Patrick Fuchs, Surface Transportation Board (STB) chairman outlined a set of internal reforms and regulatory initiatives that reflect the board’s three core values: accountability, transparency and collaboration, at the National Grain and Feed Association's (NGFA) 130th Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
Addressing the audience of grain and feed industry stakeholders, Fuchs said early results from internal reforms are already measurable. The board nearly doubled its decision output in the last month of fiscal year 2025 compared to the prior year, and decisions requiring a full board vote increased approximately 150%.
"If we're internally strong, then whatever external reforms made will be implemented more effectively," Fuchs said.
Removing barriers to competition
As for accountability, Fuchs pointed to the board's proposed repeal of 49 C.F.R. Part 1144 — the regulation governing reciprocal switching and through routes that has been in place since the mid-1980s — as a major step toward expanding competitive access for shippers. Under the existing regulation, he noted, no shipper has ever prevailed.
By repealing Part 1144, the STB would shift to a case-by-case statutory standard, giving shippers a more genuine opportunity to seek competitive access, Fuchs said.
The board is also preparing a comprehensive permitting reform proposal that would introduce hard deadlines and remove unnecessary steps from the process, making it faster and less costly to build new rail infrastructure such as elevator spurs.
New dashboards and cleaner data
On transparency, Fuchs announced that the board is nearing final action on a rule that would restore two key service metrics that shippers have said are valuable for operational decision-making: trip plan compliance and industry spot and pull.
Alongside that rulemaking, the STB plans to launch a public-facing service metrics dashboard with data export functionality, replacing the currently cumbersome system for users.
"You won't have to click each spreadsheet for each railroad for each week and then collate the data yourselves," Fuchs said.
A case dashboard is also in development that, for the first time, will give parties an estimated decision timeline when the record on a case closes.
"In the history of the agency, we never before gave people an indication of when they might see the board decision," Fuchs said.
Fuchs called the dashboard a step forward in transparency for shippers and the public.
Confidential assistance and preemption clarity
To highlight the board's commitment to collaboration, Fuchs cited its Rail Customer and Public Assistance Program, which handles roughly 1,500 inquiries per year and can engage carriers on shippers' behalf, sometimes without revealing the shipper's identity.
"There are some instances where you don't have to disclose your identity to the carrier, that we can raise issues and hopefully bring people together," Fuchs said.
Fuchs also said the board is working on a robust preemption policy statement intended to clarify federal authority over state and local rail regulation, which he said has produced an increasingly burdensome patchwork of laws. He noted that states without significant agricultural production may not fully account for the broader national interest when crafting such regulations.
"There may be a state along a route that may not be in North Dakota or Montana and not factoring in the outputs of values of all that is felt by that business activity," he said.
Fuchs said the policy statement, expected in the coming months, is designed to promote dialogue and reduce the need for litigation or formal board proceedings.
Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger decision pending
Fuchs did not address the merits of the pending Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger case but confirmed that the board rejected the initial application in January for three reasons: Failure to provide the entire merger agreement, failure to provide projected market share and misclassification of a terminal railroad in St. Louis, Missouri.
He said the applicants have announced their intent to refile on April 30, after which the board will have 30 days to accept or reject the application.
