In its Third-Quarter 2017 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation-Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, the Surface Transportation Board provided an update on no fewer than nine pending STB regulatory proceedings, “matters that may be of interest”:
One day prior to a hearing before the Surface Transportation Board on its recent service problems, CSX on Oct. 10 posted its weekly metrics report to the STB on its website. The report, CSX said, shows that “network performance has recovered and is continuing to improve.”
Approximately one week before the Oct. 11 Surface Transportation Board hearing (curiously called a “public listening session” by the STB) on CSX service issues, the railroad is pointing to extended “positive trends” as President and CEO Hunter Harrison’s Precision Scheduled Railroading is implemented.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is looking to revisit and modify its longstanding rules on ex parte* communications in informal rulemaking proceedings, which up until recently have mostly been prohibited.
Former Surface Transportation Board (STB) chairman and now STB member Dan Elliott announced Sept. 25 he is resigning Sept. 30 to join, in early October, the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm, Connors & Winters, whose specialization is employee compensation, health and benefit plans, and employment law.
The Surface Transportation Board has rescheduled its hearing on CSX Transportation, Inc.’s (CSXT) recent rail service problems for Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The hearing “will allow the Board to hear from CSXT about its service issues and recovery efforts, as well as hear from rail shippers and other stakeholders affected by service disruptions.”
Is CSX emerging from what many observers, including customers, say is an operational and service meltdown created by a “too much, too soon” rush to implement Precision Scheduled Railroading on an arguably complex network? CSX President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison says “yes.”
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Sept. 5 determined that four U.S. Class I railroads are revenue-adequate for the year 2016, meaning that those railroads achieved a rate of return on investment (ROI) equal to or greater than the Board’s calculation of the average cost of capital to the freight rail industry.
The Surface Transportation Board on Aug. 30 rejected an application filed by Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. (GLBT) for authority to construct and operate a rail line in the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. STB cited that it found GLBT’s application “incomplete” and has discontinued environmental review.
The luster is fading from Hunter Harrison’s “Dr. Fixit” image faster than an old jalopy’s back-alley paint job. His boisterous March arrival as CEO of CSX put in motion warp-speed, backfiring directives changing culture, operating practices and marketing practices.
