reciprocal switching

Commentary

A Primer on Reciprocal Switching

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) will hold a public hearing March 15-16 to consider finalizing a long-pending, shipper instigated rulemaking that could loosen the standard for imposing a competition enhancing Reciprocal Switching remedy created by Congress in 1980. The proceeding is officially known as Ex Parte No. 711 (Sub-No. 1). Its roots date to 2011.

AAR to STB: Reciprocal Switching a ‘Wealth Transfer to More-Profitable Entities’

On March 15-16, the Surface Transportation Board, more than a year after emerging from a long period of public-near-silence following the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States, will hold a hearing (STB Ex Parte No. 711, Sub-No. 1) on reciprocal (“forced”) switching, a subject upon which freight railroads and many of their major customers have been deeply divided for a very long time.

STB to AAR: Sorry, No Extension

The Surface Transportation Board on Jan. 28 issued a decision denying a request from the Association of American Railroads to extend the procedural schedule in Docket No. EP 711 (Sub-No. 1) et al., Reciprocal Switching; regarding the Board’s NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) on reciprocal switching regulations. “All procedural dates remain unchanged, including those for the public hearing beginning on March 15, 2022,” STB said.

STB proposes “forced access” regulations

The Surface Transportation Board On July 27, 2016 proposed new regulations “to improve the availability of reciprocal switching,” an action the railroads have been anticipating for more than a year. The proposed rules “allow a shipper to gain access to another railroad if the shipper makes certain showings,” STB said.

Commentary
  • News

Shippers ask STB to deliver a free lunch

The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) want the Surface Transportation Board to annul market forces and require that at least two Class I railroads be available to compete for freight carloads—even if the tracks of only one railroad serve a shipper’s facility.