This story originally aired on Trains.com.
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board will hear from more than three dozen participants during its two-day hearing next month regarding recent trends and strategies for growth in freight railroad traffic.
The hearing, set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 16 and 17 in the board’s hearing room, will be livestreamed on the STB’s YouTube channel.
The board called the hearing last month. It requested that executives from the six Class I railroads attend the hearing, and invited testimony from industry analysts, other railroads, shippers, suppliers and rail labor.
“While the Board recognizes that some shifts in volume may not be primarily within the control of rail carriers, the Board has observed that over the past ten years carload volumes have not grown, and have in fact decreased,” the STB said in announcing the hearing. “The Board wishes to explore how industry participants are strategizing and innovating to reverse this recent trend and achieve freight rail growth. The Board is also interested in shippers’ plans or desire for future use of rail, factors that may affect shipment decisions, and what rail carriers are doing and can do to increase shippers’ use of rail. This hearing presents a chance to discuss opportunities for growth in the freight rail industry, as well as the challenges and effects associated with a failure to grow.”
Thirty-eight companies, associations and individuals have asked to participate in the hearing. Requests to testify were due at the STB Wednesday; written testimony is due by Friday.
Among those notifying the board of their intent to participate:
Railroads
BNSF Railway Chief Marketing Officer Tom Williams and Chief Legal Officer Jill Mulligan
CN Chief Field Operations Officer Derek Taylor and Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Lortie
CPKC Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks
CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs and Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Boone
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw
Union Pacific Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association: Executives from Sierra Northern Railway, R.J. Corman, Iowa Interstate Railroad, New York & Atlantic Railway, and Genesee & Wyoming, along with ASLRRA’s top legal officer
Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies and Chief Economist Rand Ghayad
Shipper trade groups
Alliance for Chemical Distribution
American Chemistry Council
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
Freight Rail Customer Alliance and National Coal Transportation Association
Growth Energy, which represents biofuel producers
National Grain and Feed Association
National Industrial Transportation League
National Mining Association
Private Railcar Food and Beverage Association
The Fertilizer Institute
Suppliers
Half53
Hum Industrial Technology
OptiFuel Systems
Parallel Systems
Railway Supply Institute
Solutionary Rail, an advocacy group that explores rail transportation and the public interest
Lobby groups
CPAC Foundation’s Center for Regulatory Freedom
Washington Legal Foundation
Rail Labor
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division/IBT; Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; SMART-TD Mechanical Division; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; National Conference of Firemen and Oilers; Transport Workers Union of America
SMART-TD
Transportation Trades Division of the AFL-CIO
Wall Street analysts
Loop Capital Markets
Wolfe Research
Consultants
CNJ Rail Corp.
Highroad Consulting
Oliver Wyman LLC
The post Participants line up to bend STB’s ear at rail growth hearing appeared first on FreightWaves.
