INCOME TAXES (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Current:
Federal	$ 315,820,000	$ 108,297,000	$ 42,377,000
Foreign	14,551,000	13,201,000	14,259,000
State	32,916,000	10,542,000	8,112,000
Total current	363,287,000	132,040,000	64,748,000
Deferred:
Federal	35,530,000	196,373,000	185,076,000
Foreign	(1,409,000)	(6,484,000)	(4,117,000)
State	(4,564,000)	7,042,000	6,692,000
Total deferred	29,557,000	196,931,000	187,651,000
Total provision	392,844,000	328,971,000	252,399,000
Amounts of domestic and foreign income before income taxes
Domestic	1,071,435,000	886,484,000	666,073,000
Foreign	42,862,000	16,096,000	20,994,000
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	1,114,297,000	902,580,000	687,067,000
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	1,161,134,000	1,103,769,000
Available-for-sale securities	117,567,000	154,463,000
Other	55,000	4,000
Total deferred tax liabilities	1,278,756,000	1,258,236,000
Deferred tax assets:
Pension reserves	2,146,000	9,482,000
Self-insurance reserves	8,357,000	7,737,000
Net operating loss and foreign tax credit carryforwards	54,867,000	59,730,000
Financial accruals	48,963,000	39,833,000
Other	7,487,000	6,533,000
Total deferred tax assets	121,820,000	123,315,000
Valuation allowance	49,631,000	56,564,000
Net deferred tax assets	72,189,000	66,751,000
Net deferred tax liabilities	1,206,567,000	1,191,485,000
Operating Loss Carryforwards
Amount of foreign tax credit carryforwards for income tax purposes	45,200,000
Deferred tax asset prior to consideration of valuation allowance	41,400,000
Reasonably possible increase in the reserve for uncertain tax positions, low range	7,600,000
Reasonably possible increase in the reserve for uncertain tax positions, high range	10,200,000
Effective income tax rates as compared to the U.S. Federal income tax rate
U.S. Federal income tax rate (as a percent)	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Effect of foreign taxes (as a percent)	1.10%	0.70%	0.60%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit (as a percent)	1.50%	1.40%	1.80%
U.S. domestic production activities (as a percent)	(2.10%)	(1.10%)	(0.50%)
Other	(0.20%)	0.40%	(0.20%)
Effective income tax rate (as a percent)	35.30%	36.40%	36.70%
Accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits	5,200,000	6,100,000
Reconciliation of the change in gross unrecognized tax benefits
Unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning of the period	8,438,000	6,878,000
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior periods	(914,000)	(4,000)
Gross increases - tax positions in prior periods	1,896,000	2,632,000
Gross decreases - current period effect of tax positions	(437,000)	(384,000)
Gross increases - current period effect of tax positions	147,000	142,000
Expiration of statute of limitations for assessments	(1,001,000)	(826,000)
Unrecognized tax benefits at the end of the period	8,129,000	8,438,000	6,878,000
State and Local jurisdiction
Operating Loss Carryforwards
Amount of net operating loss carryforwards for income tax purposes	15,600,000
Net operating loss carryforward, valuation allowance	1,200,000
Foreign jurisdiction
Operating Loss Carryforwards
Amount of net operating loss carryforwards for income tax purposes	35,500,000
Net operating loss carryforward, valuation allowance	11,000,000
Foreign tax carryforwards which more likely than not will not be utilized	$ 37,400,000