[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22009-22010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07831]
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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
[Docket No. EP 770]
Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) will hold a public
hearing on April 26 and 27, 2022, on recent rail service problems and
recovery efforts involving several Class I carriers. The hearing will
be held in the Hearing Room of the Board's headquarters, located at 395
E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. The Board will direct
executive-level officials, including operating and human resources
officials, of BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), CSX Transportation, Inc.
(CSXT), Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR), and Union Pacific
Railroad Company (UP) to appear to discuss the recent rail service
problems, each carrier's ongoing and planned efforts to improve
service, and each carrier's estimated timeline for recovery of normal
service levels. The Board will also invite and welcome the attendance
of executive-level officials, including operating and human resources
officials, of Canadian National Railway Company (CN), Kansas City
Southern Railway Company (KCS), and Canadian Pacific Railway Company
(CP). In addition, the Board will provide other carriers, rail
customers, labor organizations, and other interested parties the
opportunity to report on recent service issues and service recovery
efforts.
DATES: The hearing will be held on April 26 and 27, 2022, beginning at
9:30 a.m. each day, in the Hearing Room of the Board's headquarters and
will be open for public observation. The hearing will be available for
viewing on the Board's website. Any person wishing to speak at the
hearing should file with the Board a notice of intent to participate
(identifying the party, proposed speaker, and amount of time requested)
as soon as possible but no later than April 14, 2022. Submission of
written testimony by hearing participants is optional; any such written
testimony, and written comments by any other interested persons, may be
submitted by April 22, 2022.
ADDRESSES: All filings should be submitted via e-filing on the Board's
website at www.stb.gov. Filings will be posted to the Board's website
and need not be served on the other hearing participants, written
commenters, or any other party to the proceeding.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nathaniel Bawcombe at (202) 245-0376.
Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rail network reliability is essential to the
Nation's economy and is a foremost priority of the Board. In recent
weeks, the Board has heard informally from a broad range of
stakeholders about inconsistent and unreliable rail service. These
challenges include tight car supply and unfilled car orders, delays in
transportation for carload and bulk traffic, increased origin dwell
time for released unit trains, missed switches, and ineffective
customer assistance. Moreover, the Board has received several recent
reports, from the Secretary of Agriculture, Senator Shelley Moore
Capito, and other stakeholders, about the serious impact of these
service trends on rail users, particularly with respect to shippers of
agricultural and energy products.\1\
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\1\ See Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack, U.S. Dep't of Agric.
Letter, Mar. 30, 2022, Reciprocal Switching, EP 711 (Sub-No. 1);
Letter from Honorable Shelley Moore Capito, to Board Members Martin
J. Oberman, Michelle A. Schultz, Patrick J. Fuchs, Robert E. Primus,
& Karen J. Hedlund (Mar. 29, 2022), available at www.stb.gov (open
tab ``News & Communications'' & select ``Non-Docketed Public
Correspondence''); Letter from the Nat'l Grain & Feed Ass'n, to
Board Members Martin J. Oberman, Michelle A. Schultz, Patrick J.
Fuchs, Robert E. Primus, & Karen J. Hedlund (Mar. 24, 2022),
available at www.stb.gov (open tab ``News & Communications'' &
select ``Non-Docketed Public Correspondence''); Letter from SMART-
Transp. Div., to Chairman Martin J. Oberman (Apr. 1, 2022),
available at www.stb.gov (open tab ``News & Communications'' &
select ``Non-Docketed Public Correspondence'').
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At the same time, the Board has been closely monitoring weekly rail
service performance data submitted pursuant to 49 CFR part 1250.\2\ The
data validate the anecdotal information reported to the Board, as many
key performance indicators, such as system average train speed and
average number of trains holding per day, suggest performance is below
historical norms. While the Board appreciates that the pandemic has
caused significant volume fluctuations, which have created great
uncertainty and other challenges, these trends demonstrate that service
has continued to deteriorate. Since the beginning of 2022, and through
the data for the week ending March 25, 2022, there has been no
material, sustained decline in trains held per day due to crew or
locomotive availability for BNSF, CSXT, NSR, or UP. Recognizing large
reductions in railroad employment over the past several years
(including prior to the pandemic), as reported to the Board under 49
CFR 1246.1, and understanding that carriers have reported hiring
difficulties--difficulties that are not restricted to the rail
industry--the Board is concerned that crew shortages have contributed
to these recent service trends and affected carriers' recovery efforts.
For these reasons, the Board has determined that the service issues may
have reached a level that requires action by the Board, and it is
imperative that the Board hear from carriers, rail customers, labor
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organizations, and other interested persons.
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\2\ Data collected pursuant to 49 CFR part 1250 is available on
the Board's website at https://www.stb.gov/reports-data/rail-service-data/.
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Given the serious nature of the service issues reported to the
Board, in addition to providing as much visibility as possible to all
aspects of the current service issues, the Board expects the
information provided at the hearing to inform any potential future
Board actions to ameliorate the problems that have been reported.
The Board will hold a public hearing on April 26 and 27, 2022,
beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day, at its offices in Washington, DC, to
hear firsthand from senior officials of BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and UP, as
well as affected shippers, shipper organizations, and labor
organizations, about rail service and efforts to improve service. The
Board will direct executive-level officials, including operating and
human resources officials, of BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and UP to appear \3\ at
the hearing to discuss their recent rail service problems and their
ongoing and planned efforts to improve service, including detailed
plans outlining the steps needed to improve service.\4\ The Board will
also direct BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and UP to address the extent to which crew
shortages, particularly in the context of past employment reductions
and current hiring difficulties, may have contributed to these service
problems, and their plans, if any, to change and improve their hiring
and employee retention policies to alleviate the acute crew shortages
that appear to be among the central causes of the current service
issues. In addition to the required participation of BNSF, CSXT, NSR,
and UP, because the above-discussed problems have also been occurring
to some degree on an industry-wide basis, the Board invites and will
welcome the attendance of executive-level officials, including
operating and human resources officials, of CN, KCS, and CP, and
invites any other interested carriers to participate.
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\3\ The Board is directing BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and UP to appear
because most recent service issues involve these four carriers.
Additionally, other carriers and interested persons are invited to
participate. The Board notes that it is prepared to address service
problems with respect to any of the Class I carriers, as
appropriate.
\4\ In response to letters from Chairman Martin J. Oberman dated
May 27, 2021, October 18, 2021, and November 23, 2021, Class I
carriers have provided the Board with information about their
service performance and workforce levels. Chairman Oberman's letters
and Class I carriers' responsive letters are available on the
Board's website at www.stb.gov (open tab ``News & Communications'' &
select ``Non-Docketed Public Correspondence''). While the Board
appreciates the information that Class I carriers have provided thus
far, the trends discussed above demonstrate that service has
continued to deteriorate, and the ongoing service problems and crew
shortages indicate that the Class I carriers need to take additional
steps to ensure adequate service. Accordingly, BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and
UP should prepare to discuss at the hearing, with specificity, their
most recent efforts to improve service and their proposed timeline
for recovery.
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The Board also encourages affected rail customers, shipper
organizations, labor organizations, and other interested parties to
appear at the public hearing to discuss their service concerns and
comment on carriers' efforts toward service recovery.\5\
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\5\ The Board's public hearing is not intended to replace the
informal and confidential dispute resolution process facilitated by
the Board's Rail Customer and Public Assistance, and stakeholders
are encouraged to continue communicating through that office.
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Board Releases and Transcript Availability: Decisions and notices
of the Board, including this notice, are available on the Board's
website at www.stb.gov. The Board will issue a separate notice
containing the schedule of appearances. A transcript of the hearing
will be posted on the Board's website once it is available.
It is ordered:
1. A public hearing will be held on April 26 and 27, 2022,
beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day, in the Hearing Room of the Board's
headquarters, located at 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
2. Executive-level officials, including operating and human
resources officials, of BNSF, CSXT, NSR, and UP are directed to appear
at the public hearing, as discussed above.
3. By April 14, 2022, BNSF, CSXT, NSR, UP and any other person
wishing to speak at the hearing shall file with the Board a notice of
intent to participate identifying the party, the proposed speaker(s),
and the time requested.
4. Written testimony by hearing participants (which is optional)
and written comments from any other interested persons may be filed by
April 22, 2022.
5. Filings will be posted to the Board's website and need not be
served on any hearing participants or other commenters.
6. This decision is effective on its service date.
7. This decision will be published in the Federal Register.
Decided: April 7, 2022.
By the Board, Board Members Fuchs, Hedlund, Oberman, Primus, and
Schultz.
Aretha Laws-Byrum,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2022-07831 Filed 4-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P