Railroad Regulation Since The Staggers Rail Act of 1980
Francis P. Mulvey Vice Chairman Surface Transportation Board
TransAction 2008 Atlantic City, New Jersey April 3, 2008
1 The Deregulation Movement
• Air Cargo Deregulation Act of 1977 • Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 • Motor Carrier Act of 1980 • Staggers Rail Act of 1980 • Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982 • Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995
2 RR Industry Pre-Staggers • 40 Class I Railroads • 9 Railroads bankrupt • Industry-wide low return-on-investment • Railroads unable to raise capital • Railroads faced steadily declining market share • Regulation prevented RRs from any flexibility in pricing to compete with other modes • Carriers could not abandon redundant or light density lines to cut costs • Rates could not cover inflation due to regulatory lag in rate adjustments
3 Staggers Rail Act of 1980
• Railroads given freedom to set rail rates based on demand • Streamlined procedures for the abandonment and sale of rail lines • Encouraged Railroad-Shipper contracts • Expanded ICC power to exempt categories of traffic • Rates evaluated by ICC under a reasonableness test
4 Rail line Rationalization Since Staggers Class I Rail Miles 1830 - 2006
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
0 1830 1860 1890 1920 195 1980 2005 5 Railroad ROI 1970 - 2006
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 90 006 1970 198 19 2000 2002 2004 2 6 RR Employment 1939-2006
1,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0
2 1939 1947 1960 1970 1980 1990 199 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 7 RR Capital Expenditures 1955-2006 (Amounts shown in Thousands)
$9,000,000 Total $8,000,000 $7,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 Roadway & $4,000,000 Structures $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 Equipment $0
5 5 7 9 5 6 97 985 9 99 001 0 1955 19 1 1 1995 19 1 2 2003 20 8 Since Staggers
• Rail industry market share has increased from 37.5% to 41.7% • Rail rates down 55% on average (inflation adjusted) • Railroads’ ROI increased • Railroads substantially increased investment in infrastructure • Improvement in safety performance
9 The Railroad Industry Today
• 7 Class I Railroads • 525 Class II and Class II railroads • Much reduced system through rationalization • Average length of haul – 900 miles
10 The Surface Transportation Board Today • Created by ICC Termination Act of 1995 • Three Board Members • Residual economic regulation of the railroads • Reduced scope of regulatory activity-- many rail movements deemed competitive • Smaller staff
11 STB Mission
• Exclusive review and approval of rail mergers • Review rail rates and practices to ensure they are reasonable and not discriminatory • Approval, including environmental review, of (i) construction of any new rail line or (ii) abandonment of existing lines • Rates for water carriers in non-contiguous domestic trade • Rates for pipelines not carrying energy products
12 STB Merger Authority •Mergers in the post-Staggers Era •STB merger policy in 1990’s •Merger moratorium •Categories of merger transactions (major, significant and minor) •Mergers and downstream impacts •STB merger policy today
13 STB Responsibilities over Rates and Service •Oversee and monitor rail practices nationally •Enforce common carrier obligation •Ensure rail practices are reasonable •Ensure that rates charged captive customers are reasonable •Policies should allow railroads to earn adequate revenues •Determine the railroads’ cost of capital and whether they are revenue adequate 14 Environmental Review • Approval of new construction – DM&E – Yucca Mountain • Abandonment cases (OFAs) • Rails to Trails • Rail transload facilities
15 Other STB Powers • Amtrak - Direct Service Orders • Emergency service orders • Operating issues (e.g. car supply, unreasonable practices) • Industry specific meetings • Ongoing monitoring – Issues of national significance – Certain local disputes needing STB attention
16 Current Issues
• Railroads’ Common Carrier Obligation • Large vs. Small rate case handling • Rail Fuel Surcharges • Paper Barriers • Rail Cost of Capital • Investment in Rail Industry
17 Thank you. Questions?
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