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Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Norfolk Southern Corp., North America’s largest rail carrier of metals and car products, declared force majeure across eight states after a storm brought snow, ice and high winds.
The force majeure, a legal clause allowing producers to miss shipments, started at 6 a.m. on Feb. 6 and customers should expect delays of at least 48 hours, the company said in a note on its Web site.
“Traffic moving through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and the Carolinas is being impacted,” the company said. “Norfolk Southern is invoking force majeure for traffic moving through these areas.”
Norfolk Southern operates about 21,000 route miles in 22 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. It serves 134 coal- loading facilities, 101 power plants and 80 paper mills, according to the company’s Web site. Transportation of coal, coke and iron ore is its main revenue source, accounting for 29 percent of the total in 2008.
CSX Corp., the third-largest U.S. railroad, said its coal customers should expect loading delays and longer transit times due to the weather, which has affected power supplies and caused trees to fall across tracks. The company commented in a statement on its Web site.
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