WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new General Accounting Office (GAO) report released on July 1 regarding freight railroad rates found that rail rates generally decreased for most commodities during the 1997 through 2000 time period, according to a report on the House Transportation & Infrastructure’s website.
The entire report, entitled “Railroad Regulation: Changes In Freight Railroad Rates From 1997 through 2000” (GAO-02-524) can be accessed at the GAO website at: www.gao.gov.
The GAO report was prepared at the request of U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“I commend the General Accounting Office for a job well done, in response to my request for an updated ‘snapshot’ of rail freight rates in the United States,” Young said. “This study, like its 1999 predecessor, is the only such analysis to reflect total access to all U.S. freight rates, including those that are governed by confidential contracts.
“The GAO has found a continuing general decline in freight rail rates, reflecting the continued success of the rail freight industry as revitalized by the 1980 Staggers Rail Act. At the same time, GAO found some commodity categories and distance categories where rates remained level, or increased.
“Rail freight transportation costs are a critical element in our national prosperity and competitiveness. This is even more so now than a few years ago, as more and more industries have adopted ‘just-in-time’ delivery policies for their supplies to achieve higher levels of efficiency. Reliable rail service at a reasonable cost can be a make-or-break factor for many of our basic industries. We have seen a vivid example of this dependence in the last few days, as continued operations by plants where the only freight rail access is the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor have hung in the balance in the current Amtrak financial crisis.
“I expect GAO’s facts and figures will play a prominent and informative role in the continuing debate on reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Board — the agency in charge of economic regulation of freight railroads — and possible changes to the Staggers Act. This excellent study will inform Members, whatever their legislative inclinations on these issues, with a full and comprehensive factual context. GAO has once again lived up to its usual high standard of gathering ‘just the facts.’”