Cure Commends STB For Lowering Filing Fee Rates, Urges Them To Make Further Reforms To Freight Rail Industry
WASHINGTON - After unveiling a proposal to drastically lower filing fees for rail complaint cases made to the Surface Transportation Board in February, the STB officially granted shippers better access to the Board by reducing unreasonable practice complaint fees against a railroad to $350. This decision is seen as a step forward and has been long sought by rail shippers, who have argued that the previous $20,600 filing fee made the STB inaccessible to many shippers receiving poor treatment at the hands of the railroad monopoly.
“The STB should be commended for its effort in lowering filing fees and encouraging previously unrepresented shippers to tell their stories before the commission,” says Glenn English, Chairman of Consumers United for Rail Equity, a coalition of railroad shippers. “However, this is the just one of many necessary reforms. We urge the STB to move forward on competitive access, categorical exemptions and other important rulemakings that can provide needed relief to rail-dependent shippers and American consumers.”
The February proposal fulfills a commitment that STB Chairman Dan Elliott made to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing on national rail policy last September. In testimony before the committee, Elliot said he wanted to make the Board more accessible and said, “Filing fees should not deter parties from bringing disputes to the Board.”
This decision comes weeks after a two day STB hearing on rail competition where rail-dependent shippers, as well as Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Al Franken (D-MN) and David Vitter (R-LA), gave compelling testimony in support of improving rail access and competition.
While lowering filing fees for shippers is a victory for rail shippers, CURE continues to advocate for further reform of the STB and the freight rail industry. On Tuesday, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) asked the Obama Administration to support S.49, the Rail Antitrust Enforcement Act, a bill seeking to eliminate antitrust exemptions protecting the freight rail monopoly. In a March letter to President Obama, the President’s Export Council advocated for reforming the STB to increase rail competition to improve U.S. businesses and exports.
For more information about CURE, please visit www.railcure.org.
“The STB should be commended for its effort in lowering filing fees and encouraging previously unrepresented shippers to tell their stories before the commission,” says Glenn English, Chairman of Consumers United for Rail Equity, a coalition of railroad shippers. “However, this is the just one of many necessary reforms. We urge the STB to move forward on competitive access, categorical exemptions and other important rulemakings that can provide needed relief to rail-dependent shippers and American consumers.”
The February proposal fulfills a commitment that STB Chairman Dan Elliott made to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing on national rail policy last September. In testimony before the committee, Elliot said he wanted to make the Board more accessible and said, “Filing fees should not deter parties from bringing disputes to the Board.”
This decision comes weeks after a two day STB hearing on rail competition where rail-dependent shippers, as well as Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Al Franken (D-MN) and David Vitter (R-LA), gave compelling testimony in support of improving rail access and competition.
While lowering filing fees for shippers is a victory for rail shippers, CURE continues to advocate for further reform of the STB and the freight rail industry. On Tuesday, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) asked the Obama Administration to support S.49, the Rail Antitrust Enforcement Act, a bill seeking to eliminate antitrust exemptions protecting the freight rail monopoly. In a March letter to President Obama, the President’s Export Council advocated for reforming the STB to increase rail competition to improve U.S. businesses and exports.
For more information about CURE, please visit www.railcure.org.