Tag Archive for: Rail Rate Changes

The STB Study Saga Continues

An article was recently published by Railway Age. This article contains an exchange between Jay Roman, Founder and President of Escalation Consultants, Inc., and Dr. William Huneke, former Director and Chief Economist at the STB, on the STB’s Annual Rail Rate Index Study (STB Study).

The dialog that the article contains is of significant importance to all rail shippers as it highlights a need for a change in how the STB operates and the lens in which interested parties would utilize its data.

It is important to raise questions about the STB Study, because it will likely be used by lobbyists, politicians, and railroads to show that there are no major problems with rail rates. This may not be the STB’s purpose for the Study, but this is likely how companies that benefit from railroads ability to continually increase rates will use the findings in the Study.  In other words, if rates are “reasonable” there is no need to change STB regulations to have a more effective process for shippers to challenge rates.

The following link will take you to the Railway Age article.

We encourage you to forward this email, or share the article, with your teams and fellow rail shippers.