STB Chief Says Rail Capacity Hard to Increase

ASHINGTON — Roger Nober, chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, told trucking industry executives that freight railroads are having difficulty meeting the increased demand for rail service because they have very little excess capacity.

Nober said the situation “is beginning to get challenging” as demand for rail service goes up “because the railroads have really wrenched most of the excess capacity out of the system.”

A lawyer who worked on transportation issues before being appointed to his job by President Bush, Nober made his comments in a speech to industry executives at a luncheon during the Winter Leadership Meeting of American Trucking Associations.

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