Sept. 25, 2024, is the new deadline for all six Class I’s to provide certain service data under the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) final rule on Reciprocal Switching for Inadequate Service. The STB extended it at the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) request and delivered the required template and accompanying instructions that the railroads need to report new, standardized forms of original estimated time of arrival (OETA) and industry spot and pull (ISP) data. Without such actions, AAR said earlier this month, the railroads’ ability to report on time would be “in jeopardy.”
The STB on April 30 adopted new regulations that “provide for the prescription of reciprocal switching agreements as a means to promote adequate freight rail service through access to an additional line-haul freight carrier”; they are effective Sept. 4, 2024.
“Under the new regulations, eligibility for prescription of a reciprocal switching agreement is determined in part using objective performance standards that address reliability in time of arrival, consistency in transit time, and reliability in providing first-mile and last-mile service,” the STB explained in its Aug. 23 decision (download below). “To help implement the new regulations, the Board is requiring all Class I railroads to submit certain service data on an ongoing and standardized basis, which will be generalized and publicly accessible.”
Using the newly provided template and instructions (download below), the railroads’ first reports will be due Sept. 25, with subsequent reports due weekly thereafter, according to the STB. To account for the time extension, STB said the railroads’ Sept. 25 submissions are to include reports for each of the weeks ending Sept. 13 and Sept. 20.
The AAR in its Aug. 20 STB filing reported that “[a]s per the Board’s decision, OETA and ISP ‘data must now be submitted using a standardized template to be developed by the agency.’” According to the association, the Class I’s “have been working to adapt their systems and processes to produce the new metrics as the decision requires,” and are requesting that the STB “delay the initial reporting deadline until 30 days after it provides the standardized template … so the railroads will have sufficient time to comply.”
Further Reading
- Reciprocal Switching: Not Quite Done
- ‘Poor Service’ Drives STB’s Proposed Reciprocal Switching Rule
- Rail Stakeholders Weigh in on Reciprocal Switching Proposal
- STB and Reciprocal Switching: Abject Regulatory Failure
- STB to AAR on Reciprocal Switching: 15 More Days to Comment
- POINT/COUNTERPOINT: STB EP 711, ‘Reciprocal Switching for Inadequate Service’
- A Primer on Reciprocal Switching
- AAR to STB: Reciprocal Switching a ‘Wealth Transfer to More-Profitable Entities’
- STB to AAR: Sorry, No Extension
- STB proposes “forced access” regulations
- Shippers ask STB to deliver a free lunch
