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Yesterday, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced it will reduce the fee charged to shippers to file a rail rate or “unreasonable practice” complaint from $20,000 to $350. The board also will maintain a $150 fee to file an expedited small rate case.

The filing of a complaint often is the STB’s only mechanism for “investigating and addressing potential rate violations or other unlawful practices,” board members said in a prepared statement. High filing fees might discourage shippers and other parties from issuing formal complaints to the board, potentially preventing some meritorious cases from being filed, they said. In addition, the reduced fees should improve the STB’s management of its docket and resources, board members said.

Although the new fee structure is designed to make it easier for shippers to file formal cases with the board, they first should avail themselves of the free, informal mediation service offered through the board’s Rail Customer and Public Assistance Program, said STB Chairman Daniel Elliott III.

The STB’s decision is a step forward and had been long sought by rail shippers, who had argued that the previous $20,600 filing fee made the STB inaccessible to many shippers “receiving poor treatment” from railroads, said Glenn English, chairman of rail shipper coalition Consumers United for Rail Equity, in a prepared statement.
 
“The STB should be commended for its effort in lowering filing fees and encouraging previously unrepresented shippers to tell their stories before the commission,” he said. “However, this is the just one of many necessary reforms. We urge the STB to move forward on competitive access, categorical exemptions and other important rulemakings that can provide needed relief to rail-dependent shippers and American consumers.”