News Release

BNSF Transportation Capacity Guarantee Program Extended to Metals Shippers

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 15, 2004:

The metals industry can now purchase guaranteed rail transportation capacity in the Loading Origin GuaranteeS (LOGS) program offered by The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF).

Metals shippers can lock in capacity for up to 26 weeks through an online auction. Information on LOGS is available at http://www.bnsf.com/vicc/LOGS/logs_faqs.html#What.

Metals customers can bid on 4-, 13-, and 26-week LOGS in auctions that take place every Monday. Equipment types currently included in this program are gondolas and bulkhead flat cars owned by or leased to BNSF.

LOGS is a guaranteed equipment placement program for rail transportation of commodities shipped in certain BNSF-controlled equipment types. LOGS is reciprocal: customers commit to BNSF to order and utilize BNSF equipment, and BNSF commits to the customer to fulfill that equipment order within specified time limits.

The LOGS program provides an alternative for customers who need guaranteed car supply and are able to plan advanced shipping needs. Portions of the BNSF car types offered in LOGS remain available through standard equipment ordering options. LOGS allows the market to determine how rail equipment capacity will be allocated.

"The overriding objective of LOGS is to give the customer a very high degree of comfort for car supply and want-date placement," says Denis Smith, BNSF’s vice president, Industrial Products Marketing. "LOGS enables customers to plan in advance, and also is used to help BNSF make fleet-sizing decisions."

The LOGS program was launched with forest products shippers four years ago in response to customer surveys that indicated customers were most concerned with equipment availability and equipment supply consistency. Forest products shippers are now purchasing capacity through LOGS for up to one year.

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,500 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at www.bnsf.com.

BNSF Headquarters
BNSF Railway Company
2650 Lou Menk Dr. 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 961057
Fort Worth, TX 76161-0057
Phone: (817) 352-1000