Fueled by an upswing in freight volume, a shortage of truck drivers and better railroad technology, Burlington Northern Santa Fe has added well over 200 new employees in Montana this year, including 40 positions in Flathead County.

"The economy is strong and BNSF is taking steps to meet the growing needs of local, national and international customers," railroad spokesman Gus Melonas said.

Train traffic has increased over the last five years from an average of 35 freight trains a day rolling through Whitefish to more than 40 trains a day now.

The new local jobs, most of them based in Whitefish, include 30 engine/conductor positions and 10 track-maintenance positions. More positions will be added based on future needs, Melonas said.

The average railroad job industrywide pays $60,000 a year, he said.

The railroad's Whitefish rail yard, a division point, employs 235 workers with an annual payroll of $11 million, not including benefits, according to data supplied by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce.

Statewide, the 200 new railroad jobs create an additional 100 jobs from the economic trickle-down effect, a state Department of Commerce official said.

Liz Harris, director of the local economic-development group Jobs Now Inc., said the railroad's economic resurgence is a nice shot in the arm for Flathead County.

"Obviously, this is very good news," she said. "These are good jobs with very good benefits."

Outside Flathead County, the railroad has added employees in Havre, Glasgow, Glendive, Great Falls and Cut Bank. It has spent $40 million this year to upgrade tracks throughout the state, including the Hi-Line.

"BNSF is aggressively investing in improvements to ensure safety and efficiency," Melonas said.

The railroad giant is spending $1.9 billion on capital improvements this year and expects to invest an additional $1.4 billion in 2005.

BNSF's freight revenues increased 16 percent or $373 million during the third quarter of 2004, to an all-time quarterly record of $2.74 billion. That compares with $2.74 billion during the third quarter of 2003.

"We achieved an all-time record for quarterly revenues which enabled BNSF to record its third consecutive quarterly double-digit revenue increase," company president and chief executive officer Matthew K. Rose said in a prepared statement.

One of the reasons for the upswing in railroad intermodal traffic has been a shortage of truck drivers, said Dan Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta-based General Freight Services.

Intermodal freight units are interchangeable and can be hauled on railroad flat cars or by trucks.

"There's less truck capacity on the market," Smith said. "There just aren't as many drivers."

Smith, who splits his time between Atlanta and General Freight's Whitefish office, said many drivers got out of trucking during a previous economic downswing, and the past year's high fuel prices have made it difficult for truck drivers to survive, even if they pass the cost onto customers via a surcharge.

"As a result, a lot of freight has gone to rail," Smith said. "Our intermodal business has skyrocketed, and the railroad is doing a good job."

While intermodal units pass through Flathead County, there's no intermodal service here, Smith said. Whitefish had a ramp in the late 1970s and early '80s that was eventually closed and moved to Missoula. Today, the Spokane ramp is one of the closest intermodal sites.

Barry "Spook" Stang, executive vice president of the Montana Motor Carriers Association, said business has been good for most truckers, but some independent truckers are still struggling because of diesel fuel prices as high as $2.30 per gallon.

"Most of them have been able to recover the cost by adding a surcharge, and the shippers have been willing to pay more," Stang said.

The volume of freight has shippers scrambling for transport services.

"There's more freight out there than either one of us can haul," Stang observed.

High fuel prices have likewise affected the railroad.

BNSF's third-quarter 2004 operating expenses, which include a pretax charge of $465 million, were $2.69 billion, while prior-year third-quarter operating expenses were $1.97 billion. The company attributed part of the increase to the high fuel prices, along with a 12-percent increase in freight volumes.

Technological upgrades have helped railroads rebound. In a recent Time magazine article, BNSF president Rose said people worldwide marvel at innovations such as its intermodal transport system. The article also noted that the railroad has invested almost $275 million a year in new Internet technology to stay competitive. Automated readers every 30 miles along the railroad's 33,000-mile system scan bar codes of passing train cars and wirelessly transmit information.

BNSF handles a quarter of the nation's rail freight and posted double-digit increases in its intermodal business in 2003, with revenues up nearly 11 percent and total cars up 12.6 percent, to 4 million.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com