STB to revise railroads' waybill sample reports

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is soliciting comments on proposed revisions to the "waybill sample" reporting that railroads submit to the board.

The proposals are part of the board's revisions to rate review procedures, STB officials said in a press release.

Waybill sample data is used in variety of contexts, including exemption decisions, stratification reports, traffic volume and rate studies and certain rate cases.

Under the current system, waybill sampling rates vary based on the number of carloads on a railroad's waybill. The STB is proposing to simplify the sampling rates for non-intermodal carload shipments and to specify separate sampling strata and rates for intermodal shipments.

The proposed changes would create a more robust waybill sample that would assist the board in its decision-making and analyses as well as other users of the data, without creating an undue burden on railroads, STB officials said.

Comments on the proposed changes are due Jan. 28, 2020.