The Association of American Railroads responds to regulator’s inquiry about supply chain congestion, while GoRail advocates for regulation supporting freight rail industry growth.
AskWaves looks at the regulatory might of this small, independent federal agency.
Kansas City Southern declined Canadian Pacific’s revised bid, opting to stick with CN. But a shareholder vote to approve the CN-KCS merger agreement could be held off if the Surface Transportation Board doesn’t issue its decision on CN’s voting trust by Tuesday.
The CEOs of five Class I railroads tell the Surface Transportation Board that the root causes of the congestion facing rail intermodal terminals are beyond the railroads’ control.
The Surface Transportation Board will review Amtrak’s request to restore Gulf Coast service, dismissing calls by CSX and Norfolk Southern, whose networks will be affected by the service restoration, to reject the request.
Four shipper associations have asked the Surface Transportation Board to see if demurrage charges can be applied to privately owned railcars to improve the flow of railcars through the network.
The Surface Transportation Board has accepted CSX’s revised application to acquire Pan Am Railways, allowing the acquisition proceedings to continue.
SMART-TD must negotiate with Class I railroads on train crew size; Rail Customer Coalition calls on STB to take up reciprocal switching; ASLRRA praises progress on infrastructure bill; and Canadian Pacific urges KCS shareholders to vote against the proposed CN-KCS merger.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., doesn’t want federal regulators to approve a voting trust that Canadian railway CN would establish as part of the process to acquire Kansas City Southern.
Employment levels in June for the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads held steady from May, although U.S. rail volumes grew by one-fifth over the same period.
STB Chairman Marty Oberman has sent letters to all the Class I railroads asking them how the railroads are applying storage fees at key container terminals while the supply chain is congested.
Supply chain bottlenecks are raising red flags for inflation down the road.
Amtrak wants federal regulators to expedite a request to reestablish passenger rail service between Mobile and New Orleans. But CSX and Norfolk Southern say, not so fast.
President Joe Biden’s order last week calls upon the Surface Transportation Board to examine hot topics among rail shippers, including reciprocal switching. The challenge will be balancing the wants and needs of shippers and the freight railroads.
CSX hopes an expanded application containing a more in-depth market analysis will persuade the Surface Transportation Board to approve CSX’s request to acquire Pan Am.
Canadian Pacific and CN note the end of the public comment period for CN’s proposed voting trust, which would be used to acquire Kansas City Southern. But in order for regulators to review the voting trust application, the Surface Transportation Board may need to clarify further the parameters for gauging whether a rail merger is in the public interest, some stakeholders say.
Monday is the last day that stakeholders can express their views to the Surface Transportation Board over CN’s proposed voting trust that will be used to acquire KCS. Canadian Pacific says it has the support of North Dakota congressional leaders, while CN touts support from Gulf Coast and southern Plains leaders.
Employment levels at the U.S. operations of Class I railroads were flat to higher from April to May. But year-over-year totals show a nearly 3% decline. Meanwhile, the Class I railroads say they’re actively hiring and training in 2021.
CN and Canadian Pacific are rounding up support for their respective plans to acquire Kansas City Southern. Regulators are accepting public comments on CN’s voting trust through next Monday. CN would use the voting trust as part of the process to acquire KCS.
Ocean carriers and Class I railroads both agree that chassis shortages are contributing to volume congestion. But solutions to relieve the congestion rely on multiple supply chain stakeholders, say the railroads.
