Accountable.US, a non-profit group that examines corporations and special interests, said that the seven major railways, which dominate an industry that carries about 40 percent of, collected a record $1.18 billion in fees for freight stuck in supply chain bottlenecks in the first nine months of 2021.
Companies also lowered expenses through the use of"precision scheduled railroading," which involves streamlining schedules, cutting staff as well as locomotive and car fleets. Before the rail industry’s fees set a record during the pandemic, they had already increased at a rate ten times higher than expenses since 2002, the report said.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, CSX, the fourth biggest railroad company, credited higher fees for its profits and improved its operating ratio, the analysis said, adding that it spent over $2.3 millionUnion Pacific, Canadian National, Norfolk Southern, and Canadian Railway also increased fees, boosting net income, according to the analysis.
Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman, a key federal rail regulator who was appointed by President Joe Biden, has criticized railroads for abusing their market power.