Rail Regulatory Excellence IntelliConference
Rules and regulations are promulgated in reaction to various events and experiences. Often, they develop a life of their own, untethered to the original intent, frustrating stakeholders. Improvements are often challenging as individual industries and companies beseech government from a vested-interest point of view. The North American Freight Forum will gather all informed perspectives into a body of rail regulatory recommendations to be delivered to the U.S., Mexican and Canadian administrations.
Core Question:
What regulations can stakeholders agree on that are either outdated, de minimis, redundant, counter-productive, or can be improved in support of the growth of railroads and their service?
- In addition to the following, what other areas do regulations apply in owning and operating railroads?
- Financial reporting
- Service reporting
- Licenses and permits
- Employee management
- Train operations
- Maintenance-of-way
- Taxes
- Insurance and liability
- What regulations do not have any impact and are therefore unnecessary?
- What regulations are counter-productive?
- What regulations are redundant, where the issue is handled by another regulation or procedure?
- What regulations should be eliminated because the issue they target is inconsequential?
- What regulations should be improved in some way? How?
- What regulations that apply to all size companies should be amended for smaller companies?
- What activities or relationships need new regulations?
Next Round:
Rail Regulatory IntelliConference: Costs, Benefits, Implications, Priorities
- What process should be established for reviewing and/or sunsetting rules and regulations at intervals or upon change in circumstances?
- How should hard and soft costs of rules and regulations be calculated and recognized?
- How should we prioritize issues for our attention within the North American Freight Forum?
- What changes should be made to rulemaking and regulatory processes?
- How can the NAFF Regulatory IntelliConference process be institutionalized and perpetuated?
- How can the need for rules and regulations be mitigated with trust and cooperation?