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What regulations can stakeholders agree on that are either outdated, de minimis, redundant, counter-productive, or can be improved in support of the growth of railroads and their service?

  1. In addition to the following, what other areas do regulations apply in owning and operating railroads?
    1. Financial reporting
    2. Service reporting
    3. Licenses and permits
    4. Employee management
    5. Train operations
    6. Maintenance-of-way
    7. Taxes
    8. Insurance and liability
  2. What regulations do not have any impact and are therefore unnecessary?
  3. What regulations are counter-productive?
  4. What regulations are redundant, where the issue is handled by another regulation or procedure?
  5. What regulations should be eliminated because the issue they target is inconsequential?
  6. What regulations should be improved in some way? How?
  7. What regulations that apply to all size companies should be amended for smaller companies?
  8. What activities or relationships need new regulations?

Next Round:

Rail Regulatory IntelliConference: Costs, Benefits, Implications, Priorities

  1. What process should be established for reviewing and/or sunsetting rules and regulations at intervals or upon change in circumstances?
  2. How should hard and soft costs of rules and regulations be calculated and recognized?
  3. How should we prioritize issues for our attention within the North American Freight Forum?
  4. What changes should be made to rulemaking and regulatory processes?
  5. How can the NAFF Regulatory IntelliConference process be institutionalized and perpetuated?
  6. How can the need for rules and regulations be mitigated with trust and cooperation?
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