The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Dec. 20 extended the Class I’s employment-data reporting through Dec. 31, 2025, but is reducing the collection scope.
On April 26-27, 2022, the STB held a public hearing on what it called “the significant performance deterioration of the freight rail industry.” In response to “the extensive problems described at the hearing,” STB on May 6, 2022, issued an order requiring all Class I’s to submit several specific reports on rail service, performance and employment. The “Big Four”—BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and Union Pacific (UP)—were also required to submit service recovery plans, progress reports, and historical data, and participate in biweekly conference calls with the STB staff.
With respect to the employment data, the Board ordered all Class I’s to file the following information for each category of employees covered in the Monthly Report of Number of Railroad Employees (Form C) submitted to the Board’s Office of Economics under 49 C.F.R. § 1246.1:
- Total employee count.
- How many employees were added.
- How many employees were separated (with a breakout of those employees who separated by voluntary resignation).
- How many employees have been furloughed but are potentially available for recall.
- The number of “extra-board employees.”
- For categories 300, 400, 500, and 600, how many employees are working in active service (as opposed to completing training courses).
The Board further ordered: “Carriers should report these data for each railroad operating division to the maximum extent practicable, and should also report these data on a system-wide basis.”
The STB issued subsequent decisions on Oct. 28, 2022, and May 2, 2023, extending both the service and employment data collection periods. In its most recent order (January 2024), the Board did not extend service data reporting “in light of service improvements reflected in the data,” but extended the period for reporting employment data for all Class I’s to Dec. 31, 2024, “in order to assess the durability of the railroads’ service recovery efforts and their ability to meet an increase in demand for service.” The STB noted at that time that “service problems occurred in large part because of a significant reduction in workforce levels at several Class I carriers, which left them unable to handle traffic increases that accompanied the economic recovery that began in late 2020.”
The STB reported in its Dec. 20, 2024, decision (download below) that since its January 2024 Order, “employment at the Class I carriers has been relatively stable, and service has continued to improve.” A limited subset of employment data, it noted, is “useful for monitoring the durability of the service improvements observed since the Board initiated this proceeding.” Continued reporting, at least temporarily, it explained, “will appropriately balance the need for timely information necessary to monitor service sustainability and the reporting burden on carriers.” That’s why the STB is extending the six Class I’s employment data reporting through the period ending Dec. 31, 2025 (ending with January 2026 filings reporting December 2025 employment levels), but reducing the scope of the collection.
Effective with the filing due in January 2025, reflecting employment through Dec. 31, 2024, the STB is directing Class I’s to provide, on a monthly basis, the following information at the system level (not by operating division):
- A count of employees working in active service for employee categories 300, 400, 500, and 600.
- The number of employees furloughed but potentially available for recall for each employee category.
Collection of the other data elements will be discontinued, according to the STB, which noted that it expects to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “seeking comment regarding a permanent collection, under 49 C.F.R. § 1246.1, of simplified employment reporting that would allow the Board to better monitor service issues.”
