Western Railroad Discussion > Reliable Rail Service bill reintroduced to Congress

You can bet the constituents of many congressman have ringing off the hook on this one. No doubt the STB will be involved in this!  Comments?

:

Quote

https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/reliable-rail-bill-reintroduced/

I'm sure the class 1 executives had a good laugh about that while they were out on the golf course today.

Introducing a bill is nothing. Let's talk if it ever gets through a committee.

hunter harrison is laughing, and he's been dead for a while, you'll get service when i say so.

Adding more regulation of anything doesn't seem to be the flavor of the current Congress

 

This is the third try for this bill. I'm guessing the third time won't be the charm for it.

Posted from Android

alco244 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hunter harrison is laughing, and he's been dead
> for a while, you'll get service when i say so.

Hunter Harrison was not the genus as some might claim. He simply was aware that the Government had swung from over regulation (ICC) to under regulation (STB) and he could cherry pick the freight that payed the highest rate and drop the rest. As stated  by others  common carrier obligation no longer applies. PSR and the deminishing role of freight railroads is more about the lack of  government  regulators  and less about the class1's bowing down to Wall Street.

My point of interest is what happens when the mega-shortline operators, G&W, Watco, find it
near impossible to get their freight moved off their shortlines. Do the Class 1s get smart and
contract the use of their lines to private operators? What's next?

Out 

while i am not a fan of harrison, he did have a few OK ideals, but he didn't or would not compromise with labor and customers. employees were terrorized, and fired to be made examples to others, customers were told, my way or the hi-way, which sadly is, what customers, who could, did, switched to trucks,short term gain financially, long term decline in rail shipping.

> You can bet the constituents of many congressman
> have ringing off the hook on this one.

Um....yes.   If there's one issue that unites tens of millions of ordinary citizens, of all economic and political leanings, it's freight railroading.

NWRail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm sure the class 1 executives had a good laugh
> about that while they were out on the golf course
> today.

Including the CEOs of UPS, Amazon and JB Hunt, right?  

memphisfreight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NWRail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm sure the class 1 executives had a good
> laugh
> > about that while they were out on the golf
> course
> > today.
>
> Including the CEOs of UPS, Amazon and JB Hunt,
> right?  


Probably.   This bill isn't really aimed at the business those companies provide railroads.

yorknl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > You can bet the constituents of many
> congressman
> > have ringing off the hook on this one.
>
> Um....yes.   If there's one issue that unites
> tens of millions of ordinary citizens, of all
> economic and political leanings, it's freight
> railroading.

Senators Baldwin and Marshall represent states with considerable grain production.
 

Key Provisions
Clarifies Common Carrier Obligation: Amends Section 11101 of Title 49, U.S. Code, to require rail carriers to provide transportation that meets shippers’ needs for timely, efficient, and reliable service, fulfilling reasonable service requirements.

Surface Transportation Board (STB) Criteria: Establishes specific factors for the STB to evaluate when determining if carriers meet their obligations, including:

Impacts of reduced service frequency or local service availability.

Effects of workforce reductions (e.g., train crews, maintenance staff).

Equipment and infrastructure availability or reductions.

Whether service meets shippers’ operational needs for efficient delivery.

Expedited STB Proceedings: Requires the STB to fast-track reviews of alleged violations.
Transparency: Mandates carriers to provide shippers with clear information on rates, service terms, and reasonable transit times.

------------------------------------------------------
when there's a whole lot of 'reasonables', 'obligations','requirements' and 'violations' 
while railroad corporations are run by wall street cesspool dwellers
it's obvious to me that the lawyers who are behind this bill would like to drain railroad corporation pockets which won't help anyone but them
but perhaps that's the point



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/25 07:53 by dragoon.

dragoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Key Provisions
> Clarifies Common Carrier Obligation: Amends
> Section 11101 of Title 49, U.S. Code, to require
> rail carriers to provide transportation that meets
> shippers’ needs for timely, efficient, and
> reliable service, fulfilling reasonable service
> requirements.
>
> Surface Transportation Board (STB) Criteria:
> Establishes specific factors for the STB to
> evaluate when determining if carriers meet their
> obligations, including:
>
> Impacts of reduced service frequency or local
> service availability.
>
> Effects of workforce reductions (e.g., train
> crews, maintenance staff).
>
> Equipment and infrastructure availability or
> reductions.
>
> Whether service meets shippers’ operational
> needs for efficient delivery.
>
> Expedited STB Proceedings: Requires the STB to
> fast-track reviews of alleged violations.
> Transparency: Mandates carriers to provide
> shippers with clear information on rates, service
> terms, and reasonable transit times.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> ----
> when there's a whole lot of 'reasonables',
> 'obligations','requirements' and 'violations' 
> while railroad corporations are run by wall street
> cesspool dwellers
> it's obvious to me that the lawyers who are behind
> this bill would like to drain railroad corporation
> pockets which won't help anyone but them
> but perhaps that's the point


I think it's a vehicle for major shippers/receivers, who most of the time are probably OK with the service they receive, using the experiences of small shippers/receivers to try to get their rates cut. The big ones will get what they want, the small ones will still be left out on their own.

Posted from Android

yorknl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > You can bet the constituents of many
> congressman
> > have ringing off the hook on this one.
>
> Um....yes.   If there's one issue that unites
> tens of millions of ordinary citizens, of all
> economic and political leanings, it's freight
> railroading.

Um yes i get the sarcasm. Sadly ordinary citizens view freight trains both  dirty and covered in graffiti as  the inner city ghetto rolling by. 

Said so true!  Filthy, dirty locos, inside and out, grafitti covered cars with some containers broken into makes for a sad and sorry condition of the once glorious and adorned freight carriers.  Now it's scads of clean, bright 18-wheelers we now deal with on the nations highways.  That's progress that was forecasted nearly 50 years ago when the trucks and drivers were being suggested to cover the USA on the Interstate roads either being constructed and already built.  Evolution it is and filthy trains for we railfans!

rrman6 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Evolution
> it is and filthy trains for we railfans!

I didn't know you were offering to clean them.......