Railroad Service

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

Leadership at two Washington, D.C.-based railroad organizations examined some key industry trends and themes at the RailTrends conference in New York.

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.

For December, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI came in at 10.32, up from November’s 3.0 reading, which was preceded by -3.1 and -0.3 readings in September and October, respectively. December represented the highest SCI reading going back to May 2020.

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.

In a joint letter to President Biden, 322 local, state, and federal trade associations—spearheaded by the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation (NRF)—calling on the Biden to continue to work with the United States railroad labor unions and railroads to ensure the tentative agreement between the parties, which was brokered by the White House, is ratified.

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.”

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).

The STB said it will direct and require certain railroads to submit service recovery plans and also additional data and regular progress reports on rail service, operations, and employment. And it added that the objective of these measures is to “to inform the Board’s assessment of further actions that may be warranted to address the acute service issues facing the rail industry and to promote industry-wide transparency, accountability, and improvements in rail service.”

In a recent speech given at the Northeast Association of Rail Shippers (NEARS) fall conference in Portland, Maine, Robert Primus, a member of 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, told the railroad carrier and shipper attendees that the biggest concern in the sector is railroad service levels.

The letter’s authors—Ronald Batory, FRA Administrator, Ann Begeman, STB Chairman, Martin Oberman, STB Vice Chairman, and Patrick Fuchs, STB Board Member—explained that the objective of the letter was to reemphasize the importance of safe, dependable rail service, at a time when the nation is focused on restoring jobs and economic recovery.

In its quarterly “Market Trends” report, IANA reported that total third quarter volume––at 4,662,488––was off 3.7% annually, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of annual declines after a lengthy stretch of gains going back to the third quarter of 2016. The first quarter of 2019 was down 1.5% annually, following 4.7% and 4.2% annual gains from the third and fourth quarters of 2018, respectively. And second quarter volumes were off 3.8% annually.