§10706 Rate agreements: exemption from antitrust laws

Summary

Rail carriers that team up with other carriers to set rates, rules, or how they share charges must ask the Board for permission first. The Board will only allow such agreements if they help federal transportation goals and may add rules to make them fit those goals. If the Board approves an agreement, the carriers can follow it and certain federal antitrust laws do not apply while they act under that approved agreement. Carriers asking for approval must file a sworn statement listing the carrier’s name, headquarters address and phone, its affiliates, and the names and addresses of officers, directors, and anyone (and their affiliates) who owns or controls $1,000,000 or more of its debt or equity. An organization operating under an approved agreement must decide on any rate or rule proposal within 120 days. Such organizations must not let carriers from another line help set or vote on single-line rates, or take part in setting rates for an interline movement unless the carrier practically takes part in that movement, or vote across multiple routes between the same endpoints except with carriers on the same route. The Board can delay these limits if needed. If someone claims a carrier voted or agreed improperly, the claimant must prove the vote or agreement happened; doing the same thing as others is not enough to prove it. Meetings must be recorded and vote records kept and sent to the Board and other federal agencies, but those records are kept confidential. Carriers may make agreements only to compile or publish rates without prior Board permission, and those publishing agreements are also exempt from the listed antitrust laws, but the Board can investigate and stop them if they go beyond that. Two or more shippers that agree among themselves about how much carriers should pay to use shipper-owned rolling stock must get Board approval; the Board must approve or deny within one year. If the Board approves and the parties cannot agree on payment, any party can ask the Board to settle and the Board must issue a binding decision within 90 days based on reasonableness and past practice. The Board can require records, inspect them, review or change approvals to protect the public interest, delay changes to avoid hardship, and start proceedings itself. The Federal Trade Commission, with the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, must regularly check for anti-competitive problems in approved agreements or organizations and report those findings to the Board; those reports are published and made public under section 552(a) of title 5. Definitions (one line each): affiliate — a person or company that controls, is controlled by, or shares common control, with at least 5 percent equity; single-line rate — a rate proposed by one carrier that applies only over that carrier’s line and can be carried out by that carrier alone; practicably participates in the movement — the Board will define what this means by rule.