How the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway Works with Class I Carriers
Second only to safety, providing exceptional, value-added customer service is the highest priority of Patriot Rail & Ports. We live for opportunities to simplify our customers’ experience with shipping. Our knowledge interchanging with every Class I Carrier in the country provides us with a unique insight into how cargo moves.
Our Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (BAP) railway in Montana interchanges with two Class I Carriers, the Union Pacific (UP) in Silver Bow and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) in Silver Bow and Butte. Patriot’s connection to these Class I Carriers allows us to move both cars and goods for our customers to and from any destination.
Maintaining Relationships with Customers
Some of our customers may not realize that we don’t carry their cars or freight across its entire journey. However, if they have a delay or any other issue, we do our best to be great business partners and get their answers. As we find those answers, we educate our customers on how the shipping process works from start to finish.
Even though the BAP has no control over a customer’s cars and freight once they are interchanged with a Class I Carrier, we can still leverage our relationships, or apply pressure when necessary, to keep our customers’ shipment moving. If our Patriot team can share our knowledge or recommend something like routing the train through a different city to save time, we are happy to do it.
As BAP Operations Manager Matt Mavrinac says, “We have good relations with our customers. If they run into a problem, they can call me, and we’ll hash everything out. If I can’t answer their questions, I know the right person to direct them to who can.” Matt is sure he will get his customers to the right contact because he has made a concerted effort to build strong partnerships with the Class I Carriers he works with every day.
“We have good working relationships with the Class I Carriers here,” he continues, “both the BNSF and UP have local management that is easy to work with. They know we are always just trying to do what is best for our customers, and they respect that and help us out as best they can.”
Simplifying the Rail Experience
As a premier short line railroad operator, we appreciate our relationships with Class I Carriers and the role we play in simplifying our customers’ rail experience.
Many of our operations managers came from Class I Carriers, so they know the pain points customers face and personally know many people that work for them. These relationships enable Patriot to add value again because we can address issues more efficiently than most of our customers would do on their own.
In the end, that’s what Patriot Rail & Ports is all about. Creating value for our customers as we solve their problems in innovative ways. Interfacing with Class I Carriers on the client’s behalf is one of the many ways we execute our mission.