The Surface Transportation Board is asking the Class I railroads to explain how they are addressing congestion within the international intermodal supply chain amid shippers’ reports about “sizeable” storage fees and the length of time containers are being held.
STB Chairman Marty Oberman, in letters dated Thursday to each of the Class I railroads, asked the railroads to provide certain information regarding container storage fees so that the board can assess the extent of congestion at key...
Shippers groups are praising the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) effort to address issues with demurrage billing, saying the final rule brings transparency and accountability into the billing process.
Some also hope that this week’s final rule will be part of a longer-term study of how precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has affected the industry, since the number of demurrage billing disputes increased as the railroads implemented PSR. Demurrage charges are the fees that the freight...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shippers-embrace-stbs-demurrage-billing-rule
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has made three decisions defining how the freight railroads can apply demurrage and accessorial charges.
The U.S. operations of all the Class I railroads except BNSF had adjusted how they apply the charges because they were deploying some form of precision scheduled railroading, an operating model that seeks to streamline operations and cust costs. The railroads said the adjustments would encourage shippers to turn around rail assets more efficiently.
But...