The U.S. Surface Transportation Board announced Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 that it is requiring all Class I railroads to publicly file weekly data reports regarding service performance “to promote industry-wide transparency, accountability, and improved service.”
STB’s order follows the its recent public hearings regarding rail service issues, “at which many rail shippers expressed concerns about the lack of publicly available rail service metrics and requested access to certain performance data from the railroads to help them better understand the scope, magnitude, and impact of current service problems,” STB said. “The data collected pursuant to this order will give the Board and interested parties a better real-time understanding of current rail service issues.”
“Although the Board currently monitors various metrics of railroad performance, the Board agrees that there is a need for broader standardized performance data from the railroad industry as it continues to address existing service challenges,” STB said in the order. “The Board also agrees that it is necessary to apply these reporting requirements to all of the Class I carriers. The United States rail system is an interconnected network, and one carrier’s service problems can affect the performance of other carriers. Although the severity differs, shippers have reported problems on multiple carriers. Thus, the Board views the network as a whole, and seeks to better understand performance across the entire network.”
The decision requiring the reporting of service performance data was issued in United States Rail Service Issues—Data Collection, Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 3). That decision may be viewed and downloaded at the STB’s website, www.stb.dot.gov, under “E-LIBRARY / Decisions & Notices / 10/08/14.” Click HERE to access the document.