SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

The Surface Transportation Board announced today that it is adopting a final rule amending its railroad performance data reporting rules to include certain chemical and plastics traffic as a distinct reporting category to the Class I railroads’ weekly reporting for the “cars-held” metric.  The cars-held metric tracks the average number of loaded and empty railcars that have not moved for 48 hours or longer.

Class I railroads already report certain service performance metrics for a wide range of commodities on a weekly, semiannual, and occasional basis.  With this additional data, both the Board and its stakeholders will be better positioned to monitor chemicals and plastics traffic and detect and mitigate emerging service issues affecting these commodities.

The final rule will become effective on July 20, 2020 (60 days from issuance) and applies to all Class I rail carriers and the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office (CTCO), through its Class I members.

The Board’s final rule in Petition for Rulemaking to Amend 49 C.F.R. Part 1250, Docket No. EP 724 (Sub-No. 5), may be viewed and downloaded from the STB website here.

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