WASHINGTON — The Biden administration wants U.S. regulatory agencies to address consolidation and what it considers to be anticompetitive pricing by railroads and ocean shipping firms, the Wall Street Journal reports in a paywalled article.
The Journal — citing a source familiar with the situation — says the administration will issue an executive order this week asking the Surface Transportation Board and Federal Maritime Commission to address the “aggressive pricing” made possible by consolidation that has left a small number of companies able to charge high fees, raising the expense for companies to ship products.
The executive order will reportedly urge the STB to move forward with a proposed rule on reciprocal or competitive switching, which would allow shippers served by only one railroad to request bids from another railroad, if one is nearby. The STB first proposed such a rule in 2016 but has taken no additional action.
The order will also ask the STB to consider proposals making it easier for shippers to challenge railroad rates, and to make it possible for shippers to create routes across multiple railroads to lower their costs.
The report says this will be just one part of what is expected to be a sweeping executive order with the goal of creating more competition throughout the economy. It will also seek to curtail non-compete agreements that limit job options and job licensing, as well as new rules to address the agricultural economy.
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