STB to Continue Railroad Reviews, Sidesteps California Emissions Case
This story appears in the Jan. 12 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Surface Transportation Board, now reduced to two members, decided to wade further into rail service oversight and stay out of a California rail emissions case.
The agency’s flurry of year-end actions came as Daniel Elliott, who was the three-member agency’s chairman since 2009, left when
his holdover appointment ended Dec. 31. President Obama nominated him to a new four-year term in November, but the Senate’s failure to vote on the nomination before adjournment forced him to leave.
Commissioner Deb Miller was named acting chairman.
In response to ongoing delays, the board said it would decide whether its interim requirement for railroads to file detailed weekly service performance should be made permanent.
And in response to the emissions matter, STB said it won’t become involved now in a dispute involving the Environmental Protection Agency and California air quality agencies.
The delay-related decision Dec. 30 launched a formal rulemaking process to study the effectiveness of the interim rail service reports imposed in October after widespread shipper complaints. At that competitive by virtue of the Chinese volumes,” he said.
The deal follows a recent agreement between Dongfeng Motor Group and Nissan Motors, in which Dongfeng purchased the medium- and heavy-duty commercial-vehicle operation from the joint venture DFL, which was jointly owned by those two firms. The major part of that repurchased commercial-vehicle operation has been incorporated into Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles.
The Chinese market for heavy-duty trucks totaled about 774,000 vehicles in 2013, while the corresponding figure for the medium-duty truck market was 286,000 vehicles, according to Volvo.
Dongfeng had “a leading position in both the heavy-duty and medium-duty segments” that year, with sales of 120,600 heavy-duty trucks and 51,000 medium-duty trucks, and market shares of 15.6% and 17.8%, respectively, Volvo said.
Its pro forma 2013 sales were about $5.6 billion, with pro forma operating income of about $150 million.
In the first three quarters of 2014, Dongfeng’s sales were about $4.2 billion, with an operating profit of about $18 million, and it sold 85,000 heavy-duty and 31,000 medium-duty trucks.
Truck makers Daimler AG and Navistar International Corp., as well as heavy engine maker Cummins Inc., also have operations in China or have joint ventures with Chinese companies.
Navistar’s venture is with Chinese truck maker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., and Daimler set up its Daimler Trucks and Buses China unit in 2013.
Cummins said last year that its diesel engines being produced in a partnership with Beiqi Foton Motor Co. will meet China’s NS4 emissions requirements, as well as Euro III and Euro IV standards.
