Supplying Team Spirit

The next time your favorite sports team wins the championship, it’s possible BNSF was critical in getting the team’s merchandise to its fans’ doorstep. BNSF transports all sorts of products in our rail cars: from agricultural products to vehicles to massive orders of sports apparel.

BNSF works with companies like SanMar, one of the nation’s leading suppliers of apparel in wholesale distribution. SanMar makes t-shirts, polos, ball caps, bags—their wholesale gear is then purchased by promotional companies and decorators that add a team logo to the product.

SanMar often receives large orders with a short turnaround, such as an order for 25,000 shirts for a professional sports game that takes place in a week. They rely on transportation partners like BNSF to efficiently move shipments to and from their eight distribution centers using intermodal shipping containers and trailers. From the distribution centers, truckers with smaller capacity then move the product to its destination. Moving this type of cargo, called consumer products, made up more than half of BNSF’s volumes last year, totaling 5.6 million loads. Learn more at our Rail Talk article.

BNSF & American Agricultural Heritage

BNSF’s investment in the American farming industry goes back to its humble beginnings. American railroads and agriculture survived and flourished because of each other. The railroads have been there to help farmers move their products from the days of the horse-pull to the iron plow and reaper to the modern day combine harvester.

The evolution of American agriculture has seen the United States food supply chain become the most productive in the world. Together with the agriculture industry, BNSF has found ways to get farmers’ products to dinner tables across the world.

BNSF’s growth is linked to agricultural growth, so BNSF continues to evolve to meet farmers’ needs and invests billions of dollars every year to increase our capacity and maintain our infrastructure. All parts of the supply chain—producer, grain operator, railroad, exporter and receiver—rely on each other to get the products to market as efficiently as possible. Watch our YouTube video for more information.

Public Projects Manual: Transparency and Collaboration

BNSF strives to provide the highest quality transportation services that exceed our customers’ expectations. Therefore, a positive and productive working relationship with each of you, our communities, businesses, and agencies are crucial to our success as a company, and to be a good corporate citizen.

BNSF has a public projects manual that is a helpful resource for communities, public agencies and companies who want to work with BNSF. This “how to” guide provides a common starting point as we engage collectively to help our partners deliver their projects. BNSF’s Public Project managers—organized by state—are also available to assist and provide guidance on how to work alongside BNSF. View the public projects manual here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Supporting our Communities

The BNSF Railway Foundation invests in the communities across the 28 states through which BNSF operates, and where BNSF employees live, work and volunteer. Recent donations include:

Providing Symphonic Experience for Low-Income Youth
Symphony Tacoma’s Simply Symphonic program is an educational resource providing Tacoma-area youth a vivid introduction to live symphonic music. Thanks to a $2,000 donation from the BNSF Railway Foundation, Symphony Tacoma was able to waive the $3 fee for fifth-grade students from three underserved elementary schools in the area. The donation allowed for students from low to moderate income backgrounds to experience symphonic music.
 
Funding Emergency Care
EvergreenHealth Monroe’s mission is to provide the highest quality healthcare to their community. As patient volumes have increased, the hospital has needed a second fully-equipped trauma room to fulfill their mission. To help the hospital care for patients in critical situations, the BNSF Railway Foundation donated $10,000 to help pay for all necessary diagnostic and interventional medical equipment needed for a second trauma room.

Helping At-Risk Families Keep Their Homes
The BNSF Railway Foundation recently donated $3,500 to Impact NW’s Homelessness Prevention Services, which provides stability and support for families and individuals at risk of homelessness in the Portland area. With the funds donated by the BNSF Railway Foundation, Impact NW was able to help three families keep their homes.

 
Supporting Volunteer Fire Departments
BNSF cares about the safety of the communities we live and work in. The BNSF Railway Foundation recently donated funds to the Odessa Fire Department in Lincoln County, WA to purchase a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV), which helps battle fires in previously inaccessible areas.

 

Emergencies – Call 800-832-5452

To report a vehicle stalled on a crossing, suspicious circumstances, malfunctioning crossing gates and lights, or any other emergency, call 800-832-5452 immediately.