The Surface Transportation Board, acting on a petition filed by the National Small Shipments Traffic Conference, voted to suspend truck freight rate increases proposed by four motor carrier rate bureaus while the board investigates the rate hikes.
The board’s action means that 5.5% rate increases proposed by EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service Association, Arlington, Va., Middlewest Motor Freight Bureau, Kansas City, Mo., and the Rocky Mountain Motor Tariff Bureau, Denver, did not take effect as planned on Oct. 1.
The decision also applies to the North American Transportation Council, Buffalo, N.Y., which had proposed a 4.9% increase to take effect Oct. 4.
Nasstrac and an affiliated shipper group, the Health and Personal Care Distribution Conference, asked the STB to intervene, arguing that carriers had not provided sufficient justification for the higher tariffs ("Shippers Protest Rate Hikes," 9-27, p. 5).
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