STB

At this point, anyone who has seen Martin J. Oberman, Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), a Washington, D.C.-based independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, speak at a freight railroad conference, knows he is not holding anything back. That again was the case, when he gave a keynote speech at last week’s Southeastern Association of Rail Shippers (SEARS) 2024 Spring Meeting in Atlanta.

In this podcast, LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviews Ian Jefferies, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads.

The Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, recently announced it has extended its reply comment period, for Docket No. EP 711, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) focusing on providing rail service with access to reciprocal switching as a remedy for poor service, by two weeks, to December 20.

STB Chairman Martin Oberman said he will not seek reappointment, at the end of his five-year term, which expires on December 31, and will continue to serve several months into next year, which is within his one-year holdover period.

Earlier today, the Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, unanimously released a railroad service-focused Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) focused on reciprocal switching.

A new piece of bipartisan legislation focused on railroad service was re-introduced earlier this week in the United States Senate by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS). Entitled, the “Reliable Rail Service Act,” this legislation addresses the unreliable service and high cost of shipping for American businesses, according to the senators.

Earlier this week, the Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, issued a decision, calling for continued monitoring of freight rail service.

The long-awaited decision regarding the acquisition of Kansas City Railway Company (KCS) by Canadian Pacific (CP) reached its expected outcome today, with the Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, saying it has approved the $31 billion deal, which will go into effect on April 14.

STB said that the two final rules are comprised are a voluntary arbitration program, as well as a new procedure for rate challenges, known as a Final Offer Rate Review (FORR). STB initially introduced FORR in September 2019, in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), saying, at the time, that FORR utilizes procedural limitations to constrain the cost and complexity of a rate case, which would include principle-based, non-prescriptive criteria to allow for innovation with respect to rate review methodologies.

Oberman described 2022 as a “demanding year” for the STB, due to the pending Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, as well as he termed a “service meltdown” by Class I railroad carriers, which he said had been brewing long before the onset of the pandemic.

The session addressed the current freight railroad environment, which has received a fair amount of shipper attention, due to the ongoing rail labor negotiations and service-related issues, among other topics.

STB said that this order requires “certain updated information” from BNSF Railway Company, CSX Transportation Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway Company, and Union Pacific. And it added that it has directed the carriers to submit biweekly service reports for the next six months, through May 5, 2023.

On July 9, Martin J. Oberman, Chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, lauded the White House’s actions to foster competition in U.S. businesses, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Executive Order 14036, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy.”

Railroad and intermodal aim to get back on track.

The close eye being kept on service levels remains fully intact based on a directive by the Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), to BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX), Norfolk Southern Railway (NSR), and Union Pacific Railroad (UP).