§10705 Authority: Through Routes, Joint Classifications, Rates, and Divisions Prescribed by Board

Summary

The Board can set through routes, joint classifications, joint rates, how joint rates are split, and the rules for operating those routes for rail carriers it controls. The Board must do this when it thinks the public interest needs it. The Board can also tell a carrier to leave out part of its tracks from a through route that lies between the route’s end points, but only if one of three things is true: a law requires it (sections 10741, 10742, or 11102), leaving them in makes the route unreasonably long, or the Board finds the shorter route gives adequate, more efficient, or cheaper service. If a carriers’ split of a joint rate would break section 10701, the Board must set the split itself. If a Board-ordered split later is found to break section 10701, the Board can pick a fair split and order payments to be adjusted back to the date the complaint was filed, the date an investigation was ordered, or another later date the Board chooses. The Board can include that fix in its original decision.