Rail conglomerate Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.(BNSF) has reported its third-quarter 2001 per share-earnings have dipped to $0.58, compared with earnings of $0.64 per share in the same period last year. A decline in rail traffic has also forced BNSF to cut 400 positions from its non-union workforce, said the railroad.
BNSF said its freight revenues for the third quarter of 2001 were $2.31 billion, about the same as last year. The rail giant did say that revenue from consumer-products freight increased $22 million, or 3%, to $888 million. That performance reflected double-digit growth in truckload business, offset by decreases in domestic intermodal shipments resulting from the current economic slowdown.
The railroad also reported higher operating expenses in the third quarter of 2001 --$1.84 billion, some $69 million more than last year – due to higher wage and benefit costs and steeper fuel prices. That pushed the railroad’s operating income down to $502 million for the quarter, from the $571 million it posted in the same period last year.
