2020-12501. Indexing the Annual Operating Revenues of Railroads

The Surface Transportation Board (the Board) is publishing the annual inflation-adjusted index and deflator factors for 2019. The deflator factors are used by the railroads to adjust their gross annual operating revenues for classification purposes. This indexing methodology ensures that railroads are classified based on real business expansion and not on the effects of inflation. Classification is important because it determines the extent to which individual railroads must comply with the Board's reporting requirements.

The Board's deflator factors are based on the annual average Railroad Freight Price Index developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Board's deflator factor is used to deflate revenues for comparison with established revenue thresholds.

The base year for railroads is 1991. The inflation-adjusted indexes and deflator factors are presented as follows:

Railroad Inflation-Adjusted Index and Deflator Factor Table

Year	Index	Deflator
1991	409.50	1 100.00
1992	411.80	99.45
1993	415.50	98.55
1994	418.80	97.70
1995	418.17	97.85
1996	417.46	98.02
1997	419.67	97.50
1998	424.54	96.38
1999	423.01	96.72
2000	428.64	95.45
2001	436.48	93.73
2002	445.03	91.92
2003	454.33	90.03
2004	473.41	86.40
2005	522.41	78.29
2006	567.34	72.09
2007	588.30	69.52
2008	656.78	62.28
2009	619.73	66.00
2010	652.29	62.71
2011	708.80	57.71
2012	740.61	55.23
2013	764.19	53.53
2014	778.41	52.55
2015	749.22	54.60
2016	732.38	55.85
2017	758.95	53.90
2018	801.61	51.03
2019	825.94	49.52

Application of the annual deflator factors results in the following annual revenue thresholds:

Railroad Revenue Thresholds

Year	Factor	Class I	Class II
2015	0.5460	457,913,998	36,633,120
2016	0.5585	447,621,226	35,809,698
2017	0.5390	463,860,933	37,108,875
2018	0.5103	489,935,956	39,194,876
2019	0.4952	504,803,294	40,384,263

DATES:

The inflation-adjusted indexes and deflator factors are effective January 1, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Pedro Ramirez at [phone]. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal Relay Service at [phone].

Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

Decided: June 4, 2020.

By the Board, Dr. William J. Brennan, Director, Office of Economics.

Kenyatta Clay,

Clearance Clerk.

Footnotes

1.  In Montana Rail Link, Inc., & Wisconsin Central Ltd., Joint Petition for Rulemaking with Respect to 49 CFR Part 1201, 8 I.C.C.2d 625 (1992), the Board's predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, raised the revenue classification level for Class I railroads from $50 million (1978 dollars) to $250 million (1991 dollars), effective for the reporting year beginning January 1, 1992. The Class II threshold was also raised from $10 million (1978 dollars) to $20 million (1991 dollars). On May 14, 2020, the Board opened a rulemaking proceeding and invited comment on issues related to the Class I carrier revenue threshold determination in response to a petition for rulemaking. Mont. Rail Link, Inc.—Pet. For Rulemaking—Classification of Carriers, EP 763 (STB served May 14, 2020).