AAR Rips Proposed STB Rate Review Rule

The Association of American Railroads has characters a proposed rate review rule being advanced by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board as unlawful.

The AAR wants the agency to withdraw the rule because it said it exceeds STB’s authority in determining rate reasonableness.

In a statement, AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Ian Jefferies said the rule “abdicates the agency’s statutory responsibility to judge the reasonableness of rail rates and abandons careful deliberation vital to a balanced regulatory structure.”

AAR contends that the rule would establish a new rate review procedure that would deny shippers and railroads alike their right to a full hearing as required by law and represents a radical departure from the market-based, economic principles that have traditionally guided the Board’s maximum rate determinations.

Tags: Association of American Railroads, STB rate cases, STB rules, STB rules and regulations, STB rules making, U.S. Surface Transportation Board