[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 15187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6139]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. RR 999 (Amendment No. 5)]


Released Rates of Motor Common Carriers of Household Goods

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of changes to rules protecting consumers during 
interstate household-goods moves.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of recent Board decisions concerning 
interstate household-goods moves. In a decision served January 21, 2011 
(January 2011 Decision), the Board implemented a Congressional 
directive to enhance consumer protection in the case of loss or damage 
that occurs during interstate household-goods moves.\1\ The January 
2011 Decision required movers to provide certain information concerning 
the two available cargo-liability options \2\ on the written estimate 
form--the first form that a moving company must give to a customer--and 
tentatively raised the dollar value levels used in reimbursing a 
consumer under the replacement-value option for lost or damaged goods 
when the consumer had not declared in advance how much the goods were 
worth. In a decision served on January 12, 2012 (January 2012 
Decision), the Board, after reviewing comments filed in response to the 
January 2011 Decision, modified the requirement in the January 2011 
Decision that certain information be put on the estimate form, and it 
adopted the raised value levels. In particular, the estimate form will 
now require a shorter notice to be conspicuously placed to notify the 
consumer early on that it will need to select a liability option at a 
later time. The brief notice must also refer a potential customer to 
two sources of further information on the two liability levels and 
their meaning. Furthermore, the Board will require that movers include 
the lengthier Valuation Statement \3\ on the bill of lading. In 
addition, the Board affirmed that the charges for full-value protection 
when the customer does not provide a declared value for a shipment will 
be the higher of $6.00 per pound (which may be indexed annually) or 
$6,000. The Board also clarified other aspects of the January 2011 
Decision, including the application of these changes to household-goods 
freight forwarders. Finally, the Board established April 2, 2011, as 
the effective date for moving companies to comply with the changes 
outlined in the two decisions. These Board decisions are available on 
the Board's Web site at www.stb.dot.gov.
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    \1\ See Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), 4215, Public Law 109-
59, 119 Stat. 1144, 1760 (2005). The Board published notice of the 
January Decision on January 31, 2011 (76 FR 5,431).
    \2\ Under one of those options, the consumer would be reimbursed 
for loss in the amount of 60 cents per pound. Under the other, 
reimbursement would be based on the replacement value of the goods 
shipped.
    \3\ The Valuation Statement is a statement that a consumer 
hiring a moving company must sign either declaring a total value for 
the shipment or electing the alternative, per-pound basis on which 
recovery for any loss would be based.
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    By decision served on March 9, 2012, the Board granted in part the 
request of the American Moving and Storage Association for a 
postponement of the effective date of the decisions. The January 2011 
and January 2012 Decisions will become effective on May 15, 2012.
    This decision will not significantly affect either the human 
environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Decided: March 8, 2012.

    By the Board, Chairman Elliott, Vice Chairman Mulvey, and 
Commissioner Begeman.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2012-6139 Filed 3-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P