Union Pacific thefts another problem for already beleaguered supply chain – Orange County Register
The train that derailed in downtown Los Angeles this weekend and Union Pacific’s disclosure that it’s been beset by thieves for about a year revealed yet more challenges for a beleagured supply chain that has struggled since mid-2020 to cope with a surge in cargo brought on by increased online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic.
Answers to how directly the thefts are tied to the supply chain bottleneck and other questions remained elusive on Monday, Jan. 17.
But what is known is that such thefts began proliferating about the same time the supply chain started to cripple, are consistent with the spike in property crimes the Southland saw last year — as folks fell into financial distress during the coronavirus pandemic — highlight yet another way the complex chain that exists between costumers ordering goods online and those items arriving at their doors is vulnerable to breaking down.
It’s another blow to a supply chain that has dealt with ships waiting for days off the California coast before they can dock, a shortage of chassis for trucks, overflowing warehouses and longshore workers who, at times, have had nowhere to put containers at crowded terminals.
“This increased criminal activity over the past twelve months accounts for approximately $5 million in claims, losses and damages to UP,” Adrian Guerrero, Union Pacific’s general director for public affairs for California and the Pacific Northwest, wrote in a letter to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon last month.
“And that value does not include respective losses to our impacted customers,” Guerrero added. “Nor does it capture the larger operating or commercial impacts to the UP network or supply chain system in Los Angeles County.”
Railroads are among the latter players in the supply chain — and one of its most important.
About 35% of Port of Los Angeles containers travel via rail.
The near-dock Intermodal Transfer Container Facility, which Union Pacific operates, handles hundreds of thousands of containers annually for the ports of LA and Long Beach. Union Pacific also operates three off-dock mainline rail yards, according to the Port of Los Angeles, with two others run by BNSF.
And at the Port of Long Beach, 28% of all cargo leaves via on-dock rail, with plans to increase that to 35% once the $1 billion Pier B Rail Yard is finished in 2032.
Moving cargo via rail also tends to be far more efficient than doing via trucks. Underscoring that was the rules the twin ports, the two busiest in the nation, created when announcing a fee on aging import containers at the end of October.
That fee, which has not yet gone into effect, would be charged to ocean carriers for every container that stayed too long at terminals. For those leaving via truck, the threshold was nine days — but for containers leaving on trains, it was six days.
But that doesn’t mean railroads have avoided the hiccups that have plagued the rest of the supply chain.
At its peak last year, rail dwell time hit a high of 13.5 days, on average, though that number has consistently dropped since then.
It’s also unclear whether the delays in moving cargo created an opportunity for people to steal from the trains.
A spokeswoman for Union Pacific did not answer questions about how the increase in thefts relates, if at all, to the supply chain issues. She also did not answer questions how the supply chain, in general, has affected the railroad and whether company officials were concerned about their ability to protect cargo moving forward — as plans are in the works for the ports to increase containers leaving via train.
But last year, rail thefts increase by 160%, Guerrero said in an update posted on Union Pacific’s website Sunday.
Guerrero, who didn’t return a request for comment, also wrote thefts shot up even more during the peak holiday season — increasing 356% in October 2021 compared to the same month last year.
And more than 90 packages are “compromised” per day, Guerrero wrote in his Dec. 20 letter to Gascon.
Gascon’s office did not return a request for comment.
“Thefts over the past two weeks left Union Pacific rail property littered with debris,” Guerrero wrote in his Sunday update.
It is not yet known whether the detritus was related to the train derailment.
When asked for an update, Robynn Tysver, spokeswoman for Union Pacific, said the investigation is ongoing. She did say, however, that as the cleanup effort progresses, any items that can be identified will be returned to customers while others will be donated if they can be salvaged.
Guerrero and law enforcement officials have said they’ve been working to stop the rash of thefts.
Union Pacific, which has 1,600 employees covering 275 miles of track in Los Angeles County, has sworn officers called special agents who can make arrests. Union Pacific has increased their ranks and the frequency of patrols, Guerrero said in his update.
But when asked how many special agents Union Pacific has and by how much the law enforcement group has increased by, Tysver said the company doesn’t disclose that information.
But the railroad’s investigators have also been working with other law enforcement agencies and, with their help, have made hundreds of arrests, Guerrero said.
“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department major crimes bureau detectives in conjunction with Union Pacific Railroad Police have been investigating and attempting to deter theft at the commerce railyard in the City of Commerce,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a Monday statement. “Detectives from both agencies have been participating in meetings with LAPD Hollenbeck station and their captain to better understand the problem and work together in reducing theft.”
Why thieves have apparently singled out trains remains unknown.
But an official with LAPD’s harbor station said Monday that theft from trucks hasn’t been an issue. BNSF, another major rail company, did not return a request for comment about whether it has also seen an increase in theft.
Guerrero, however, seemed to place the blame for the issue continuing on Gascon’s diversion policies — and made a threat that will likely make the ports nervous.
The ports couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, because of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“Criminals are caught and arrested, turned over to local authorities for booking, arraigned before the local courts, charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense, and the criminal is released after paying a nominal fine,” Guerrero wrote to Gascon. “These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Criminals boast to our officers that charges will be pled down to simple trespassing – which bears no serious consequence,” he added. “Without any judicial deterrence or consequence, it is no surprise that over the past year UP has witnessed the significant increase in criminal rail theft described above.”
In a recent statement, the DA’s office said it takes the security of the rail yards seriously.
“Our office is committed to working with law enforcement to ensure collective safety across Los Angeles County’s sprawling infrastructure, whether it’s at our ports or on railroad tracks,” the DA said. “Our office takes Union Pacific’s concerns seriously and hopes to discuss this issue more in the coming weeks.”
But Guerrero also said FedEx, UPS and other Union Pacific partners are considering moving operations away from Los Angeles County.
And Union Pacific, he added, may do the same — unless the DA’s office reconsiders his diversion policies.
“Like our customers, UP is now contemplating serious changes to our operating plans to avoid Los Angeles County,” he wrote to Gascon. “We do not take this effort lightly, particularly during the supply chain crisis, as this drastic change to our operations will create significant impacts and strains throughout the local, state, and national supply chain systems.”
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/17/union-pacific-thefts-another-problem-for-already-beleaguered-supply-chain/ Union Pacific thefts another problem for already beleaguered supply chain – Orange County Register
