FOR RELEASE
Contact: Janie Sheng (202) 245-0221
03/14/2006 (Tuesday)
No. 06-04


FedRelay 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD TO HOLD MAY 11 PUBLIC HEARING ON FUEL SURCHARGES COLLECTED BY RAILROADS


The Surface Transportation Board announced today that the agency will hold a public hearing on the subject of fuel surcharges collected by railroads beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2006, 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 agency will hold the hearing to provide a forum for the expression of views by rail shippers, railroads, and other interested persons, on the manner in which fuel surcharges are calculated and charged by railroads. The cost of fuel is a significant component of the operating costs of providing rail service, and railroads can reasonably be expected to devise methods to collect increases in those costs from their shippers. However, the rail shipper community has voiced concerns that recent fuel surcharges collected by railroads are designed to recover amounts over and above increased fuel costs.



The STB announced the May 11 hearing in its "Notice" in the proceeding entitled Rail Fuel Surcharges, STB Ex Parte No. 661, in a decision issued on March 14, 2006. 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 (202) 306-4004, or via asapdc@verizon.net.



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