The two Virginia railroads that embarked two months ago on an ambitious journey to break up Conrail's freight monopoly are only now finding service levels approaching adequate levels. Computer coding errors and other setbacks have led to congestion and shipping delays since early June. Manufacturers unable to get raw materials or send out finished goods have incurred expenses that may be passed on to consumers. Neither railroad is willing to declare victory yet, particularly with pre-Christmas traffic expected to pose additional challenges this fall, but CSX Corp. of Richmond, Va., and Norfolk Southern Corp. of Norfolk, Va., believe the worst is behind them.
Shippers seem to agree.
The railroads have had to hire more crews, lease additional locomotives and run special trains for time-sensitive shipments. But despite all the preparations, CSX and Norfolk Southern quickly found the most complex restructuring in modern railroading to be even more complex than had been believed. Many rail shippers turned to more costly trucks to meet tight schedules, and some manufacturers curtailed production or paid workers overtime to process delayed shipments. Norfolk Southern, which suffered more of the congestion problems, put its service expansion plans on hold. If you can't service what you have, it's kind of ridiculous to try to ask for more and do new and different things.