Re: It Ain't that Easy now that SMART is a Common Carrier
Author: John
Date: 11-26-2021 - 08:51
Legal Beagle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Eliminating the freight business is far from easy
> to implement. Once SMART became a "common
> carrier"
> it became subject to federal "obligations" to
> continue
> the service as long as there were customers to
> serve.
> And four or three is enough to create the
> obligations
> under the federal requirements enforced by the
> STB.
>
> (Was the Board even briefed on this possibility?)
>
> The interesting question is who takes over the
> freight
> assets should SMART be dissolved in 2029, when
> local
> taxpayers demonstrate at their polls their
> unwillingness
> to fund this incredible waste of local taxpayer
> resources.
>
>
> My guess: the state. But that's just a guess.
The NWP was shut down for over ten years having reopened in 2011. The affected businesses relied on trucking and continued operating during that ten year period. It's hard to make the argument that rail service is vital to their survival.Common carrier obligations has become a joke. In the PSR scheme railroads have thousands of rail customers without rail service . The STB will not force SMART to lose money running freight. My guess: the freight will be gone in two to three years.