Communications between the railroads about fuel surcharges can be included in legal proceedings pertaining to alleged price fixing that occurred in the early 2000s, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Federal agencies in a “friend of the court” filing say discussions among Class I railroads can be admissible as evidence in dozens of lawsuits involving alleged price fixing.
Shippers’ lawsuits on alleged price fixing on fuel surcharges see continued activity. A hearing is scheduled in August.
A U.S. judicial panel will hold a hearing in late January that will take up defendant Class I railroads’ request to move legal proceedings on fuel surcharge price fixing to one court.
Companies file a flurry of lawsuits against the big four U.S. Class I railroads, alleging their fuel surcharge programs violated antitrust laws.
The rulemakings address cost of capital calculations and rail performance data for chemicals and plastics traffic; shippers also press Board to act on fuel surcharges.
A federal appeals court denies a request by rail shippers to form a class lawsuit, and U.S. Senators press the Surface Transportation Board to take action.
Covenant Transport is the first enterprise carrier to lower guidance for Q1 on a numbers of headwinds, none of which are macroeconomic—yet.
