FOR RELEASE	Contact: Dennis Watson
10/06/2004 (Wednesday)	(202) 565-1596
No. 04-43	FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
	www.stb.gov

Public & Media Advisory: Surface Transportation Board To Hold October 27 Oral Argument Involving a Regional Motor-Carrier Rate Bureau's Request for Nationwide Collective Ratemaking Authority

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Roger Nober has announced that the agency will hold an October 27, 2004 oral argument concerning whether the STB should grant nationwide collective ratemaking authority to the Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference, Inc., which currently operates on a regional basis, in the case entitled Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference, Inc., STB Section 5m Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20).

The STB will hold the oral argument at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, in Room 760, the agency's hearing room, on the 7th Floor of the agency's headquarters in the Mercury Building, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The STB announced its scheduling of the oral argument in its decision issued October 1, 2004 in STB Section 5m Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20). That decision is available for viewing and downloading via the agency's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. A printed copy of the Board's decision also is available for a fee by contacting ASAP Document Solutions, 9332 Annapolis Rd., Suite 103, Lanham, MD 20706, telephone (301) 577-2600, or via asapdc@verizon.net. [STOP]