Surface Transportation Board

The three-member Surface Transportation Board (STB) was established by the ICC Termination Act of 1995 as a quasi-judicial agency of the United States Department of Transportation.  The Board has exclusive jurisdiction to implement the federal laws regarding the relationship of the railroads with their customers and with each other.

STB’s Jurisdiction

  • The reasonableness of rates charged to captive rail customers;
  • Issues regarding switching facilities and terminal area access;
  • Railroad mergers and acquisitions, including the sale of track to short line railroads from major railroads;
  • Competition issues, including the bottleneck issue and “paper barriers”; and,
  • Emergency service orders.

Most activities of the railroad industry, including mergers and acquisitions, are exempt from the antitrust laws of the nation. Issues within the jurisdiction of the Board may not be litigated in the federal or state courts.

The decisions and policies of the STB establish the guidelines and parameters for railroad actions that are acceptable under the law. Every day, individual captive rail customers and their railroad carriers “negotiate” the rates and terms of movements guided by the decisions of the Board.

STB Commissioners
Board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, each with a five-year term of office and a one-year holdover period.  The three current STB members are: Daniel R. Elliott III, chairman; Ann D. Begeman, vice chairman, and Deb Miller, member.

Recent Relevant STB Hearings

  • Docket No. EP 724, “United States Rail Service Issues”, Public Field Hearing in Fargo, ND (September 4, 2014)
  • Docket No. EP 724, “United States Rail Service Issues”, Public Hearing (April 10, 2014)
  • Docket No. EP 711, “Petition for Rulemaking to Adopt Revised Competitive Switching Rules”, Public Hearing (March 26, 2014)
  • Docket No. EP 711, “Petition for Rulemaking to Adopt Revised Competitive Switching Rules”, Public Hearing (March 25, 2014)
  • Financial Docket No. 35506, “Impact of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.’s acquisition of BNSF on certain costing determinations” (March 22, 2012)
  • Ex Parte No. 705, “Competition in the Freight Rail Industry” (June 22-23, 2011)
  • Ex Parte No. 704, “Revisiting Commodity, Boxcar and Intermodal Regulatory Exemptions” (February 24, 2011)