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Re: Another Assault on the Common Carrier Status of Railroads
Author: mook
Date: 10-21-2014 - 14:43
A bit of background from some web searching ... enjoy!
It's questionable whether railroads are truly common carriers any more. While not officially eliminating their status as such (railroads are still more regulated than other transportation modes), the 1980 Staggers Act largely deregulated railroads, applying some limits to application of the concept.
Taken with several bags of salt (given the source), this article from about the time Staggers (railroad deregulation) was approved (signed by Jimmy Carter!) provides a fairly good description of what happened and why.
[www.cato.org]
In 2005, the Brookings Institution (often considered opposite in orientation from Cato) described the success of Staggers:
[www.brookings.edu]
AAR also weighed in, in 2005:
[govinfo.library.unt.edu]
By 2010, views had changed somewhat, as shown in this report to the U.S. Senate committee, though it was still clear that Staggers had changed and probably saved the railroads:
[www.mgfa.org]
Obligatory Wikipedia references (use with caution - verify sources):
Common Carrier
Rail Transportation in the U.S.
And a 2010 thread right here that discussed the Staggers Act on its 30th birthday, in 2010:
[www.altamontpress.com]
For those with an iron stomach for bureacratese, the Surface Transportation Board held hearings in 2008 regarding the common carrier obligations of railroads. If you really need help getting to sleep ... enjoy some transcripts (if the links work - if they don't, use the STB transcript system and search):
Day 1
Day 2
Hazardous Materials Obligations Hearing
Public Meeting re Rail Competition Study
Rail Competition Study - full pdf
It's questionable whether railroads are truly common carriers any more. While not officially eliminating their status as such (railroads are still more regulated than other transportation modes), the 1980 Staggers Act largely deregulated railroads, applying some limits to application of the concept.
Taken with several bags of salt (given the source), this article from about the time Staggers (railroad deregulation) was approved (signed by Jimmy Carter!) provides a fairly good description of what happened and why.
[www.cato.org]
In 2005, the Brookings Institution (often considered opposite in orientation from Cato) described the success of Staggers:
[www.brookings.edu]
AAR also weighed in, in 2005:
[govinfo.library.unt.edu]
By 2010, views had changed somewhat, as shown in this report to the U.S. Senate committee, though it was still clear that Staggers had changed and probably saved the railroads:
[www.mgfa.org]
Obligatory Wikipedia references (use with caution - verify sources):
Common Carrier
Rail Transportation in the U.S.
And a 2010 thread right here that discussed the Staggers Act on its 30th birthday, in 2010:
[www.altamontpress.com]
For those with an iron stomach for bureacratese, the Surface Transportation Board held hearings in 2008 regarding the common carrier obligations of railroads. If you really need help getting to sleep ... enjoy some transcripts (if the links work - if they don't, use the STB transcript system and search):
Day 1
Day 2
Hazardous Materials Obligations Hearing
Public Meeting re Rail Competition Study
Rail Competition Study - full pdf
