The Midwest Association of Rail Shippers is headquartered in the Chicago area. General membership comes from the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Its objective is to provide an open forum for resolving transportation and car supply problems, coupled with programs designed to educate and inform the membership in areas of railroad operating practices, new innovations in transportation and legislative matters. Meetings are held twice a year, in January and July. Dues are $25 per year.

Contact: Bill Schauer, Executive Director, Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, P.O. Box 357, Wayne, IL 60184-0357, Phone:
630-513-6700 Fax: 866-746-0071, Email: wrschauer@sbcglobal.net.

Membership Form

Winter Meeting, Advance Notice
OAK BROOK HILLS MARRIOTT RESORT
3500 MIDWEST ROAD, OAK BROOK. IL 60523, 630-850-5555
JANUARY 14-15, 2009

Please set aside the dates of January 14 and 15, 2009 to attend the 232nd meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers at Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort. The registration fee is $150 which includes 2009 dues. There will be no refunds after December 29, 2008. The agenda will be set soon and will include a joint luncheon with the Traffic Club of Chicago.

As before, we will have breakfast, lunch and reception on January 14, with our business meeting scheduled for a full day on July 14 and half day on the 15. Dress code is business casual. Networking tables will be available for distribution of your company’s information.

This Marriott Resort will be an improved venue for our meeting and is closer to both Chicago airports. The hotel has allocated a block of rooms from January 13th through January 16th at a preferred rate of $129, single or double. There is a three day cancellation clause in our contract. Cutoff date for the preferred rate is December 29, 2008.

For those of you that were unable to attend our meeting in July, we had an excellent program and speakers resulting in attendance records and very positive feedback from those in attendance. We believe we have another excellent program lined up for January.

Anyone that has not paid their membership dues for 2008, you can use either the membership dues invoice or the membership application. In addition, please share the application with any prospective members. We are confident that membership in our association is one of the best values available with both high quality educational programs and the opportunity to network with a broad spectrum of participants in our industry. In addition, in 2007, MARS initiated a scholarship program for the children and/or grand children of association members.

We also are looking for sponsors for our programs and events. We look forward to seeing you in January.

Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Scholarships
Midwest Association of Rail Shippers scholarships are offered to applicants who are daughters, sons or grandchildren of MARS members, enrolled as full time undergraduate students at accredited four year colleges and universities. All applicants must show a demonstrated commitment to the program in which they are enrolled.

Midwest Scholarship Application Form