[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

[[Page 22010]]

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