The board chairman also says he’s concerned the nation has a less robust freight rail system due to a combination of deep employment cutbacks related to the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, the demarketing of rail service for some commodities and shippers, and Wall Street pressure for ever-lower operating ratios. “There are just many, many parts of the country … where there’s just not real effective competition among rail carriers,” Oberman says. “One leaves with the clear impression that this administration is quite serious in moving forward across the economy and across all government agencies in the area of promoting more robust competition,” Oberman says. Oberman watched President Joe Biden sign the order at the White House on Friday. The order directs more than a dozen federal agencies to take up 72 initiatives aimed at limiting the dominance of large corporations, including railroads. Oberman, addressing the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers today, said the Biden administration’s executive order issued last week dovetails with efforts already under way at the STB. Oberman fully supports the White House’s call for more competition in the rail industry and questions whether Class I railroads are shirking their obligations as common carriers due to pressure from Wall Street. – Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Surface Transportation Board chairman Martin Oberman addresses the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers meeting.

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