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Norfolk Southern Corp. has settled on a way to comply with the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) new fuel surcharge rule: stop assessing fuel surcharges on local public rates.

On April 1, the Class I no longer will apply fuel surcharges on local, non-intermodal public rates. Instead, the railroad will adjust public prices based on current market conditions.

On April 1, NS will decrease local, non-intermodal public rates 1 percent to reflect the new price adjustment policy. Traffic moving under those rates accounts for about 5 percent of the railroad’s total revenue base.

In January, the STB issued a final rule prohibiting railroads from assessing fuel surcharges on regulated public freight rates after April 25 that are based on a percentage of freight charges. CSX Transportation will convert its public freight rates to a new fuel surcharge based on rail miles and BNSF Railway Co. will extend an existing mileage-based fuel surcharge program to comply with the board’s rule.