Historic flooding that began on March 15 has wiped out miles of roads and bridges along the Missouri River, especially from eastern Nebraska to western Iowa. Omaha was the largest city to be hit. This part of the country isn’t a big player when it comes to freight movement by truck, but at least two major rail companies in the region now have several subdivisions that have been put out of commission by floodwaters. They’re doing the best they can to get things back on track.
BNSF Railway Company, owned by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK), is the largest freight railroad network in North America. Its rail network consists of 32,500 route miles running through 28 states – including several states that were flooded – as well as three Canadian provinces. In 2017, BNSF hauled 1.1 million carloads of agricultural commodities, and moved enough grain to supply 900 million people with a year’s supply of bread.
