STB Chairman Oberman says he will step down in early 2024

A change is coming at the top for 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.

STB Chairman Martin Oberman said at last week’s RailTrends conference in New York, which was hosted by Progressive Railroading magazine and independent railroad analyst Tony Hatch, that at 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.

Addressing the railroad shippers, carriers, equipment suppliers, and financial community, among other industry stakeholders, at the two-day conference, Oberman said that, after much consideration, he will not see reappointment for a second term, but he said he will continue to serve several months into next year.

“I still have much work to do, and many initiatives to complete,” he said. “I have informed President Biden’s administration of my plans. I look forward to saying more over the next few months about lessons learned and opportunities for our country achievable through a robust railroad industry, including possible paths on how we might get there. It has truly been a privilege to serve in this role, with the teamwork of four other truly thoughtful and committed independent and board members…along with an extremely talented and dedicated organization of professionals.

Oberman explained he has developed a deep respect and appreciation for the railroad industry, not only in terms of its challenges and complexities, but also in its enormous responsibility to the United States.

“Railroads, with government help and on their own, have played an essential role in enabling the United States to develop, by far, the world's most advanced and successful economy, which has contributed, in an overall sense, to our country’s top standard of living,” said Oberman.

What’s more, he made it clear that while the sector has made strides, there remains a long way for the industry to go on multiple fronts.

“As constructive as the industry has been, it has not yet lived up to its real potential,” he said. “Rail service and productivity could be so much better, and I think we all know it. My efforts at STB, and I know they have been annoying to some members of the industry, have all been aimed at pushing and nudging the industry towards achieving that amassed, but as yet, unrealized potential. I am confident that day will come, and I will be watching for it, as my personal adventure continues after leaving next year.”  

In his speech at RailTrends, Oberman highlighted various freight railroad developments in recent years, including:

• the completion and STB approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, creating the first single-line railway connecting Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with CP focused on growing traffic and has committed, through the merger, the shifting of approximately 64,000 truckloads annually from road to rail, as well as an enhancement of intermodal traffic to and from both Canadian and Mexican ports;
• a focus on what Oberman called “the lack of competition” among railroads and the need for the STB to use its authority to promote competition wherever possible that benefit both rail customers, the national economy, and the general public;
• additional promising initiatives that should increase options for shippers and achieve a meaningful shift of traffic from trucks to trains such as the recently-announced CPKC-CSX proposal, which will create new interchange connection in Alabama and significantly upgrade track and therefore train speed on a track connected with the Meridian Speedway; and
• the STB’s 2022 hearings focused on service, with a directive to Class I railroads to develop post-pandemic service recovery plans, at a time when many railroads were furloughing employees