The Surface Transportation Board (STB) held a hearing this week to examine grain rail rate rules. The American Soybean Association (ASA) signed a joint letter to the STB before the hearing in support of comments and proposals developed by the National Grain & Feed Association (NGFA).

The letter commended the STB for conducting the hearing on proposals for new railroad rate-reasonableness rules applicable to agricultural commodities and urged them to issue a rulemaking to resolve the issues that have prevented current rate rules from being usable by captive agricultural commodity shippers.

The letter also reiterates the view of many agricultural shippers that the STB’s current rail rate reasonableness rules are too costly, too unwieldy, too time consuming and provide no opportunity for relief to the vast majority of captive rail shippers of agricultural commodities.

Also this week, the Transportation Research Board issued a report concluding that the regulatory regime for adjudicating freight rail rate disputes is broken and needs an overhaul.

The report states that efforts to "protect rail shippers who lack transportation options from excessive rates are not working for shippers of most commodities, including grain" and that other procedures are needed to help resolve rate disputes "without threatening the earnings railroads need to pay for their capital-intensive networks."