The Surface transportation Board (STB) requested comments earlier this year from captive shippers about their proposal to revoke the exemptions for several commodities including ferrous scrap.
ISRI and its
members submitted comments correcting several suggestions about the
transportation needs and practices of the ferrous scrap recycling industry. Some
of these rebuttals included the routine nature of rail use by ferrous scrap
recyclers and the distances materials are shipped. The railroad industry,
through its association and by individual members, suggested that scrap
processors ship the same amount of material to the same steel mills without any
seasonal variations. ISRI countered these suggestions pointing out that scrap
materials often arrive at the processing facilities by rail, travel for further
processing by rail, and then to various steel mills depending on what the needs
of those mills are at that point in the year. ISRI also pointed out that scrap
processors often use rail to reach customers across the country rather than
simply in a small network of a few hundred miles. Moreover, trucking this
material for long distances is simply not practical or cost effective. The STB
is not bound to a regulatory timeframe to arrive at its final decision. In
addition, the incoming Trump administration will be able to appoint new
commissioners to the Board which may change the dynamic of the STB especially
after the STB’s board was expanded by law earlier this year. Another issues
brought up by the STB is the “Switching” rule. Commenters have joined together
to provide evidence of excessive costs and delays as a result of switching
between rail carriers. This rule is also subject to the Board’s approval after
new commissioners have been appointed.
Ferrous Beat Main