The President-elect has created a non-government Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Their goal is to make a comprehensive review of the government and…

STB’s two-day hearing on Sept. 16 and 17 provided a good moment to reflect on the freight railroad industry’s prospects. The hearing entitled “Growth in the Freight Rail Industry” (Ex…

The STB has issued its decision in Ex Parte 711 (Sub No. 2). When it issued its proposed rule in October, I wrote that I thought this was an appropriate…

I have been interested reading the commentary on Ancora’s attempted takeover of Norfolk Southern (NS). I do not have a dog in this fight and am just a spectator sitting…

Three days before Christmas, a coalition of tank car owners asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) what happened to their complaint. The coalition alleges that Union Pacific’s fee for moving…

Interest rates and Federal Reserve policy are prominent in the financial headlines. So, I have been looking at interest rates and possible impacts on railroad finances. I also looked at…

“But first, while time does not permit me to cover all of the issues on the Board’s agenda, I want to discuss what, in my view, is of uppermost concern…

Will this be the year STB revises or reforms URCS, the agency’s Uniform Rail Costing System? I doubt it. From my experience at STB, it is very hard to get…

Union Pacific and Sanimax are currently engaged in an interesting bit of litigation. It’s not a rate case or anything I worked on in my more than 15 years at…