• September 01, 2022
• Regulatory

Is STB’s Primus in Rails’ Crosshairs?

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing Sept. 7 on President Biden’s nomination of Democrat Robert E. Primus to a second term on the Surface Transportation Board (STB). This is a preliminary step, requiring a subsequent vote among committee members whether to send the nomination forward to the entire Senate for consideration. The latter could be problematic, as will be explained.

• August 25, 2022
• Regulatory

STB Chided on Rail Revenue Constraint

When Congress partially deregulated railroad rates and practices in 1980 (Staggers Rail Act), it instructed regulators to consider revenue adequacy in determining the reasonableness of rail rates charged captive shippers—those lacking effective transportation alternatives to rail. More than four decades later, neither the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) nor its Surface Transportation Board (STB) successor have promulgated the intended regulatory rules.

• August 02, 2022
• Regulatory

Biden Promise Fueled FRA NPRM

It is said of nudists that “most shouldn’t”—a conspicuous example being the naked politics of the Biden Administration in advancing a mandate—based on a political promise rather than credible safety data and understanding of how technology affects the nature of work—that train crews consist of one conductor and one engineer positioned in the locomotive cab.

• July 25, 2022
• Class I

Yes, a Rail Shutdown Can Occur

Razors cut two ways, as is evident among Wall Street analysts who encourage share-price haircuts for railroads not lowering operating ratios, but themselves fear from railroads a different sort of trimming—loss of access to senior officers and financial data should these analysts have the audacity to suggest the likelihood of a nationwide rail shutdown.

• July 05, 2022
• Regulatory

Will SCOTUS Ruling Chill STB, FRA?

Whether the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will suffer from a June 30 Supreme Court (SCOTUS) trimming of regulatory agency authority to interpret their own governing statutes and remedy ambiguities remains to be seen.

• June 27, 2022
• Class I

Dissecting Failed Rail Labor Talks

It is more than two years since the rail industry’s 12 labor unions and management (representing most Class I railroads and some smaller ones) commenced bargaining to amend contracts defining wages, benefits and work rules.