Transportation

By Randy Gordon, President and CEO The two Canadian Class I rail carriers – the Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) – in early February joined their U.S.-based brethren in submitting reports to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) detailing millions of dollars of earnings generated during 2018 through demurrage and accessorial charges assessed on rail customers. CP reported generating a total of $43.77 million, $30.14 million of which were demurrage charges while $13.63 million were accessorial charges. Meanwhile, the CN reported accruing revenues totaling $30.18 million, ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President and CEO The nation’s Class I rail carriers have submitted reports to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) detailing millions of dollars of earnings generated during 2018 through demurrage and accessorial charges assessed on rail customers. Of the carriers reporting, CSX Transportation Co. topped the revenue earners – generating a total of $365.7 million in demurrage and accessorial revenue. Norfolk Southern Corp. was second at $335.68 million, followed by BNSF Railway at $279.06 million and Union Pacific Railroad at $232.36 million. The Kansas City Southern ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President Two individuals recently confirmed by the Senate to join the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) will be officially in place by early next week. STB Chairman Ann Begeman told the NGFA that she received permission from the White House this week to swear in Patrick Fuchs and Martin Oberman, both of whom were confirmed by the Senate on Jan 2. The STB is responsible for providing regulatory oversight of the freight rail industry. Fuchs was sworn into office on Jan. 17, and Begeman said she intends to do likewise for Oberman on Jan. 22. Fuchs, a Republican ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President The Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS) has responded to a Nov. 27 letter from Surface Transportation Board Chairman Ann Begeman, in which she voiced potential concerns about changes to its operating plan to implement the so-called “precision scheduled railroad” model championed by the late E. Hunter Harrison. Begeman had written to NS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James Squires stating that the staff of the STB’s Rail Customer and Public Assistance Office expect to engage in weekly conference calls with the railroad’s senior management to be kept ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President The Senate late on Jan. 2 confirmed by a voice vote the nominations of two new members for the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which is responsible for providing regulatory oversight of the freight rail industry. Confirmed to join what is authorized to be a five-member agency were Patrick Fuchs, a Wisconsin native who most recently served on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s staff and led congressional staff efforts to enact the STB Reauthorization Act of 2015; and Martin Oberman, a Chicago-based attorney and former alderman who ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Ann Begeman has written to the top chief executive officers of each of the Class I railroads requesting information about their demurrage and accessorial charges.  In her Dec. 17 letter, Begeman asked that, for transparency, each of the major railroads operating in the United States disclose their quarterly revenues from demurrage and accessorial charges – itemized separately – for each quarter of 2018 and 2019. She asked that the 2018 data be provided to the STB by Jan. 21, with subsequent quarterly information ... Read More

By Randy Gordon, President The NGFA on Dec. 10 joined a diverse array of nearly 80 national associations representing rail users in urging President Donald Trump and Congress to confirm a full complement of commissioners to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the federal agency responsible for regulating freight railroads. In a letter to President Trump, the NGFA and other groups noted that the STB has lacked a functioning number of commissioners for nearly two years, and as a result has delayed action on several significant matters – including the NGFA’s proposal for the agency to ... Read More

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Ann Begeman this month sent a pair of letters to two Class I railroads, questioning the lack of reciprocity in Union Pacific Railroad’s (UP) recent tariff changes and alerting the Norfolk Southern Corp. that the agency’s staff will expect to engage in weekly conference calls to monitor the rail carrier’s implementation of aspects of a “precision scheduled railroading” operating plan. In a Nov. 20 letter to UP, Begeman urged the railroad to review tariff changes it announced on Nov. 1 (and which are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1) “from the standpoint ... Read More

In anticipation of shutting down several sections of the Illinois River system during the summer of 2020 for maintenance and upgrade work on six of the eight locks and dams, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Rock Island District will host an informational webinar on Nov. 5 from 2 to 3 p.m.  Login to the webinar by clicking here. (Use the “call me feature” for the webinar to call you. If asked for a security code, enter 1111. Alternatively, users can dial 877-848-7030 and enter access code 9079541 and security code 1111.) The LaGrange Lock is due for major rehabilitation in 2020, ... Read More