§10709 Contracts

Summary

Railroads may make private contracts with customers to provide specific rail service at agreed rates and terms. Each party only has to follow what the contract says. These contracts and the transportation under them are not covered by the usual rules in this part and cannot later be attacked before the Board or a court for violating those rules. If someone claims a contract was broken, they must sue in an appropriate State court or a United States district court unless the parties agree to something else; the law does not create original federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 or 1337. Any contract that existed on October 1, 1980 is treated as allowed. A carrier still must meet its common‑carrier duties under section 11101 for traffic not covered by a contract. Summaries of contracts for moving agricultural products must be filed with the Board with the nonconfidential information the Board requires, and the Board will make rules so essential terms are public. Papers about such contracts are not subject to the mandatory disclosure rules of section 552. Within 30 days after a contract summary is filed, the Board may open a review if a shipper or a port files a complaint saying they will be harmed — for example, a shipper saying the carrier can’t meet its common‑carrier duties, a port saying it will face unfair treatment, or (for agricultural shippers) that the carrier refused a similar contract or the deal is a destructive competitive practice. The Board must decide within 30 days (or a shorter time it sets) and, if it finds a refusal‑to‑contract problem, can order the carrier to offer substantially similar rates and service with justified differences. “Unreasonable discrimination” has the same meaning as in section 10741.