changing the brake rigging on every car out there would be quite an expensive undertaking, be time consuming, and swamp every shop out there in North America. Rather, to straighten the crooked displacement of the brake rigging, and apply the brake shoe directly to truck system’s wheel by applying a brake beam centering wear liner. This liner con-
sumes the lateral distance that the brake beam would have otherwise travelled and keeps the brake head centered on both treads of both wheels. As hundreds of thousands of miles go by, the treads would then wear evenly and the steering of the wheel sets remains unbiased to one side or the other. The repositioning of the brake beam itself acts as simply as a pair of dental braces act in straightening misaligned teeth. The end result
COAL TRANSPORTER | 35
BB Centering Wear Liner trackside view
BB Repositioned Previous wear from noncorrected state
Brake and Wheel Areas Typically Effected over time and repeated brake application yields a therapeutic outcome. The straightened application of the brakes has now “trained” the wheel tread to wear evenly from side to side and most importantly in the process, be very gentle to the wheel flange. Contact of the brake beam head to the wheel flange is no longer permitted and both wheels wear at the same rate yielding higher mileage before the wheel is condemned. The wheel flange wear in this case has been optimized by maintaining alignment of the brake rigging during operation. This wheel therapy carries a much greater potential bang for the buck; a low cost fix for a high return yield. Now that’s what therapy is all about.
Stucki Brake Beam Centering Wear Liner Installed This opportunity creates a pre-established time window for car shopping and gives easy access of the brake beam rigging when the wheel set is removed. The old liner can simply be replaced when plainly visible to the car man. Two birds can be knocked out with one stone at no extra shopping cost, and hence, wheel therapy begins. Some fleet managers have chosen to apply 2 BBCWL’s to each axle although one really does all of the work to prevent the displacement from the biased side. This effort can save thousands in premature wheel set replacements.
Stucki Brake Beam Centering Wear Liner Installed AAR testing has been conducted at TTCI over the WRM Loop, across every track condition from gentle to sharp, curving and undulating test track sequences. This test gives an opportunity to measure the actions and reactions of the brake beam to the wheel interface in a dynamic forum, moving through 4, 7.5, 10, and 12 degree curves while simultaneously applying the brakes. Multiple loop passes in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions were made to ensure minimal change to the brake beam lateral position. In all cases, the beam maintained its position, keeping the brake head on the tread center. It did not encroach upon the flange of the wheel nor hang over the wheel edge on the opposite side as did the base case. Base case standard truck performance clearly indicated too much slop was previously available in the system. This exercising of the brake beam, on and off, in every direction, across all curve sizes, clearly showed significant position improvement. The therapeutic correction to the truck and brake beam system found this exercise to straighten up all misalignment problems between the truck and brake system. Long term, this would indicate wheel treads are evenly utilized for both left and right wheels, and enabled to accrue and advance to higher average mileages than previously experienced. A variety of centering wear liners are manufactured and provided by A. Stucki Company, Amsted, and Zeftek. s
This wheel therapy carries a much greater potential bang for the buck; a low cost fix for a high return yield. Now that’s what therapy is all about. 36 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Every day, we have more reasons to keep Running Right. Alpha Natural Resources is one of the largest suppliers of coal in America. Alpha also is one of Appalachia’s most rapidly growing companies, with more than 14,000 people whose safety comes above all else. We call it “Running Right,” because when every one does his or her job right, every one goes home safe at night. Running Right also means being a true partner in the community and taking care of the environment. At Alpha, we know that Running Right shows in everything we do - every day.
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We power the world through the energy of our people.
WESTERN FUEL ... to the Po
Western Fuels welcomes The City of Grand Island, Nebraska as its 22nd member and Hastings Utilities as its 23rd member Western Fuel Association is a not-for-profit corporation that provides coal procurement, rail transportation and fleet management services to cooperatives, municipalities and other consumer and investor-owned utilities.
We promote and protect member interests with volume driven contracting, comprehensive and cost effective fuel chain management, a time-tested staff and the strength of collective advocacy.
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NCTA 2012 O&M Conference / Review
2012 Operations &
Maintenance Conference Hershey Lodge, Hershey, Pennsylvania | June 11-13, 2012
W
ho would have thought that a conference dedicated to maintaining coal cars would ever be described using the words hugs and kisses? Yet Hugs and especially Kisses were everywhere - on the wallpaper, on the bed linens, and even walking the lobby - as the NCTA Operations & Maintenance Committee held its annual conference June 11-13, 2012 at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The conference schedule was slightly different this year. The Voting Member round table was in its usual spot on Monday morning (York Peppermint Patties were the candy of the day) but the afternoon was free for an optional tour of Amsted’s facility at Camp Hill or for partaking in other networking activities. The all Member round table was held on Tuesday morning followed by the general session. Tom Wess, a longtime local resident and son of NCTA Treasurer Jerry Wess (Exelon), presented an interesting and entertaining Welcome to Hershey, to open the session.
Tuesday’s session also included a discussion panel on analyzing repair data and car health plus plenty of Hershey Miniatures. The annual NCTA dinner was held Tuesday evening at the elegant Hotel Hershey. The group enjoyed a pre-dinner reception in the Fountain Lobby, where the architecture was inspired by the Spanish style courtyards Milton Hershey enjoyed when he spent his winters in Cuba. Then diners were treated to a “Taste of Pennsylvania”, entertained by a jazz duo, challenged to find the hidden Sasquatch, and enjoyed the patio overlooking the Hershey gardens and the ice skaters in the distance. Wednesday brought out the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups along with the sunshine. The productive morning session featured a second panel discussion, this one on car parts. Between the round table sessions, discussions panels, and facility tours, this was one of the most interactive O&M conferences in recent years. Following the close of the conference, over 50 golfers hit Hershey Links for an afternoon golf scramble. Thursday brought another educational opportunity as Standard Steel hosted some attendees at a tour of their wheel and axle manufacturing facilities located in nearby Burnham. The NCTA would like to thank all the speakers and panelists as well as the volunteers, including Chairman John Casto and Program Chairman Rich Kotan for their efforts. We would also like to recognize the great sponsors who made this event such a success. s
Panel Presentation on Rail Car Parts
Debbie Sides, Gayle TenBrink, Carmen Sparks, Jennifer Guo Troy Smith, Steve and Judy Dobies
40 | COAL TRANSPORTER
2012 O&M Conference Sponsors Platinum Terry McCreery and David Nahass
Rich Watson, John Casto, and Bob Novinsky
FreightCar America / FreightCar Rail Services Progress Rail Services
Gold Amsted Rail First Union Rail The Greenbrier Companies New York Air Brake Sumitomo Standard Steel Wabtec WestRail, Inc.
Silver Heather,Will, and Alfred Midgley
Barry Clark was a good sport in posing with Ms. Kiss
A. Stucki Company Alpha Products, Inc. Lexair, Inc. Miner Enterprises Precision Roller Bearing Company TrinityRail WHEELWORX, LLC
Lanyards Scott Tyger and Bob McGovern
Jeremy Hill and Jason Ball
Mike Edwards
Fred Sweazy
NexGen Service
Melinda Canter and Mr. Reeses PBC COAL TRANSPORTER | 41
Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules
AAR Office Rules / Rule 83
Rule 83 – Preparation of Original Record of Repair and Billing Repair Data BY: Carol Scarborough, Director, Customer Fleet Services, FreightCar Rail Services
What is Car Repair Billing?
T
he Car Repair Billing (CRB) system is used by the North American rail industry to bill over $1 billion per year for repairs obligated under AAR and FRA Rules. The prior CRB system was developed in 1960’s using punch card technology. The data fields available were limited to 160 bytes. This system was used for over 40 years. In 2005, in conjunction with an UMLER re-write and EHMS implementation, a project was launched to revise the CRB system to allow for more information to be included in the repair records. The result was the addition of new and expanded fields which resulted in the 500 byte record of today. Additional objectives were to redefine the pricing and audit logic to reflect industry rules. Changes were made to the Pricing Matrix (Price Master) that allows it to be re-issued as frequently as once a month if needed, to the pricing logic that allows pricing of job codes to be at a why made/responsibility code level and the ability for online submission of quotes to the quarterly price survey for creation of material charges to be included in the Price Master.
AAR Field Manual
The AAR Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules contains all the rules regarding repairs to railcars in the North American fleet. These apply both to railroad marked and private marked cars and include the condemning limits of defective components and the responsibility guidelines for Car Owners and Handling Line. The repairs are grouped with similar repairs or component groups and listed under Rule Numbers with the Rule Description including applicable Job Codes within the rule. 42 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Rule 83 – Preparation of Repair Records
Rule 83 describes the information required to correctly issue the Billing Repair Card (BRC). The rule begins with some basic ground rules. First, cars placed in a shop or on a repair track for repairs must be carefully inspected to determine what repairs are to be made and whose responsibility it is to pay for those repairs. This is referred to as the original record of repair. A Billing/Invoicing Party can use any form or electronic format to prepare a Billing Repair Card, but it must contain the minimum information required by Rule 83. It is stated, that for processing, the Billing Repair Card data may differ in format from the original record of repair, however, the integrity of the BRC data must properly reflect the work reported on the original record of repairs. The Billing Repair Card in the form shown as Exhibit A in Rule 83 must be used for supporting documentation. All items of repairs must be covered in proper detail on the original record of repair. The following basic Information shall include: • Reporting Marks (car initial) • Car Number • Kind of Car (this is not the Mechanical Designation, or AAR Car Type code, but from the codes listed in Rule 83. Also, this is not mandatory for Group Billable repairs) • Date repairs completed • Standard Point Location Code (SPLC) • Load/Empty indicator (not mandatory for Group Billable repairs) Detailed records must be kept at the repair location or where the Billing Repair Card data is prepared for no less than a minimum of 24 months from the date of the repair. When repairs are made to cars under authority of a Defect Card and/or endorsed Joint Inspection Certificate (JIC) issued by other than the car owner, the BRC must show reference to the name of the issuing party and the date of issuance. For designation of the location on the car where the damage or repairs were made, Rule 83 defines the following for a standard freight car:
Location on Standard Freight Car • • • • •
Face the ‘B’ end of the car. That is the end with the hand brake, thus B. Opposite the ‘B’ end is the ‘A’ end. Right side of car in their order: R, R1, R2, R3, & R4. Left side of car in their order: L, L1, L2, L3, & L4. Main structure of the car is divided into 4 sections: BR, BL, AR, AL.
Condition Codes
Condition Codes are defined in Rule 83 and are to be used on Billing Repair Data. These are the codes that indicate the type, or condition, of the material that is applied to the railcar to complete the repair. Also, the Condition Codes will describe the type of labor, or work, that was performed if service attention was given to the railcar, such as air brake tests, lubrication (Condition Code 7) or only labor attention, such as welding or painting (Condition Code 0). There are also Condition Codes for Removing and Replace (R&R CC 9) or Removing, Repair and Replace (RR&R, CC 8) of the same part. Keep in mind that these Condition Codes apply to the job or component that was applied or completed on the car (Job Code Applied – JCA). COAL TRANSPORTER | 43
Car Part Codes
These codes which are listed in section 16 of Rule 83 are sometimes confused with Qualifiers. They are used in a similar fashion and are reported in the same locations in the Car Repair Billing Record. However these codes are to be used for reporting what part of the railcar, or what type of component was worked on when it is required by Section F4 and F7 of a repair rule in the AAR Field Manual. These Car Part Codes are 2 character alpha codes that are organized by Type of Component or Location on the railcar where the repair was made. These codes are required, but often missing, for any 4450, Labor, or repairs that use the Rule 72 Manufactured Material. For a fleet manager it is very important to recognize parts by their correct names and associate the correct Car Part Code with the repair being performed. This can also be used in auditing, for example, welding on a Brake Pipe Bracket (DX) is permissible, however welding on a Pipe Bracket (CT) is not.
Why Made Codes
This section 17 of Rule 83 is probably the most used by a fleet manager. These codes are used for reporting the reason why the repair was made, or the component replaced. These codes apply to the Job Code Removed (JCR). These codes are 2 digit numeric codes that denote any number of conditions, from Missing (03) to a high impact wheel alert generated by EHMS (65). Only the Why Made Codes listed with the Job Codes can be used with that Job Code. These are all related for pricing in the Price Master and there can be different pricing for different Why Made codes.
Other Codes in Rule 83
There are addition codes in Rule 83 that may not seem to be as important to the reporting of car repairs, however, they are required for proper preparation of a Billing Repair Card (BRC) and to submit the Data Exchange (DX) to Railinc as required under Rule 113. These include Responsibility Codes for whom the charges for the repair should be billed. As Private Car Owners and managers of course this
is the one we usually see. There is also the code for Handling Line Responsibility if the railroads damage and repair the car, and Defect Card and Joint Inspection Certificate authority. Other codes are for Kind of Car, which is a one character alpha code that shows the type of car repaired, Repair Facility Type, that is a two character alpha code that shows where the repairs were made and the Load/Empty Indicator that shows whether a railcar was loaded or empty at time of repair.
Changes for CEPM (Comprehensive Equipment Performance Monitoring) With changes in Rule 44 (Wheel Sets), requiring the reporting of the AAR Component ID on all wheel set replacements, Rule 83 is modified as well. There will be an item 10 added to Rule 83 stating that AAR Component ID must be reported when required by a specific rule. This changes the Exhibit A of Rule 83, the Billing Repair Card to include space for the AAR Component ID. The
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implementation of CEPM will apply to other components in addition to wheel sets as directed by the AAR. The next phase of CEPM will include side frames, bolsters and couplers. For more information on the CEPM Program please visit the Railinc website at www.Railinc.com/ CEPM.
Exhibit A
Results in a Proper Billing Repair Card The end product of these codes and reporting requirements listed in Rule 83 is the AAR Billing Repair Card (BRC) included in the rule as Exhibit A. While we are seeing less and less of the actual paper BRCs cross our desks we receive them in electronic format each month from railroads and contract shops. It is important that we are knowledgeable with what the codes and information tells us on the conditions that are causing repairs to be required on our equipment. By using the information in the AAR Field Manual and Rule 83 we can utilize that information to analyze failure trends of components and implement plans
ARS
and programs to control costs and effect higher utilization of railcar fleets. But you are not in this alone, more and more systems and services are
available in the railcar industry that are designed to utilize this information, translate it, and assist you with making the best decisions for your railcar fleet. s
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Providing Quality Railcar Services COAL TRANSPORTER | 45
The champagne flies, making it officially the TALLEY-PEREZ
The Ability and Attitude to
Accomplish Anything Talley and Perez Personify the Motto
I
n April of 2012, Associated Terminals took delivery of the company’s seventh Gottwald crane. With the crane barge ready to be added to the company’s fleet of stevedoring cranes, Associated was excited to name the latest crane the TALLEY-PEREZ after two well deserving team members, Mr. Danny Talley and Mr. Jason Perez. Both Mr. Talley and Mr. Perez have been with Associated Terminals for nearly 15 years. Mr. Talley joined Associated as a deckhand in 1998 before rising to become an Operations Manager in St. Bernard in 2009. Mr. Perez joined Associated as a Crane Operator in conjunction with the acquisition of International Marine Carriers in 1997 and also was promoted to Operations Manager in St. Bernard in 2009. Team members, friends, customers and vendors all recently gathered 46 | COAL TRANSPORTER
for a christening ceremony held on the riverfront in New Orleans followed by a reception in the Plimsoll Club located at the Westin Hotel. Speaking at the ceremony, Todd Fuller, President, shared with the audience how both of these individuals exemplified the company’s motto. “Danny and Jason truly embody “the Ability and Attitude to Accomplish Anything”. They have done an outstanding job of leading our St. Bernard operations team. The tremendous growth and success of our St. Bernard Operation would not be possible without their guidance and leadership.” Mr. Fuller continued, “Several years ago, I can recall Danny, Jason and a few team members going to our Galveston terminal to continue discharge operations from a vessel, so their Galveston colleagues could have the shift off to attend the scheduled year end holiday party.
Christening Ceremony May 16, 2012 This was something these gentlemen volunteered to do unprompted and is just one example of many where they went above and beyond for their colleagues, our customers and for this company.” This latest investment has the distinction of being the company’s first 8400B model Gottwald, which provides additional capacity over the last several 6400B model cranes constructed by Associated. This project also included the fifth barge built for Associated by Conrad Industries. The delivery of the TALLEY-PEREZ also marks the fourth year in a row that the company has added new equipment to its fleet of stevedoring cranes, showing again that Associated Terminals is committed to provide its customers with industry leading equipment along with the highest level of service in the industry. s
Almost Four Years and Counting‌
Debate over Coal Ash Regulation Drags On BY: John N. Ward, Chairman, Citizens for Recycling First
John N. Ward
48 | COAL TRANSPORTER
M
ore than three years after the failure of a coal ash than 1,400 individuals testified at eight public hearings and disposal pond in Tennessee prompted a newly more than 450,000 written comments were submitted. Of the seated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency written comments, EPA says over 13,000 (comprising over 2 administrator to launch a reassessment of disposal million pages) contain “unique content requiring analysis.” regulations, the debate over those regulations EPA won’t say when it thinks that analysis will be comcontinues full force. plete. Since the close of the initial public comment period in At stake is the future of beneficial use of Coal Combustion November 2010, there has been a second comment period perProducts. An overwhelming number of organizations agree that taining to additional data that has been added to the rulemaking one potential regulatory approach – designating ash bound for record. Now there are rumors of a third comment period for still disposal as “hazardous waste” – would create disastrous uninmore data to be forthcoming and EPA has acknowledged that tended consequences for recycling. EPA’s rulemaking activity it is also performing beneficial use risk evaluations that it would also shows signs of expanding beyond creating disposal regulalike to complete before proposing a Final Rule. Most EPAtions to include redefining core concepts of what beneficial use watchers speculate that a proposed Final Rule won’t come any is. Finally, the increasingly protracted debate has created regulaearlier than 2013. tory uncertainty that is already beginning As EPA’s rulemaking process beto affect recycling practices. comes increasingly protracted, Congress Discussion of coal ash regulation is An overwhelming number of has stepped in with a third proposal for nothing new in the United States. The coal ash disposal regulation. The Coal EPA has studied the topic for decades organizations agree that one Residuals Reuse and Management Act under both Democrat and Republican would establish the first ever national administrations. Those studies consispotential regulatory approach – standards for coal ash disposal. The tently concluded that coal ash does not standards are patterned after successwarrant “hazardous waste” regulation. designating ash bound for disposal ful regulatory programs for managing Following EPA’s 2000 Final Regulamunicipal solid waste. The bill requires tory Determination, the federal EPA was as “hazardous waste” – would state-administered permit programs expected to develop coal ash disposal to create enforceable requirements for guidelines that could be applied by state create disastrous unintended groundwater monitoring, lining of environmental regulators without a “hazlandfills, corrective action when enviardous waste” designation. That activity consequences for recycling. ronmental damage occurs and structural was never completed, however, and on criteria. It also provides that if a state is December 22, 2008, the dam broke. unable or unwilling to implement the Literally. permit program, the federal EPA would have authority to do so. The failure of an ash disposal pond at the Kingston Power The coal residuals bill passed the U.S. House of RepresenPlant in Tennessee touched off a media firestorm and was a topic tatives with bipartisan support in October 2011 and in April at EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s Senate confirmation hear2012 was incorporated into the House’s larger transportation ing a month later. At that hearing, the incoming Administrator reauthorization bill. (It narrowly missed inclusion in the final pledged to propose new coal ash regulations by the end of 2009. Transportation Bill passed by the full Congress in June.) The In June 2010, EPA finally released its Proposed Rule for coal residuals bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by 10 biparcoal ash disposal, but it really wasn’t a Proposed Rule in the tisan co-sponsors and discussions regarding Senate passage of the traditional sense. Instead it sought public comments on two bill are continuing. different potential approaches to disposal regulation and also Interestingly, all three proposed regulatory approaches asked for comment on a variety of seemingly unrelated matters – EPA’s non-hazardous, EPA’s hazardous, and the bill now in pertaining to recycling. The ensuing public comment period Congress – feature similar landfill design requirements. You generated an unprecedented response. By EPA’s account, more don’t get a better landfill by labeling coal ash “hazardous waste.”
HOST
your
on the
waterfront
Michael E. Paul President Cell: 270-401-1065 Office: 270-765-2880 Fax: 270-765-2887
mpaulphoenix@bbtel.com 319 Peterson Drive Elizabethtown, KY 42701
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Serving All Ports along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts COAL TRANSPORTER | 49
The differences in the proposals primarily relate to whether states or the federal government have primary enforcement authority. There’s a good reason why there are few engineering differences in the three proposals. Despite a relentless assault by anti-coal environmental activists working to brand coal ash as “toxic,” even EPA agrees that Subtitle D non-hazardous landfill engineering standards would be protective of human health and the environment if applied to coal ash. Studies by the Electric Power Research Institute have shown that leachate from coal ash is similar in health and environmental risk to leachate from non-hazardous household garbage. A recent study by the American Coal Ash Association used government data to show that the levels of metals in coal ash are similar to the levels of metals found in common residential soils. There is no legislative or judicial mandate for EPA to do anything with coal ash regulations. Therefore, EPA has no deadlines. In April 2012, a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against EPA seeking to impose a deadline
for the process. That lawsuit has now been matched by lawsuits from coal ash recyclers Headwaters Resources and Boral Material Technologies, who are expected to argue in favor of outcomes that protect beneficial use. Meanwhile, coal ash recycling in the United States declined in 2010 – reversing a decade of growth of a practice that conserves energy and natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and safely keeps ash out of landfills and disposal ponds. According to the American Coal Ash Association’s annual “Production and Use Survey,” 42.5 percent of the 130.2 million tons of coal ash produced in 2010 was beneficially used. That use rate is a decline from 44.3 percent in 2009 and a significant reversal of the previous decade’s trend. Throughout the 1990s, recycling rates were in the 20s. In 2000, when the rate was 29.7 percent, the EPA issued its Final Regulatory Determination that regulation of ash as a “hazardous waste” was not warranted. Over the next eight years, EPA also began actively promoting the beneficial use of coal ash and the rate
Despite a relentless assault by anti-coal environmental activists working to brand coal ash as “toxic,” even EPA agrees that Subtitle D non-hazardous landfill engineering standards would be protective of human health and the environment if applied to coal ash.
soared to 44.5 percent in spite of steadily increasing volumes of the amount of coal ash produced. When regulatory uncertainty reappeared, those rates stalled and now appear to be retreating. The irony of the fight over how to improve coal ash disposal regulations is that we now have more coal ash to dispose. Intransigence by anti-coal environmental activists over wanting direct federal enforcement authority has blocked an opportunity to put in place new landfill engineering standards that all proposals agree on. If EPA had moved in 2009 to enact those standards under the “non-hazardous” Subtitle D, they would already be in effect. Today, however, the fastest path toward actually doing something positive for the environment regarding coal ash appears to lead directly through the halls of the United States Senate. s John N. Ward is chairman of Citizens for Recycling First – an independent organization of individuals and small businesses supporting recycling coal ash as a safe, environmentally preferable alternative to disposal. He also serves as chairman of the American Coal Ash Association’s Government Relations Committee. He is a former board member and past president of the American Coal Council and served on the National Coal Council as appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
Congratulations Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute on your 100th Anniversary.
50 | COAL TRANSPORTER
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Calendar of Events 2012 Summer/Fall 2012 Presentation of NCTA Scholarship Awards: South Dakota School of Mines & Technology University of Arizona University of West Virginia University of Wyoming David L. Laffere Scholarship Three At-Large Scholarships
September 10-12, 2012 Thirty-Eighth Annual Business Meeting and Conference Westin Denver Downtown, Denver, Colorado
December 20, 2012 Receipt at NCTA office of all re-certification forms for the UMLER Fee Waiver for Calendar Year 2013
October 25, 2012 Eastern Logistics and Planning Committee Meeting CSX REDI Center, Atlanta, Georgia
2013 January 18, 2013 Advertising and Editorial Deadline for Issue 1 2013 of the Coal Transporter Magazine.
February 21, 2013 Western Logistics and Planning Committee Meeting The Platinum, Las Vegas, Nevada
June 28, 2013 Advertising and Editorial Deadline for Issue 2 2013 of the Coal Transporter Magazine.
January 31, 2013 Payment Due for 2013 Annual Membership Fees
April 14-17, 2013 Spring General Conference Westin La Paloma, Tucson, Arizona
September 16-18, 2013 Thirty-Ninth Annual Business Meeting and Conference The Brown Palace, Denver, Colorado
February 4-6, 2013 Board of Director’s Meeting and Washington Visits Washington, DC
June 10-12, 2013 Operations and Maintenance Conference Intercontinental at the Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri
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Open For Business Midstream Stevedoring on the Mississippi River BY: John Crane, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, St. James Stevedoring Partners LLC
54 | COAL TRANSPORTER
– Everybody Welcome
John Crane’s great knowledge of the area made him the perfect tour guide at the recent NCTA EL&P meeting in New Orleans. Thanks John!
O
ne of the challenges facing the US coal industry is logistics – with domestic markets shrinking coal companies are faced with the question, - how can they redeploy coal to overseas markets where coal is in high and growing demand? I propose that if you produce coal in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado or Utah and want to export, - you need to consider the Mississippi River System.
The Mississippi River System
The online dictionary defines System as “a set of interacting or interdependent parts forming an integrated whole.” Systems have structure, boundaries, behavior
and interconnectivity as well as groups of functions. System is an accurate description of coal shipping on the Mississippi. To accomplish the transport of coal through the Mississippi River System a number of different companies and asset groups must come together in a coordinated way to provide an integrated whole. Shipping on the Mississippi can seem, at first, to be a daunting task but there are some very significant advantages to having a number of companies aligned with your interests and dependent on your participation. The System becomes your force multiplier for success. One hallmark of the Mississippi System is the competition between service providers for your export coal business. Each functional part of the System,
whether barging, ship loading, terminal services, agency, surveyors, barge fleeting, documentation, cargo attendance or analytical services are represented by a set of companies who have survived by working hard to make their customers successful. The coal shipper who can get to the Mississippi River has the luxury of competing choices and customer driven providers. The resulting flexibility is something that surprises most newcomers. The key to the System is the reach and capacity of the barge lines. A recent survey showed 32 barge lines working the inland rivers. With consolidations and mergers, over the past 20 years, most of the 17,000 dry barges have become concentrated in the hands of less than 10 barge companies. Barge lines typically COAL TRANSPORTER | 55
bring from 35 to 45 loaded barges south, pushed by one boat which makes for a very low carbon footprint on a ton mile basis. From my perspective barge lines act as a pipeline which moves coal at a certain velocity through the System.
The Midstream Component
In this article I will focus on just one component of the Mississippi System midstream stevedoring. Having gotten into the shipping business in the mid 1970’s and having worked at all of the land based Mississippi River export coal terminals, I was convinced that land based was the only viable way to ship coal. Since I joined the midstream world, I have come to understand cost savings, flexibility and reliability that are the unique contributions of the midstream stevedore. The initial impetus for the growth of midstream stevedoring came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s as the result of the oil shocks which precipitated the first export coal boom. With the dramatic reduction of export coal through the Mississippi after 1983, the midstream
stevedore industry went through a period of contraction- the survivors were companies who kept cost low and flexibility and service high. During this period after 1983, midstream stevedores shifted their focus to imported cargoes and the location of midstream operations began to center around the availability of covered empty barges produced by grain elevators. Midstream stevedores learned the value of product diversity and flexibility of operations. St. James came into being in this hard scrabble world of a shrinking industry. We began our operational existence by renting cranes from banks who had repossessed floating cranes from bankrupt midstream stevedores. Currently three companies, St. James, Associated Terminals and Cooper Consolidated have midstream stevedoring as their primary activity. As an aggregate I estimate that 45 to 50 million tons of cargo will be transferred at midstream in 2012, – it is likely that about 20 million tons of coal will move by midstream. There are currently more than 40 buoy Systems on the lower river, many of which are unused. Capacity of midstream stevedoring is difficult to measure,
but it is fairly easy to get to 70 million tons with current equipment. Additionally, building a new Gottwald midstream crane takes about nine months, from order to delivery, and adds almost 4 million tons of coal capacity per unit. The midstream cargo mix is made up of six basic “food groups”: coal, fertilizer, ores and minerals, steel and steel related raw materials, cement, and grain products. Coal is an important commodity, but with our diversity of products handled, the ability to change locations and the fact that we are indifferent to cargo direction inbound or outbound, means we can survive coal market cycles. From year to year the percentage in each group varies with the ups and downs of the particular commodity markets. Bottom line, midstream stevedores will always be able to handle the surges and are in some respects a bottomless pit of capacity. All three of the midstream stevedores have added capacity in the past 12 months. Cooper Consolidated introduced their LMO unit in the fall of 2011, St. James added two Model 8 Gottwald cranes in December of 2011
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and Associated added one Model 8 Gottwald in the first quarter of 2012. The combined capacity additions were over 10 million tons. In a very competitive market each midstream stevedore has certain common elements such as available labor, access to shippers and basic cost structure. At the same time each has a different personality and style and seeks to set itself off from the competition and each does things a little differently. Regardless, it is accurate to say each stevedore provides reliable service and each is actively seeking more business. The area in which the three midstream stevedores work stretches almost 130 miles. A port which is 130 miles long is almost inconceivable to most people. This distance greatly reduces the vulnerability of the midstream System to hurricanes. During Katrina, St. James only lost three days of production – two days secure and remobilize and one to ride out the storm. Finally, midstream stevedoring is only one component of the Mississippi River System for moving coal. Like any 58 | COAL TRANSPORTER
System each component adds a necessary and valuable part of the whole. The amazing thing is how smoothly it all works together for the benefit of the customer.
St. James’s Place in the Mix
St. James Stevedoring Company is a privately held company founded in 1985. Named after the parish it calls home, St. James has grown to be one of the largest midstream stevedores on the Mississippi River. In 2008 we joined forces with ADM’s ARTCO barge line to form St. James Stevedoring Partners, our midstream operating company. We currently handle cargo at nine principal locations onto ships of up to cape size. We also the have flexibility to conduct direct transfers of cargo anywhere between Baton Rouge and the mouth of the Mississippi River and often can be found assisting a competitor. Midstream stevedoring operations are fairly straight forward – we pick up coal from a barge and put it into an ocean going bulk carrier vessel, which is anchored in the middle of the river.
St. James differentiates itself from its competitors in several significant ways. First, we begin with process measurement and statistical controls – this gives us a dynamic and accurate understanding of what is happening in our operational environment and provides metrics for change. Second, we have an aggressive profit sharing program where a third of our stevedoring profits are distributed to our workers on a quarterly basis – this insures that from top to bottom St. James people are focused on your success – we all understand that you have a choice of stevedores and we want you to choose St. James. Third, we have placed a major focus on safety and the environment – we put our money where our mouth is on safety and giveaway a pickup truck to our employees when we achieve our no lost time injury goals – to date we have given 5 trucks. For the environment we intentionally use an enclosed style of bucket fitted with rubber seals to minimize spillage. We believe that you can tell the quality of a company by their housekeeping. Fourth, we have chosen to pioneer new
penetrate to the bottom layer of coal in a technologies. In 2004 we put the first loaded barge. We are adding technology Gottwald mobile harbor crane on a which will track the sample process and barge in the world. We currently have add a level of transparency not currently the largest fleet of Gottwald floating available to coal shippers. We are excited cranes in the world including two model about this development. 8 cranes commissioned in December of At St. James we like to talk about 2011. With the Gottwald cranes we got having a 328 foot area of responsibility a computer in the middle of the river – in a supply chain of thousands of miles. this has led to our development of our Our 328 foot area of responsibility is Crane Data System which is now being the diameter of the circle created by used by more than 25 Gottwald cranes our floating crane boom. Importantly, in the United States, Europe and the within our 328 feet a tremendous Caribbean. Finally, we have worked to amount of planning, coordination and keep our cost down and our style nimble operational expertise take place –it and flexible. is the nexus between domestic and In July 2012 we will be introducing foreign, blue and brown water, barge a new product to the Mississippi River, and ship and between the shipper and “The Floating Coal Auger.” This is our aubuyer. In this 328 foot circle weights are ger for coal sampling. We built a “railcar determined, blending occurs, quality is auger on steroids” which will be barge verified and transfer of custody of the mounted and will provide shippers with mechanical sample at midstream. The decoal often takes place. It in the circle that ship demurrage or despatch is design of the auger allows for the return of termined and barges are unloaded and the majority of coal taken in the sample blade cleaned. This means that customer to the barge thereby greatly reducing communications and transparency are the amount of refuse coal which would extremely important – we provide this be landfilled in conventional sampling including camera access so our customsystems. The auger will be able to reach can1watch their ships load over the across the full width of a barge and will 1_2pgWrkStTraining_Layout 1 7/2/12 12:02 PM ers Page
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internet. For this reason, how we handle the St. James 328 feet becomes critical to the success of our customers; and because of its centrality it is vitally important that the customer is happy with how we operate. At St. James we are constantly seeking to lift the bar and find industry game changers. We are committed to looking for new ways to service our customers and give them the tools they need to be successful in exporting their coal. The results have been clear, including the fact that in the spring of 2012 we were awarded the long term contract for stevedoring Nucor’s iron ore at their new Louisiana steel plant. I began by describing the Mississippi River as a System which indeed it is. Ultimately our effectiveness depends on the confidence of the coal shipper that they will get the best service. I know midstream stevedoring can meet that challenge. If you have production in any of the states mentioned at the beginning of this article – someone from your area has already utilized the Mississippi System. The System is open for business and everybody is welcome. s
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ROAD TRIP 9:30 am
Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney arrives. He cinched the Republican nomination later that day by winning the Texas Primary. In his speech, Governor Romney told those gathered that the economy would be best served by “a government that’s an ally of business, not an enemy of business”. He cited Obama administration regulations that make mining, oil and gas drilling, and coal consumption difficult and uncertain, as detrimental to the economic recovery.
11:30am
Headed back via Twenty Mile Road stopping to take pictures along the way.
Itinerary: 3:00 am
Wake-Up! Good thing I packed the car last night.
4:00 am
Rendezvous with Tom and Melinda at the Hogback Park-n-Ride. 7:45 am Arrive in Alice Pleasant Park in Craig, Colorado. Hey, traffic was light.
2:30 pm Stopped in Vail for a late lunch and a stroll through several venues including the Sonnenalp, the site of the 2007 Operations and Maintenance Conference. 8:15 am Scored some great hats from ACCCE proclaiming Coal = Jobs.
8:30 am
Mingled with crowd including many local miners there to support coal.
62 | COAL TRANSPORTER
9:00 pm The sun sets over the Rocky Mountains on our NCTA Road Trip.
STATS AT A GLANCE First you don’t see it, now you do ….
I
nterestingly, President Obama’s “All of the Above” energy strategy originally did not include coal, an energy source which produces 45% of all the electricity in the US. But by the second week in May, coal did appear, replacing fuel efficiency on the official re-election website. Did the campaign just fix a mistake, or was losing 42% of the vote in the West Virginia Democratic primary to a felon currently serving his sentence in a federal prison in Texas a wake up call? Even after the change, coal is still not represented by any of the strategy’s symbols which include an oil drum, solar panels, a gas pump, nuclear energy, wind turbines, a natural gas flame and a car. s
Not Quite “All” -
Not Quite “All” -
BEFORE
From the President’s Official Reelect Website…week of June 30
Not Quite “All” -
And now…
From the President’s Official Reelect Website…week of June 30
23
23
AFTER
From the President’s Official Reelect Website…week of June 30
From the President’s Official Reelect Website…week of May 7
23
25 COAL TRANSPORTER | 63
NCTA / Member Sound-Off
Member Sound-Off
T
The Coal Transporter asked members and associates to offer their opinions on a current topic in the coal industry.
he theme of the 2012 Fall conference is “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” We live in an age when superheroes are a huge part of today’s pop culture. Coal has been the superhero of the energy business for the past century, providing affordable electricity and creating jobs for people, businesses, and industries across North America.
You don’t need Spidey senses to know that continuing to undermine domestic coal is detrimental to the long term security and the health of the economy. Will the truth prevail to preserve our way of life, or will arbitrary and expensive regulations lead to further injustice to the average energy consumer?
Truth
A. Unless you live in a bubble the environment affects everyone equally and is thus inherently just.
Respondents were asked which statement most closely reflected their take on perception versus reality.
B. Justice has nothing to do with it, the EPA is just using this as another excuse for picking winners and losers.
There is no such thing as reality
C. The poor are disproportionally affected by higher energy costs so many of the EPA’s actions are unjust on their face. Reality is what the majority believe it is.
The American Way
Perception is only short term, reality wins in the long term.
When you need help, who you gonna call? Perception is reality if the government acts on it.
Batman 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Justice
The EPA increasingly cites the need for consideration of Environmental Justice in its policy making. Environmental Justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It will be “achieved” when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work. 50%
Captain America
9% 10%
Spiderman
0%
Superman
46%
Wonder Woman
22%
Other
13%
Apparently nobody but investors in Columbia Pictures likes Spiderman. Also mentioned: Godzilla, Alfred E. Neuman, Herman Cain, Colin Powell, George Washington, Ben Grimm, Elvis, and the Marines!
45% 40%
Besides input to the questions above, here is what people had to say ….
35% 30% 25%
“There was a time when truth and justice was the American way. Now, not so much.”
20%
- Bob Hodge, Energy Publishing
15% 10%
“Our forefathers are rolling over in their graves right now from the unjust way this country is being run!!”
5% 0% Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
A 64 | COAL TRANSPORTER
B
Disagree
C
Strongly Disagree
- Randy Kosky, Zinkan Enterprises, Inc.
“As a co-op, most of our members are lower income households, so higher electric rates does lower their living standards, no matter what Al Gore says.” - John Mayer, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc
‘The fact is even Superman has changed his view from the American way to a more “global” way of thinking which is okay if your agenda is to save the world. However right now we need to save “Smallville”, in other words, the depressed regions here in America should be taken care of first. The truth is there are many communities in the various coal regions here in the US that are solely dependent upon coal mining as the primary source of revenue for the populous as well as the state depending on the tax revenue that is generated.’ - Michael Smith, Rhino Energy
‘“Sound science” is regularly said to be the best way to get to the truth and thereby ensure justice. Unfortunately, in the political arena, “sound science” is too often taken to be any study or any part of a study that can in any way or context be interpreted to support a predetermined position.’ - Dave Wanner, Wisconsin Public Service
‘If the current trends followed by the current administration led by the EPA continue, there will no longer be an “American Way”. Truth has long been tossed out with emphasis on distortions meant to justify the actions of those in power or power as they perceive it. Today’s form of justice was aptly demonstrated yesterday, when the Supreme Court redefined the costs of Obamacare as being supported by a “tax” to justify upholding a completely unconstitutional and flawed law, even though the Administration insisted and the law was passed insisting there was no new tax. Justice indeed!! I want the country of my youth back.’ - Paul Warner, Arch Coal Sales
“As long as I have been in the mining industry, I have heard that we do not do enough to tell our story regarding the benefits our endeavors to improve the lives of societies in general. I don’t really think that the message really ever got out. It seems like over the last few years, environmental groups have really taken the upper hand in the debate about those benefits and are now leading the discussion; right, wrong or indifferent. I also believe that Americans will eventually see that the impacts of blindly following the environmental agenda will not produce the anticipated benefits and will have paid substantially for nothing.... and I’m passing that along as often as I can now.” - Ron Destefano, CDG Engineers
Most people work toward a better environment, the major problem with the EPA is that it has become a political organization pushing money and not concerned with the environment. A prime example would be global cooling from the 70’s (cured by increasing energy costs and making EPA political supporters very rich), global warming of the 90’s (cured by increasing energy costs and making EPA political supporters very rich), and now global climate change which will have the same effect. As with all things there have been some positive and some negative results but one thing for sure is that the workers paid for it.
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Reflections / Connie Thede
Connie Thede Success for a Small Town Girl 66 | COAL TRANSPORTER
Connie Thede, with husband Jim, retired from Muscatine Power & Water in 2009, after 40 years of service.
C
onnie Thede (née Mucha) was born September 30, 1946 in the small Midwestern town of Muscatine, located on the Mighty Mississippi in the southeast corner of Iowa. She spent most of her life in the Muscatine area and now retired, continues to live nearby in Blue Grass, Iowa. Connie has a strong work ethic, which she credits to the values she was taught by her parents. They were hard working individuals who raised four children on the salaries of a bartender and a part-time dress saleswoman and homemaker. With barely enough money to go around, Connie learned at a young age that if you wanted something that you needed to work for it. She started babysitting at the age of 11, worked as a car hop at a drive-in restaurant at 15, as a grocery store cashier at 16, and as a secretary in the high school office every afternoon after taking classes all morning. After school, she went to her cashier’s job for another three hours and still worked her car hop job on weekends. Connie married after high school and immediately started her family, but the marriage did not last. On her own with a child to care for, she went to work as a clerk in the Purchasing Department for HON Industries, a leading global office furniture manufacturer. She married again which only brought more heartache and divorce, but gave her two sons. She found herself with three children to raise with no support other than her own initiative. Her greatest ambition was to earn a college degree, but as a single mother there was neither time nor money to accomplish that goal. Self-educated throughout her career, she says learning comes easy. She has enjoyed soaking up as much knowledge and experience as she could from her co-workers, supervisors, and mentors through the years and eventually took several college courses including Business Law, Economics and Composition.
First Steps on an Uphill Road
Her career in the utility industry began in May of 1969 when a close friend told her of an opening at Muscatine Municipal Electric and Water Company for a secretary in the Purchasing Department. It was during that job interview that she met her greatest mentor, Fred Lambert,
Connie on a trip to the Powder River Basin she was making at HON, and she imwho was the Purchasing Manager at mediately agreed to take the job. The first the time. However, Connie recounts two weeks were a struggle, but in the end the actual interview with Fred as one of it turned out to be one her worst experiences. of the best decisions of When she handed the application to Mr. “That’s a helluva way to her life. Fred became her greatest mentor Lambert, he looked it treat a good customer.” and took the time to over, looked back at tell her everything her, looked at it again Connie was so stunned he knew about the and stated, “Young role of the Purchaslady, you lied on this by the language that she ing Department. He application.” It was encouraged her to soak then that she wished couldn’t type, and it was up all the knowledge the floor would just she could, had her sit open up and swallow Fred Lambert who helped in on all of his meether. Very sheepishly, ings and conferences she replied, “I’m sorry her through it. But in the to take dictation, and you feel like that, Mr. end, she got the job. continued to challenge Lambert, but I don’t her until his death ten understand; I was years later. Just prior to very truthful on the learning that Fred had terminal cancer, application.” He looked at her again and Connie made the decision to leave her said, “There is no way that you weigh job because there seemed to be little 160 pounds!” Immediately, he told her to potential for advancement. Little did she take a letter and began to dictate in the know that change was coming. same manner he spoke. He talked about some “bastard files” shipped to him that were deemed unsatisfactory, and he Opportunity Knocks on the closed with the words, “That’s a helluva Glass Ceiling way to treat a good customer.” Connie was so stunned by the language that she The utility was in the early phases of couldn’t type, and it was Fred Lambert building a new generating station next who helped her through it. But in the to its older units just as a new generation end, she got the job. of management began to give more proAlthough it was only $2.50 an hour, motional consideration to well-qualified the salary was more than double what women. Retirements and passings had COAL TRANSPORTER | 67
generating station. Six months later, the positions all along the chain of left a large experience gap in the purchasGM offered her a huge promotion, a command. ing area at a critical time. The utility position managing all purchasing and had given temporary responsibility to a inventory control for Muscatine. What young buyer for the day-to-day procureHard Work Rewarded a great opportunity for a small town girl, ments, but the new General Manager By 1990, Muscatine’s fuel costs were self taught with no degree, raising three recognized that he had a large probsoaring due to long term contracts guarchildren as a single mother. She spent lem. He was more open-minded about anteeing coal and transportation that had the next 30 years doing a job that she women in the workplace and Connie’s been required by the bonding agencies at loved and feeling very blessed for all the reputation with her previous co-workers the time the new plant was built. In an challenges along the way. and the other managers at the utility all too familiar story in the industry, the convinced him to call coal supply agreement her back even though she had been negotiated by Of course the seventies and eighties still had mountains a consulting firm and had been gone nearly a year. signed by employees who to climb for women in business relative to salaries and were She was initially ofno longer with the fered a position to work utility. It was handed to opportunities for advancement but she just looked at at the new generation Connie to administer as a station construction site; them as more challenges and forged the way for those part of her new responsisetting up site secubilities and it immediatewho were given opportunities after her. rity, buying construction ly became apparent to her trailers, setting up and and utility management furnishing a first aid trailer, and everyOf course the seventies and eighties that something needed to be done. thing that the project manager needed still had mountains to climb for women So began a long process of buyto begin construction. She also helped in business relative to salaries and oping out contracts, constructing a rail review construction documents with the portunities for advancement but she just unloading facility, and making a major project team and the consultants hired looked at them as more challenges and fuel switch from Illinois Basin to Powto design the plant. She enjoyed this job forged the way for those who were given der River Basin coal under new coal and it gave her first-hand experience opportunities after her. It is a different and railroad agreements. Modifications were made to the plants, the unloading with building and operating a coal-fired utility today with women in high level
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facility was built in record time, and the utility realized a 60% reduction in its fuel costs. In spite of the years of hard work and expense, it was the right decision and the utility never looked back.
Friendly Faces, Far-Off Places
Connie served as Muscatine Power and Water’s representative to NCTA beginning in 1992. Attending NCTA conferences was a highlight of her travel. Networking with industry professionals and the up-to-date topics on every agenda made these trips a priority, even considering the minimal travel budgets at a small utility. Over the years she has gained insight into the industry’s challenges and met a number of very good friends with whom she remains in contact, even after retirement. She was voted an Honorable Member at the Spring Conference in 2010 and continues to attend sessions whenever possible.
Combining her love of Elvis with her love of themed parties!
Energy Transportation Advisory Council) was developed shortly thereafter and it continues to include many NCTA members. In 2008, her term was over and she was honored by the Council and proudly displays letters, a wood plaque and acrylic tribute to her RSTAC service in her home office. Connie retired from Muscatine Power & Water in 2009, after 40 years of service. She continues to stay involved in the industry through consulting with Maxeefish and Coal Pulse USA, focusing on the coal export business, which she finds fascinating. Connie is also working with a Canadian company, Dongara, which produces fuel pellets made from residential garbage. With 10,000 BTU/lb, 0% sulfur and little moisture, the pellets can be blended with coal to reduce emissions. Although consulting opportunities in the coal industry have declined over the past years, she still enjoys the challenge of searching for ways to stay involved.
A Thede Original Interior
Can you say pink party animal?
In 2001, Connie received an unexpected honor that Friends and Family would change her life. She was appointed by Linda Morgan, Family has always been extremely important to Connie. She Chairwoman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), to will tell you she has been blessed to have been married to her soul mate, Jim, for over 27 years. She knew the first time she serve in Washington, D.C. as a member of the Rail Shipper’s saw him that she would marry him even though she didn’t Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC), a group estabeven know his name. They have five lished by Congress to advise the STB. children between them, ten grandchilThe Council consisted of executives of She loves people and considers dren, and two great grandchildren. She large and small railroads and shiphas always been considered the family pers across the US. They met at the herself a real “party animal”. She “rock” since she is constantly there to STB quarterly to discuss challenges and issues facing the industry and to has held many theme party events support them in many different ways. Holidays are normally celebrated at provide their opinions and input on Connie’s home and include numbers resolving these matters as professionals, throughout the years and enjoys 35-50 family members and close not merely as company representatives. planning parties and watching all from friends. Connie was the only party representing She loves people and considers coal shippers. Connie was reappointed her guests have a good time. herself a real “party animal”. She has for a second term by Roger Nober, the held many theme party events throughnew Chairman of the STB. During out the years and enjoys planning parties and watching all her her RSTAC tenure, she was appointed as an Officer of the guests have a good time. She has been told she should become Council serving as Secretary, Treasurer and two years as the a party planner in her retirement but she quickly responds that Chair. Connie always liked to share her work on RSTAC with “she doesn’t want to work that hard anymore.” the members of NCTA. In 2007, Connie and then Chairman Connie’s family history is haunted by the specter of breast Nottingham discussed a recommendation that the STB should cancer. Her mother was first affected at age 33, then again form an advisory group with a focus on energy. RETAC (Rail 70 | COAL TRANSPORTER
at 45, only to succumb to the disease at age 48. Her younger sister also passed away from breast cancer at the young age of 43. In addition, she lost three aunts over the years to cancer, and in 2006, her twenty year old granddaughter began a battle with ovarian cancer. She is now a five year survivor. In 2007, Connie herself fell prey to this “monster who has always been lurking in the closet,” as she refers to it, but her determination to fight was as strong as ever. She underwent surgeries and chemotherapy; however, that “monster” was not completely gone. In 2008 while preparing for reconstruction surgery, her surgeon discovered a large freckle on her shoulder. He did a biopsy and discovered it was in fact a large melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. After a horrible surgery involving tissue removal and skin grafts, she was once again on the road to recovery, and remains cancer free to this day. During the years when she struggled to support her three
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Connie with John Felty at the NCTA Golf event at the Broadmoor in 2011 children Connie took on an interesting new business. Working with her brother and using sewing skills she was taught by her grandmother, a professional slip cover maker, she purchased an industrial sewing machine and taught herself how to do custom interiors and upholstery for show trucks and custom vans. Her meticulous work was rewarded with many repeat customers and by her brother’s vehicles many first place showings. Her brother was her hardest customer. Everything had to be perfect on his vehicles – he counted stitches per inch and if it wasn’t exact, Connie had to redo it. In one case she did 6 sets of sun-visors before getting a perfect set. One of his trucks had an interior with over 3,000 covered buttons. She did three complete interiors for him (free gratis of course) and his vehicles always won first place at the car shows he entered. Although a fun diversion, she did all this work late at night after a long day at the utility, after the kids were fed and put to bed and on weekends. After a few years she decided to give it up and sold her machine before her brother or another one of her satisfied customers wanted to change their interior yet again. She also fed her creative side with an avid interest in crafting. Again she bought numerous books and videos and taught herself flower arranging, wreath making, jewelry making, T-shirts and sweatshirt design, gift basket creation, and every other conceivable craft – even one step painting. She has a COAL TRANSPORTER | 71
large craft room in her lower level filled with enough supplies to open a craft store. She is now passing along many of those creative projects to her daughters and grandchildren.
Fun and Games
Connie loves to play golf although she doesn’t think she’s very good at it, joking that it makes sense with her background that she go to a golf course and get the most swings for her money. Nonetheless, what she enjoys most about golf is the outdoors and the people she gets to play with, especially at the NCTA events. Connie also readily admits that she loves to gamble. She and her husband, Jim, love to go to the local casino and sit for hours playing video poker to relieve stress. Although rarely a profitable pastime, it keeps them entertained. When they travel, they prefer to drive so they can plan their route around casinos in the areas to try to hit as many along the way as they can. Finally, Connie loves music and
Connie Thede dancing. She and her brother won every dance contest they entered in high school, practicing all of the 50’s and 60’s dances every night until they were totally in sync. Dancing is still a passion so she never misses an opportunity, although it is sometimes a struggle to get
Jim on the dance floor with her. One challenge that is on her bucket list is to learn to play the guitar. She bought a guitar two years ago, has the books and videos, but has yet to learn to play a song. Seems like there just is no time now that she is retired to teach herself yet, but she is still determined to master this feat. She is a huge Elvis fan and believes that she has been guided through her life by his version of the song, “My Way”. The conventional way of living has never really appealed to Connie. Her education, her career, her faith, her family, and her struggle for life have always been handled “her way”. It has been a life of just about every challenge imaginable, but each step made her stronger and more determined to succeed. Her friends, family and colleagues have told her for years no one would believe all of the things that she’s encountered – “You should write a book,” they say. Perhaps that, too, should be added to her bucket list. s
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The humo sometime rous s serio , sometim us r es of be amblings st Pete friends and A nn.
The View from the Caboose
THE VIEW FROM THE CABOOSE By Pete Moss & Ann Thrawsite Ann: Good afternoon Mr. Moss. How are you doing today? Pete: Er, fine. Why so formal, Ms. Thrawsite? Ann: Well I’m just trying to preserve the feeling that I had when I attended the NCTA Spring Conference at the Greenbrier. It was so civilized. I was spoiled by the elegant surroundings, afternoon tea, and the beautiful grounds. It was like living in the White House, but without all the political pandering. Pete: You know I’m a little more laid back than the average Greenbrier guest, but those little raspberry squares they served at tea time would make anyone happy to stick their pinkie out. I’d like you to know I was on my very best behavior. Ann: Wonders do never cease. Pete: Besides I wanted to go to the Eastern Logistics and Planning Meeting in N’awlins and didn’t want to burn any bridges. Now that’s my kind of town. Ann: You did seem right at home there. Pete: Well, no one there really cares if you get a little powdered sugar from those tasty beignets on your fingers. Ann: or on your nose, your hat, your shoes, your knees ….. Pete: I was happy to see that things looked to be in good shape down there with the possible exception of their public transportation system. They really need some logistical help with that.
Pete: No, I love those. They usually lead to a party. I’m talking about the trolley system they have. I tried to go down to the Garden District to do some sightseeing, but had to get off twice. The system had issues. They could really use some of that high speed rail money, or is it low speed rail transit money? Actually, it was a fun adventure. Ann: Oh, you mean the streetcar system like in the classic play by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar named Desire? Pete: Well, mine was the Streetcar named Dead Slow. Ann: What’s the problem, miss a shindig? Pete: I’m not in party mode 24/7, you know. I went to Associated Terminal’s Talley-Perez Crane Christening Ceremony on the waterfront and it was very moving. They have such a family atmosphere with their employees that it brought a tear to these old Irish eyes. Ann: Oh, Pete, you softy. I thought the next day was also very cool when we went up to tour AEP’s River Operations in Convent. St. James Stevedoring took us out on the Mississippi River and we saw a midstreaming operation in action. Pete: Heh, heh, I was pleasantly surprised there weren’t any nuns up there. I was sure worried you’d rat me out to them. Of course, there were some “nun” buoys! Ann: Tsk. I take back everything nice I just said about your behavior. s
Ann: Are you talking about all those spontaneous parades? I wouldn’t call them public transportation.
Have something to say to Pete? Send comments or questions to pete@nationalcoaltransportation.org 74 | COAL TRANSPORTER
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NCTA Membership List A. Stucki Company AKJ Industries Alliance Coal, LLC Alliant Energy Alltranstek LLC Alpha Coal Sales Co., LLC Alpha Products, Inc. Ameren Energy Fuels & Services American Electric Power American Railcar Industries, Inc Amsted Rail Appalachian Railcar Services Arch Coal Sales, Inc. Arizona Electric Power Coop. Arizona Public Service Arkansas Electric Cooperative Associated Electric Power Coop. Associated Terminals LLC Basin Electric Power Cooperative Benetech, Incorporated Bosch Rexroth Corp., Pneumatics CANAC, Inc. CDG Engineers, Architects, Planners CIT Rail City Utilities of Springfield Cleco Cloud Peak Energy Colorado Springs Utilities CONSOL Energy Inc. Consumers Energy Company Cooper T. Smith CPS Energy Crown Products Dairyland Power Cooperative David J. Joseph Co. Dayton Power & Light Company Detroit Edison Drummond Coal Sales Inc. Duke Energy
Dynegy, Inc. Ecofab Australasia Ellcon-National, Inc. The Empire District Electric Co. Energy Publishing, LLC Enserco Energy Entergy Services, Inc. Exelon Power Team Exponent, Inc. First Union Rail FirstEnergy Flagship Rail Services, LLC Florida Power & Light Company FreightCar America GATX GE Rail Global Coal Sales Global One Transport, Inc. Grand River Dam Authority Great River Energy The Greenbrier Companies Hall Street Coal Terminal Helm Financial Corp. Hendricks River Logistics Heyl & Patterson Idaho Power Company iIRX Jim Walter Resources, Inc. Kansas City Power & Light KCBX Terminals Co. Kiewit Mining Group Inc. Kinder Morgan Terminals Lexair, Inc. Locomotive Service, Inc. Lower Colorado River Authority Luminant Energy Macquarie Rail Inc. Martin Engineering Maxeefish LLC
MEAG Power Metro East Industries, Inc. MidAmerican Energy Company Midland Railway Supply Midwest Generation Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc Miner Enterprises Inc. Minnesota Power Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC Momar Inc. Muscatine Power and Water Nalco Company Nebraska Public Power District New York Air Brake Newmont Mining Corp Northern Indiana Public Svc Norwest Corporation NRG Energy, Inc. NV Energy OG&E Electric Services Oglethorpe Power Corp. Omaha Public Power District Ontario Power Generation Otter Tail Power Company PacifiCorp Patriot Coal Corporation Peabody Energy Pincock Allen & Holt Platte River Power Authority Portland General Electric PPL EnergyPlus, LLC Precision Roller Bearing Co. Progress Rail Services, Corp Rail Link Railroad Financial Corporation RAS Data Services RESIDCO Rhino Energy LLC Salt River Project
Seminole Electric Cooperative Southern Company Generation St. James Stevedoring Partners Standard Steel Strategic Rail Systems Strato, Inc. T Parker Host Taggart Global, LLC Tampa Electric Company Teck Coal Limited Tennessee Valley Authority Texas Municipal Power Agency The Timken Company Three Rivers Marine & Rail Terminals Transportation Services Inc. Trinity Rail Triple Point Technology Tri-State G&T Association TUCO/NexGen Coal Services Tucson Electric Power Company United Rail Car Covers, LLC UtahAmerican Energy, Inc Wabtec Corporation We Energies Westar Energy Western Farmers Electric Western Fuels Association, Inc. Westmoreland Coal Sales WestRail Wisconsin Public Service Wood Mackenzie Xcel Energy Xcoal Energy & Resources Zinkan Enterprises, Inc.
Index to Advertisers A. Stucki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 AEP/ Cook Coal Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Alpha Coal Sales Co, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Alpha Products Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Amsted Rail Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Appalachian Railcar Services, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . 45 Arch Coal, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Associated Terminals, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Bosch Rexroth Corp., Pneumatics. . . . . . . . . . . 18 CANAC Railway Services Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Cloud Peak Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CN Rail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17 Cooper/T. Smith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Crown Products and Services, LLC. . . . . . . . . . 13 Electric Power/PRB Coal User’s Group. . . . . . . . . 5 76 | COAL TRANSPORTER
FreightCar America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Fuel Tech, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 GATX Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 GKG Law, P.C.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 The Greenbrier Companies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Helm Financial Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Ingram Barge Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Jim Walter Resources, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Lexair, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Macquarie Rail, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Maxeefish LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Midwest Industrial Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MinTech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OBC New York Air Brake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC NexGen Coal Services, Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Peabody Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Phoenix Bearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Progress Rail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Rail Link Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Railroad Friction Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The Railway Educational Bureau. . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Slover & Loftus LLP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 St. James Stevedoring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Suckerpunch Creative Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 T. Parker Host, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Taggart Global, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Three Rivers Marine & Rail Terminals, LP. . . . . . 71 United Rail Car Covers, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 West Rail Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Western Fuels Association Inc.. . . . . . . . . . 38-39
On the off chance you missed Appendix B of the BNSF Coal Rules and Regulations Freight Tariff document 6041-B, revision 20.
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