This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
1/27/2023
The Surface Transportation Board this week denied four Class Is' petition to stay a specific requirement of the board's new small rate case arbitration program.
The requirement provides that all Class Is must inform the board within 20 days of the rule becoming effective whether they will participate in the program.
The board's Jan. 23 ruling can be read here.
Four Class Is — CN, CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad — earlier this month filed a joint petition asking the STB to stay part of the program for small rate disputes between railroads and shippers. Specifically, the Class Is are concerned about a "pre-review opt-in requirement" that railroads commit to the arbitration program before knowing what its final content will be.
The STB's Dec. 19 ruling calling for the program's creation was structured in a way that contradicts earlier statements that railroads would not be required to participate in the program before knowing its final content, the Class Is' petition stated.
CSX, UP and the U.S. operations of CN have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to review the STB's Dec. 19 ruling on small rate disputes.