STB to slash shipper-complaint filing fee

In a proposed rulemaking, approved by the Surface Transportation Board Wednesday, the STB is moving to reduce filing fees for shipper complaints to $350 from a current maximum of $20,000. STB would implement a new fee schedule that would charge shippers $350 to file a rate or unreasonable practice complaint. The fee to file an expedited small rate case would remain $150.

“Charging a small business more than $20,000 to bring a complaint is not right,’’ said STB Chairman Daniel R. Elliott III. “I am afraid that some meritorious cases were discouraged by the high filing fees.”

Elliott said that shippers should first avail themselves of the agency’s free informal mediation service, called the Rail Customer and Public Assistance Program. The Board also offers a program of formal mediation .

The decision in Docket No. EP 542 (Sub-No. 18) can be found at www.stb.dot.gov.