As of December 31, 2014, our operations served more than 2,000 customers.
Two of our 10 largest customers were located in Australia, one of which was
in our metallic ores (iron ore) commodity segment and the other of which was
in our agricultural products commodity segment.
In North America, we typically handle freight pursuant to transportation contracts
between us, our connecting carriers and the customer. These contracts are in
accordance with industry norms and vary in duration, with terms generally ranging
from less than one year to 10 years. These contracts establish a price or, in
the case of longer term contracts, a methodology for determining a price, but
do not typically obligate the customer to move any particular volume. Generally,
our freight rates and volumes are not directly linked to the prices of the commodities
being shipped. In Australia, we generally handle freight pursuant to transportation
contracts directly with our customers. These contracts generally contain a combination
of fixed and variable pricing, with the fixed portion based upon our invested
capital and the variable portion based on the volumes shipped.
The agricultural products commodity group consists primarily of wheat, barley,
corn and other grains, as well as soybean meal.
The chemicals and plastics commodity group consists primarily of sulfuric acid,
ethanol and other chemicals used in manufacturing, particularly in the paper
industry.
The metals commodity group consists primarily of finished steel products and
copper, as well as scrap metal and pig iron.
The metallic ores commodity group consists primarily of manganese ore, iron
ore, copper concentrate and ore, alumina and nickel ore.
The coal and coke commodity group consists primarily of shipments of coal to
power plants and industrial customers.
The minerals and stone commodity group consists primarily of cement, gypsum,
salt used in highway ice control, sand used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and
gas wells, roofing granules, clay and limestone.
The pulp and paper commodity group consists primarily of outbound shipments
of container board and finished papers and inbound shipments of wood pulp.
The intermodal commodity group consists of various commodities shipped in trailers
or containers on flat cars.
The lumber and forest products commodity group consists primarily of finished
lumber, wood pellets, export logs and wood chips used in paper manufacturing.
The petroleum products commodity group consists primarily of liquefied petroleum
gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, asphalt and diesel fuel.
The food and kindred products commodity group consists primarily of canned
fruits and vegetables and food oils.
The autos and auto parts commodity group consists primarily of finished automobiles
and stamped auto parts.
The waste commodity group consists primarily of municipal solid waste and construction
and demolition debris.
The other commodity group consists of all freight not included in the commodity
groups set forth above.
