Contact Us WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS STB Issues Final Rules for Small Rate Disputes On December 19, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) adopted final rules implementing two streamlined approaches for shippers and railroads to resolve rate disputes, worth up to $4 million in relief over 2 years: a voluntary arbitration program and a procedure known as Final Offer Rate Review (FORR). The voluntary arbitration program will begin only if all seven Class I carriers commit-within 50 days of the final

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... s Federal Register publication date-to participating for 5 years. (If all Class I carriers commit, they will be exempt from the FORR procedure.) The final rule establishing the arbitration program takes effect 30 days from its Federal Register publication date, and the final rule establishing the FORR procedure takes effect 60 days from its Federal Register publication date. According to the STB Chair, "The two rules attempt to strike a balance between the competing interests of various stakeholders"-particularly, between shippers' preference for FORR and the railroads' preference for a voluntary arbitration program. He further observed that both rules "offer relief under similar timeframes, allow for flexibility to use different methodologies, and have the same monetary limits." Diesel Prices Continue To Decline For the 6th straight week, diesel prices continued to decline. For the week ending December 19, the U.S. average diesel fuel price decreased 15.8 cents from the previous week to $4.596 per gallon-97.0 cents above the same week last year. Following the previous 2 weeks' declines of 17.4 cents and 21.3 cents, this was the third week in a row the diesel price had a double-digit drop, as well as the first time since February 28 the price dipped below $4.60 per gallon. In the Midwest, the diesel price fell 17.4 cents per gallon to $4.477, which was also the lowest Midwest price since February 28, when it was $3.968. Amid Expansion, Savannah Port Overhauls Ocean Terminal The Port of Savannah plans to invest $410 million in upgrading one of its terminals to accommodate larger ships, while transforming the port's infrastructure, by 2025, to deal almost exclusively with container cargo. (See, also, Grain Transportation Report, April 14, 2022, third highlight.) Approved by the Georgia Ports Authority's governing board on December 5, the project will convert the ocean terminal to handle container cargo, and the terminal's berths will be upgraded to service two large ships simultaneously, using eight new ship-toshore cranes. Although incoming cargo has begun to subside amid inflation and shifting consumer habits, August and October were two of the Savannah port's busiest months ever. Between January and October of 2022, the Port of Savannah exported approximately 40,000 TEUS of containerized grain, making it the fifth largest gateway for exporting containerized grain.