Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Daniel R. Elliott III will discontinue the practice of sending an annual letter to the railroad industry asking Class I and other railroads to comment on their end-of-year outlook for traffic volumes and operations.
His decision reflects changes that have occurred in the rail industry since mid-2000, with the weekly reporting of service performance data to the agency by Class I railroads also diminishing the need for the “Fall Peak Letter” that the chairman sent out.
“I appreciate the railroad industry’s past responses to the chairman’s annual end-of-year outlook letter,” said Chairman Elliott. “Over the years, the responses have been very helpful to the agency in assessing the preparedness and resilience of the network."
"However, the industry has changed significantly over the past twelve years. With this in mind, it is appropriate to discontinue the practice, especially in light of service performance data that Class I railroads are providing on a weekly basis,” added Elliott.
The practice started in 2004, with the letter motivated by severe capacity constraints and periodic service disruptions that plagued the rail industry during the last decade. Because of these issues, the chairman sought written assurance from the industry as to its preparedness to handle the yearly seasonal spike in agricultural, intermodal, and energy-related traffic.
In recent years, there is no longer a highly-conspicuous peak season. And, in October 2014, the Board began collecting weekly service performance reports from the Class I railroads, providing a snapshot of the industry in near real-time.
Although Elliott has decided to discontinue the practice of requesting outlook letters, he expects the railroad industry to be forthcoming to the agency in the event of unanticipated service disruptions.