Surface Transportation Board

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.”

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.”

Railroad service was front and center at last week’s hearing hosted by 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.

Following an announcement it made earlier this month, when it said it would hold a hearing on April 26-27, regarding recent rail service problems and recovery efforts relating to various Class I railroad carriers, entitled "Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service," 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 said late last week that it has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking ...

Late last week, 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, said it plans to hold public hearings later this month—on April 26-27—regarding recent rail service problems and recovery efforts relating to various Class I railroad carriers.

With the February 14 filing date for the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) proposed reciprocal switching regulations earlier this week, various freight railroad stakeholders made their cases for and against the case for it in comments filed to the STB. A public hearing hosted by the STB on these regulations is scheduled for March 15 and 16 at the STB’s Washington, D.C.-based headquarters.

Late last month, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) provided information regarding its public hearing on proposed reciprocal switching obligations, which is scheduled for March 15-16, and will be held at its Washington, D.C.-based office.

With the supply chain remaining front and center, as it relates to the overall economy and goods movement, there was no shortage of things to address for Ian Jefferies, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, at the RailTrends Conference hosted by Progressive Railroading and independent railroad analyst Tony Hatch earlier this month.

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.

Coming in under the wire on its August 31 deadline, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced a unanimous decision today, in rejecting the use of a voting trust between Canadian National Railway (CN) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) regarding CN’s pending acquisition of KCS, which could hinder chances of a deal being completed.