Last Update: December 1, 2005

---

Single & Unit Train Requests

1. All General Tariff Single & Unit Grain Car Requests will be submitted to BNSF via online submission.

Lottery On-Line Forms
Fill out the on-line form and submit it to us. Your lottery results will be emailed back to you using the email address you supplied.
On-line Tariff Singles (1-15cars)
On-line Tariff Units (26,27,52,53)

2. All General Tariff Single & Unit Grain Car Requests will be submitted during a 3-day lottery request window. There will be three (3) lottery request windows provided each month. Only orders submitted during this time will be allowed in the tariff lottery. BNSF will announce the want dates and number of tariff cars made available, one week prior to each lottery period through ACRES ON THE WEB.
The want dates available for tariff cars will be divided into three (3) 10-day periods.

Period 1 - 1st through 10th
Period 2 - 11th through 20th
Period 3 - 21st through the end of the month

3. During each lottery week, on-line requests will be accepted, continuously, 12:01 a.m. Monday, through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday (72 hours). No verbal telephone orders will be accepted. Please see the General Tariff Single & Unit Grain Car Request form for specific dates.

4. Anyone that has been awarded a General Tariff Single & Unit Grain Train will be contacted by BNSF, via fax with confirmation number, by no later than Wednesday of the next week. As an example, requests will be accepted by on-line submission Monday, April 5 to Thursday, April 8 for want date placements of May 1 - May 10. Elevators whose requests were selected will be advised, at the latest, by Wednesday, April 14.

5. The want date will be confirmed between BNSF and the shipper when BNSF faxes the customer back to confirm that the customer's request has been awarded. Other than the 10-day period offered, no specific want date will be accepted with the online request.

6. The Tariff Lottery program was instituted in order to supply cars to small unit and single car shippers that could not necessarily access BNSF SWAP and/or COT programs. To ensure that such shippers have an opportunity to obtain access to cars, unit requests will only be accepted for bona fide BNSF served unit train stations as defined by Item 12230, BNSF Tariff 4022 series. Unit train loading facilities must have a minimum 26-car track loading capacity and a maximum 54-car loading capacity. Item 12230 requires a facility loading a unit train to do so with an initial spot of cars. The number of cars on a single car order request will be restricted to the track capacity of elevator at which cars are to be placed but in no case (a) more than 15 cars for any non-unit train facility or (b) more than 54 cars for a unit train loading facility. Each facility may place one unit or single car request per lottery period. Single car tariff's cannot be combined to ship as a unit.

7. Each bona fide elevator will be eligible for one unit train or single car order until all elevators have been awarded one unit train or single car order through the random selection process. Companies with multiple facilities will be permitted to submit one request for each facility. Requests can be submitted from a single central location or from the actual loading facility itself.

8. Online requests will have a computer generated random number assigned to them after all validation and the removal of any duplicates. A random number generator will be used to ensure fairness. The assignment of a random number will eliminate the need to be the "first in line." Request are prioritized and awarded according to the random number assigned. All orders not awarded in a period will remain prioritized and awarded accordingly in future periods, as long as an order is resubmitted in each subsequent Lottery.

9. Each elevator can submit a new online request each new period; however, once the elevator has been awarded a request, it will not be awarded another unit or single car order until all participating origin facilities have been offered one. If an elevator wants to be considered each period, it must submit or resubmit a new online submission each period.

10. General Tariff Unit Grain Train Requests will be allowed to transfer from one loading facility to another once accepted in accordance with Item 12163, BNSF 4022.

11. When a loading facility is advised that it has been awarded a car request, it will have the right of refusal. That is, the elevator can decline to accept the car request without penalty at the time it is notified. However, once the request has been accepted, it will be subject to the $100 per car cancellation penalty (Item 12163 BNSF tariff 4022 series) if the request is canceled before the placement period ends. A general tariff car order may be cancelled without penalty if order remains unfilled after the placement period. If cars have been assigned and are enroute, the car order may not be cancelled. For further cancellation rules, please refer to Item 12163 BNSF tariff 4022 series.

12. Tariff Lottery car placements are subject to available capacity and may vary due to conditions beyond BNSF's control.

13. At a customers request BNSF will provide priority position and estimated fill date.

General - Applies to both Single and Unit General Tariff Car Requests

1. When a shipper has several unfilled grain car requests and car supply becomes adequate, BNSF will protect request spacing up to a maximum of 7 days.

2. Locations making covered hopper cars empty may reload such cars provided they are for BNSF line haul movement and the reloader has placed an equipment request prior to reloading the car. After the equipment request is received and prior to reloading a car, the BNSF Agricultural Products Operations Group will determine if General Tariff requests may be used to fulfill the reload order. The equipment request must designate that the order will be filled from cars making empty at that facility. Requests for General Tariff reloads may be restricted by available capacity.

BNSF shippers reloading foreign owned or leased covered hoppers (non-BNSF furnished) without the authorization of the car owner are in direct violation of CSD 435. BNSF will refuse to accept loaded billing on any foreign covered hoppers reloaded without authorization and will return cars to shipper for unloading.

3. Covered hopper car requests for loading processed grain products at the processing facility for BNSF line haul movement must be requested in advance. Requests for processed grain products will not be restricted by available capacity, but will be subject to the equipment request cancellation penalty.

4. BNSF may reject equipment requests at loading locations which, in BNSF's judgment, will not be capable of accepting cars due to existing equipment requests or service capacity conditions either at the immediate location or the involved service corridors.

5. Car Service Rule 15 requires the following information for all equipment requests:

   1. Date and time
   2. Name of Party
   3. Name of person receiving request
   4. Kind and size of cars wanted
   5. Number of cars wanted
   6. Date wanted
   7. Commodity to be loaded
   8. Destination and route

6. Uniform Freight Classification Tariff 6000 Series - Railroad Rules & Regulations ("UFC"), Rule 4, Freight Liable to Damage Other Freight or Equipment, states "Carriers are not obligated to receive freight liable to impregnate or otherwise damage equipment or other freight. Such freight may be accepted and receipted for 'Subject to delay for suitable equipment,' or may, for lack of suitable equipment, be refused."

7. UFC, Rule 27, Loading and Unloading, Section 3, states, in part "Shippers must comply with carriers' rules regulating safe loading of freight and protection of equipment ... Weight of lading must be approximately the same on each side of the car ... The weight of load on one truck must not exceed approximately one-half of the load limit weight stenciled on car ... Section 5. - To complete unloading, consignee must remove all lading ... and any other non-railroad owned material that was part of the inbound shipment and secure interior equipment ... Consignee is required to ... close all top hatches and bottom outlets and exterior doors."

8. Equipment request information for individual shippers is confidential and will not be disclosed.

9. Equipment requests for single car shipments need to be provided reasonably in advance of the want date for all single car and processed grain traffic. During periods of heavy demand, BNSF reserves the right to insist that the car request be received at least seven days in advance and not more than 30 days in advance in compliance with Item 12165, BNSF 4022.

10.BNSF will only accept equipment requests for a unit train or less than unit train from the actual loading elevator or its designee.

11. BNSF reserves the right to change these policies and procedures from time to time as business conditions warrant. Reasonable public notice of future changes will be provided.