reciprocal switching

Stakeholders spar over scope of Surface Transportation Board’s authority

As Congress considers funding the Surface Transportation Board over the next several years, freight rail stakeholders are divided on whether the agency should maintain its current ability to address freight rail service and rate issues or if it is time to expand that authority.

That dispute was on display at a recent hearing on STB’s reauthorization in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) largely seeks to maintain the status...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stakeholders-spar-over-scope-of-surface-transportation-boards-authority

Shippers: CP-KCS merger could reduce competition at interchanges

Contrary to assertions by Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, shipper groups’ filings with the Surface Transportation Board say that the railroads’ proposed merger could harm competition in a number of ways, according to filings submitted to the Surface Transportation Board.

CP is seeking approval from federal regulators of its $31 billion merger with KCS. As the process plays out, shippers, other Class I railroads, local communities and other stakeholders are asking that CP meet certain...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/shippers-cp-kcs-merger-could-reduce-competition-at-interchanges

Ex-chairman: STB should consider benefits of reciprocal switching

Reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. President Joe Biden via a July executive order charged Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman with looking into this issue and potentially begin a rulemaking on it. 

FreightWaves recently chatted with Daniel Elliott, former chairman and member of the Surface Transportation Board, on what issues...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ex-chairman-stb-should-consider-benefits-of-reciprocal-switching

How forced access can harm the railroads: Q&A with economist Steve Pociask

A photograph of a train crossing a rail crossing.

For two days in March 2022, the Surface Transportation Board will hear opinions from industry stakeholders on how it should address reciprocal switching. 

Reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. President Joe Biden via a July executive order charged STB Chairman Marty Oberman to look into this issue and potentially begin a rulemaking on it. While...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-forced-access-can-harm-the-railroads-qa-with-economist-steve-pociask

Surface Transportation Board wants input on hot topics

A photograph of a rail cars parked in a rail yard.Board seeks to create an environmental impact statement on proposed CP-KCS merger

An office within the Surface Transportation Board plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on Canadian Pacific’s (NYSE: CP) proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU).

STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis on Friday issued a notice of intent to produce the EIS because “the proposed acquisition has the potential to result in environmental impacts,” STB said. STB will conduct an...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/surface-transportation-board-wants-input-on-hot-topics

No simple swap: Ins and outs of reciprocal switching on US railroads

A photograph of a two boxcara and a tank car on train tracks.

One of the executive orders President Joe Biden issued in July calls for the chairman of the Surface Transportation Board to consider reciprocal switching as a way to pursue competitiveness in the freight rail industry.

As FreightWaves wrote in August, reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. A shipper can get that access at an interchange between...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/no-simple-swap-ins-and-outs-of-reciprocal-switching-on-us-railroads

STB keeps busy with mergers, last-mile data, reciprocal switching

A photograph of a KCS locomotive rolling on train tracks.

As the Surface Transportation Board considers the proposed merger between Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific, on the forefront of stakeholders’ minds will be how the two will transition their operations to serve one network, according to two transportation attorneys speaking at FTR’s virtual conference last week.

The KCS-CP merger is one of many issues that could keep board members busy through the end of this year and into the next.

Stakeholders will be watching how KCS (NYSE: KSU) and CP...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stb-keeps-busy-with-mergers-last-mile-data-reciprocal-switching

The itch to switch: Railroad swapping in Canada vs. the US

A photograph of a train crossing over a bridge.

President Joe Biden’s executive order targeting the maritime and railroad industries, among others, calls for enhancing competition for shippers. One of the issues that the July order directs the Surface Transportation Board to examine is reciprocal switching. The board can do this by beginning a rulemaking or reinvigorating an earlier proceeding on the issue. 

Broadly speaking, reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to use a nearby...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-itch-to-switch-railroad-swapping-in-canada-vs-the-us

Rail Roundup: Train crews, shippers’ views, shareholders choose

A photograph of a rail yard with a city in the distance.Union must include crew size in negotiations

An arbitrator has determined that the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) must resume negotiations over train crew size and staffing, according to the National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), a group that represents the freight railroads.

The arbitrator determined that standard moratorium language in decades-old labor agreements does not bar negotiations over crew size on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-roundup-train-crews-shippers-views-shareholders-choose

Biden order charges STB to examine rail competition

A photograph of a freight train locomotive flanked by two lines of railcars in a railyard.

Defining what it means to provide rail shippers with robust competitive options could be the lens that the Surface Transportation Board uses as it responds to an order from President Joe Biden aimed at promoting competition within the freight railroad and maritime industries. 

But it remains to be seen how exactly the STB, the independent federal regulatory agency responsible for handling rail rate and service matters, will balance shipper concerns with ensuring that the freight railroads can...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-order-charges-stb-to-examine-rail-competition

+ More