Warren Buffett, the 84-year-old billionaire, has criticized the BNSF Railway Company’s 2014 operating performance, calling the carrier’s record “not good”.
So why should BNSF officials care what Buffett has to say? He’s the owner.
Buffett’s company — Omaha, Nebraska, based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — includes the railroad among its many vast holdings.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Buffett blasted BNSF for its growing number of late shipments.
“The railroad disappointed many of its customers,” Buffet wrote.
For BNSF, 2014 was a terrible year. It began with a series of crippling winter storms that paralyzed the railroad’s operations for first weeks of the year. It also faced a paralyzed infrastructure connecting its northern routes with its Chicago yards, as well as a shortage of crews and equipment to deal with a surge in business, especially among its energy sector customers.
More than four dozen industry organizations, lawmakers and commodities firms lodged formal complaints against BNSF with the US Surface Transportation Board in 2014. Some even asked the agency to take action against the railroad.
All of this came in spite of BNSF spending $6 billion in capital expenditures last year, the largest investment ever in US railroad industry.
Buffett’s criticism of the railroad he owns is unusual, but in his letter he admitted that he has made investment mistakes in the past.
“Fortunately, my blunders normally involved relatively small acquisitions,” wore Buffett, whose personal fortune is estimated at $72.3 billion. “Our large buys have generally worked out well and, in a few cases, more than well.”