STB orders rate disclosures
by Staff -- Purchasing, 1/17/2002 2:00:00 AM
Barring an unlikely reversal sought by trucking rate bureaus, a Surface Transportation Board (STB) decision requiring "truth in rates" information be supplied to shippers will go into effect March 20.
Although voluntary rate-bureau tariffs have been largely bypassed in transactions for over-the-road shipping since federal deregulation of the trucking industry, the STB decision imposes a new requirement. Bureaus must survey their members and inform shippers of the range of discounts member companies offer from bureau-set noncompetitive tariffs. They also will be barred from using "loss of discount" from bureau rates as a penalty for late payment by shippers.
President Ed Emmett of the National Industrial Transportation League called the STB decision "a step in the right direction." Noting, however, that most actual shipping rates are set by FAK (freight all kinds) and not by the commodity classifications the bureaus use, Emmett called the bureau rates "dinosaurs from an earlier age that a lot of people ignore." The chief benefit, he says, will be to "prevent small shippers from being totally hoodwinked."
Truck safety
Congress has paved the way to lift the ban on Mexican truck shipments beyond the border zone with the U.S. Both houses have passed a compromise on Mexican truck safety. Actual shipments into the U.S. in Mexican trucks cannot take place, however, until the Department of Transportation's Inspector General certifies the U.S. Government's ability to enforce strict safety standards on all Mexican trucks crossing the border. The compromise involves dropping requirements for inspecting all trucks at the border, which could have caused significant delays. The compromise requires, instead, on-site inspections every 90 days in Mexico for trucks to be certified.
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