Rail/Intermodal
Surface Transportation Board chairman Martin Oberman will not seek renomination to the agency when his term expires at the end of next month. Oberman made the surprise announcement on November 16, and it raised immediate speculation about who the next chairman will be and what the priorities and direction at the agency will be. Oberman said he will depart the agency in January, shortly into his holdover year after his term expires on December 31.
Oberman spearheaded the board’s review of the CPKC merger and its record seven-year oversight period. STB under his leadership also issued a bold final offer arbitration that is under appeal and focused on improving rail service through additional data reporting and use of emergency service orders.
Another milestone of Oberman’s tenure is the advancement of the long-dormant EP 711 proceeding on reciprocal switching. The board is awaiting reply comments on its proposal that reciprocal switching be available to shippers near a terminal area that can show evidence of inadequate service. Oberman said earlier this year that the board would act quickly to finalize the rules once reply comments were received, and that could in part be because of his imminent departure.
The likely successor to Oberman is unclear, although it almost certainly will be one of the two remaining Democratic members at the agency, Robert Primus or Karen Hedlund. The term of board member Patrick Fuchs, a Republican, expires in mid-January, and his renomination status is unclear. If he were renominated, he would not be a candidate for the chairman’s gavel unless a Republican president wins the 2024 election.
Passenger Rail Advisory Committee
The STB also announced the creation of a Passenger Rail Advisory Committee that will advise the agency on passenger rail issues. The agency has taken on a larger and larger role in passenger rail issues in recent years, and the committee will provide perspectives on some issues that passenger rail operators face.
The committee will operate similarly to the agency’s existing Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee and Grain Car Council. The proposed makeup of the committee includes commuter rail representatives, Amtrak, states that subsidize passenger trains, Class I carriers, and short lines as well as three at-large positions for passenger rail equipment suppliers and passenger rail consultants.
The committee has just one slot for a rail shipper or shipper association to participate and vote on its recommendations. That situation means that shippers concerned about the possibility of passenger service consuming freight capacity will have to rely mostly on rail freight carriers to argue that point.
Volumes
Intermodal volumes increased slightly in the latest week, but there is typically a small seasonal gain right before the Thanksgiving holiday takes hold, so the increase is not unusual. Even last year, there was a slight bump in the week directly before the Thanksgiving holiday, so next week’s data will bear watching to see if there is an early start to the Thanksgiving holiday in intermodal.
On the carload side, volumes increased on strong gains in the coal and automotive sectors. It remains to be seen if volumes will continue to run at those levels as the coal sector faces secular decline and automotive got a bit of a post-strike bump in volumes. Chemicals traffic was another sector that moved up above its five-year average in the latest week and presents a positive read-through to the industrial and manufacturing economy.
