rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Modernizing freight rail regulation
  name:
    name part: National Research Council (U.S.)
    name part: Committee for a Study of Freight Rail Transportation and Regulation,
    role:
      role term: author.
  name:
    name part: National Research Council (U.S.)
    name part: Transportation Research Board,
    role:
      role term: issuing body.
  type of resource: text
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: dcu
    date issued: 2015
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: print
    extent: xii, 264 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
  abstract: "TRB Special Report 318: Modernizing Freight Rail Regulation examines the future role of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in overseeing and regulating the service levels and rate offerings of railroads. This congressionally-requested report recommends approaches to resynchronize a regulatory program that has become outdated. The U.S. freight railroad industry has modernized and has become financially stable since the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, but the study committee finds that some of the industry's economic regulations have not kept pace and should be replaced with practices suited to today's freight rail system. The study committee finds that more appropriate, reliable, and usable procedures are needed for resolving rate disputes. The committee recommends that Congress should prepare to repeal the formula for eligibility for rate relief and should direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a screening tool that compares disputed rates with rates charged in competitive rail markets. Current methods make artificial and arbitrary estimates of the cost of rail shipping. Adjudication can cost millions of dollars, and some cases have taken years to resolve, deterring shippers with smaller claims. Simplified methods that are economically valid and practical have yet to be introduced. The study committee recommends that STB replace hearings on the reasonableness of rates with arbitration hearings that compel faster, more economical resolutions. Merger reviews should be transferred to antitrust agencies, according to the committee, which also recommends that STB collect and analyze shipment-level data on service quality in overseeing the railroads' response to common carrier service obligations."
  table of contents: Study background, charge, and approach -- Historical and policy context -- Persistent concerns and regulatory challenges -- Study charge and approach -- Content and organization of report -- Recent rate trends and service and capacity issues -- Recent rate trends -- Service quality issues -- Concerns about long-term capacity constraints -- Chapter summary -- Review of the rate relief process -- Historical context and links to revenue adequacy -- Variable cost formula -- Market dominance inquiries -- Rate reasonableness standards -- Summary assessment of rate relief procedures -- Rate arbitration in Canada -- Competitive rate benchmarking to identify unusually high rates -- Review of other regulatory provisions -- Common carrier service obligation -- Annual revenue adequacy determination -- Merger review according to a public interest standard -- Authority to order reciprocal switching -- Chapter summary -- Summary assessment and recommendations -- Study context -- Review of rates, service, and capacity issues -- Findings from a review of rail regulation -- Recommendations for regulatory change.
  note: Committee for a Study of Freight Rail Transportation and Regulation, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
  subject:
    geographic code: n-us---
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Freight
    geographic: United States
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Freight
    topic: Rates
    geographic: United States
  subject:
    topic: Railroads and state
    geographic: United States
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Economic aspects
    geographic: United States
  subject:
    topic: Level of service
  subject:
    topic: Freight trains
  subject:
    topic: Freight transportation
  subject:
    topic: Railroads and state
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Economic aspects
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Freight
  subject:
    topic: Railroads
    topic: Freight
    topic: Rates
  subject:
    geographic: United States
  classification: HE2355 .M63 2015
  classification: 354.76/742840973
  related item:
    title info:
      title: Special report (National Research Council (U.S.). Transportation Research Board) ; 318
  identifier: 9780309369060
  identifier: 0309369061
  identifier: 2015023365
  record info:
    record content source: PSt/DLC
    record creation date: 150630
    record change date: 20170928135601.0
    record identifier: in00003596101
    language of cataloging:
      language term: eng