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[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 8]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
[CITE: 49CFR1244]

[Page 184-190]
 

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER X--SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 
PART 1244--WAYBILL ANALYSIS OF TRANSPORTATION OF PROPERTY--RAILROADS--Table of Contents



Sec.
1244.1 Definitions.
1244.2 Applicability.
1244.3 Reporting contract shipment waybills and Canadian and Mexican 
          international waybills.
1244.4 Sampling of waybills.
1244.5 Date of filing.
1244.6 Retention of files.
1244.7 Special studies.
1244.8 Analysis of waybill data.
1244.9 Procedures for the release of waybill data.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721, 10707, 11144, 11145.

    Source: 46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981, unless otherwise noted.

Sec. 1244.1  Definitions.

    (a) Railroad--an individual railroad or terminal company subject to 
the Interstate Commerce Act and every receiver, trustee, executor, 
administrator or assignee of any such railroad. If a railroad and its 
railroad subsidiaries report to the Board on a consolidated basis, they 
would collectively be considered as a railroad.
    (b) A railroad subsidiary--a railroad owned or controlled by another 
railroad.
    (c) A waybill, which may be referred to by other names such as mine 
tickets, is the document or instrument prepared from the bill of lading 
contract or shipper's instructions as to the disposition of the freight, 
and used by the railroad(s) involved as the authority to move the 
shipment and as the basis for determining the freight charges and 
interline settlements.

Sec. 1244.2  Applicability.

    (a) Effective July 1, 1981 and thereafter, unless otherwise ordered, 
each railroad as defined in Sec. 1244.1 above is required to file 
waybill sample information for all line-haul revenue waybills terminated 
on its lines if it terminates at least 4,500 revenue carloads in any of 
the three preceding years, or if it terminates at least 5% of the 
revenue carloads terminating in any state in any of the three preceding 
years. A railroad required to file waybill sample information under this 
section shall herein be referred to as subject railroad.
    (b) Waybill terminations shall include all line-haul revenue 
movements terminating for waybilling purposes on the subject railroad's 
line whether the lading is destined for the terminating station as 
denoted on the waybill or the shipment is being rebilled or forwarded to 
the ultimate destination by another railroad or another mode of 
transportation (e.g., lake cargo, inbound transit, or other rebilled 
movements).
    (c) Each subject railroad shall also file the required waybill 
sample information for all of its railroad subsidiaries.
    (d) Each subject railroad shall also file the required waybill 
sample information for any other railroad for which it performs revenue 
billing and/or interline settlements under special agreement.
    (e) The surviving corporate entity of railroads (subject to the 
Interstate Commerce Act) who have merged or reorganized shall be 
required to report waybill sample information if its predecessor 
railroad or any of its predecessor railroads were required to report 
under this section.
    (f) In order to determine the number of carloads terminated in each 
state, railroads not otherwise submitting waybill information must 
report annually the number of carloads terminated by state for the last 
calendar year. These reports shall be submitted by March 1 of the year 
following the report year.
    (g) Transition. This final rule will apply to all subject waybills 
which are in the subject railroad's audit month of July 1981 and all 
audit months thereafter. The former rule will continue to apply to all 
subject waybills for the prior audit months up to and including June 
1981.

Sec. 1244.3  Reporting contract shipment waybills and Canadian and 
          Mexican international waybills.

    (a) All railroads shall identify (flag) contract shipment waybills.

[[Page 185]]

    (b) The revenue associated with contract shipments may be encrypted 
(masked) to safeguard the confidentiality of the contract rates.
    (1) Upon written request, the Board will provide a masking procedure 
for a railroad's use or will mask the contract revenues when the Waybill 
Sample is filed with the Board.
    (2) When a railroad intends to use its own proprietary masking 
procedure, those procedures, and any changes in those procedures, must 
be approved by the Board thirty (30) days prior to their use.
    (3) All railroads that use a proprietary masking procedure, and 
intend to continue to use the same procedure, must certify, by letter to 
the Board, prior to January 31 each year, that the contract revenue 
masking procedures are unchanged.
    (4) All correspondence and certifications concerning masking 
procedures should be addressed to: Director, Office of Economics, 
Environmental Analysis, and Administration, Surface Transportation 
Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001, ATTN: WAYBILL COORDINATOR.
    (c) Railroads moving traffic on the U.S. rail system to the Canadian 
or Mexican border shall include a representative sample of such 
international export traffic in the Waybill Sample.
    (d) Railroads shall identify (flag) such movements as international 
traffic in the waybill records.
    (e) Railroads may report information on the complete rail routing or 
report only information related to the U.S. portion of the movement.
    (f) Railroads may mask revenue divisions associated with cross-
border traffic following the masking procedures set forth in paragraphs 
(a) and (b) of this section.

[65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 53735, Oct. 24, 2001]

Sec. 1244.4  Sampling of waybills.

    (a) Subject railroads shall file waybill sample information in one 
of the following two ways. (1) Authenticated copies of a sample of 
audited revenue waybills--the manual system (Sec. 1244.3(b)). (2) A 
computer tape containing specified information from a sample of 
waybills--the computerized system (Sec. 1244.3(c)).
    (b) The Manual System. (1) The sample of subject waybills shall be 
as follows:
    (i) All waybills with less than 6 carloads per waybill whose serial 
numbers are 1 or end in 01,
    (ii) All waybills with 6 to 25 carloads per waybill whose serial 
numbers end in 1; and,
    (iii) All waybills with 26 or more carloads per waybill whose serial 
numbers end in 1 or 7.
    (2) The expected sampling rates for the manual system are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                Expected
                Numbers of carloads on waybill                   sample
                                                                  rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 to 5........................................................    1/100
6 to 25.......................................................     1/10
26 and over...................................................      1/5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) Upon giving the subject roads 60 days notice, the Board may 
require random serial number endings in lieu of the respective endings 
shown in Sec. 1244.3(b). These random serial number endings would have 
the expected sample rates shown in Sec. 1244.3(b)(2).
    (4) If the subject waybills have no waybill numbers or serial 
numbers, or have seriously flawed waybill or serial numbers, then the 
subject railroad should serialize those documents in blocks of 1,000 or 
blocks of multiples of 1,000 (e.g., 1, 2, . . . 1,000; 1, 2, . . .) and 
use these constructed serial numbers for selection purposes.
    (c) The Computerized System. (1) The tape shall be required to 
conform to the standards and format specified in Statement No. 81-1, 
Procedure for Sampling Waybill Records by Computer, issued by the 
Surface Transportation Board, which may be revised from time to time.
    (2) The sampling rates for the computerized system are as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  Number of carloads on waybill                   Sample
                                                                   rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 to 2..........................................................    1/40
3 to 15.........................................................    1/12
16 to 60........................................................     1/4
61 to 100.......................................................     1/3
101 and over....................................................     1/2
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (d) Controls and Annual Counts. (1) Each subject railroad shall 
maintain a control procedure to ensure complete and accurate reporting 
for the waybill

[[Page 186]]

sampling. All pertinent waybill data shall be included on hard copy 
waybill submissions including inbound references for transit waybills. 
All such pertinent waybill data shall be legible.
    (2) All subject railroads shall maintain a record of the number of 
line-haul revenue carloads that terminated on their line in a calendar 
year and shall furnish this number when requested by the Board.
    (3) All subject railroads using the manual system of reporting shall 
furnish the Board, in accordance with instructions on the Transmittal 
Form OPAD-2, the total counts of line-haul revenue waybills terminated 
in each reporting period for the following three categories:
    (i) Waybills, with less than six carloads per waybill,
    (ii) Waybills with 6 to 25 carloads per waybill, and
    (iii) Waybills with 26 or more carloads per waybill.
    (4) All subject railroads on the computerized system of reporting 
shall furnish the Board the control counts and tape specification 
information as required by the Statement No. 81-1.
    (5) Certification by a responsible officer of the subject railroad 
as to the completeness and accuracy of sample shall be made once a year 
in accordance with the instructions on the Transmittal Forms OPAD-1 or 
OPAD-2.

[46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981, as amended at 46 FR 45141, Sept. 10, 1981. 
Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000]

Sec. 1244.5  Date of filing.

    (a) The reporting period for which subject railroads submit waybill 
sample information shall be the audit (accounting) month except as 
specified below:
    (1) Subject railroads using the computerized system may submit 
waybill sample information quarterly as specified in Statement 81-1.
    (2) Subject railroad using the manual system may submit waybill 
sample information quarterly if it submits fewer than 1,000 waybills per 
year.
    (b) Waybill sample information shall be forwarded no later than 60 
days from the end of the reporting period to the Board.
    (c) When the submitted waybill sample information is returned to the 
submitting railroad for correction, that railroad shall resubmit 
corrected data to the Board promptly but no later than 60 days after its 
receipt.
    (d) Transmittal Forms. (1) Subject railroads using the manual system 
of reporting shall complete the Transmittal Form OPAD-2, to accompany 
each waybill sample submission.
    (2) Subject railroads using the computerized system of reporting 
shall complete the Transmittal Form OPAD-1, to accompany each waybill 
tape submission.

[46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981. Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000]

Sec. 1244.6  Retention of files.

    (a) Subject railroads which submit waybill sample data by the 
computerized system instead of the manual system shall retain the 
underlying hard copy waybills or facsimilies capable of producing 
legible copies, which shall be complete including inbound references for 
transit waybills, for a minimum period of four years.
    (b) This file of retained waybills shall be maintained in such a 
manner that the railroads on the computerized system may readily 
retrieve waybill copies using the waybill identifier code as shown on 
the submitted computerized waybill record.

[46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981. Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000]

Sec. 1244.7  Special studies.

    (a) Although routine submission of hard copy waybills is eliminated 
when a railroad reports under the computerized system, the Board may 
order that railroad to submit hard copies of the underlying waybills for 
special studies.
    (b) The Board may order the subject railroads to supply additional 
data for submitted waybill copies or records for special studies.

[46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981. Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000]

Sec. 1244.8  Analysis of waybill data.

    Users of the waybill sample when presenting waybill analysis before 
the Board shall ensure that the appropriate

[[Page 187]]

weighting factors are applied to account for the stratified sampling. 
See Statement 81-1 for guidelines for weighting waybill data and for 
computing sampling errors.

[46 FR 26784, May 15, 1981. Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000]

Sec. 1244.9  Procedures for the release of waybill data.

    (a) General. The procedures for the release of waybill data identify 
five classes of users of the STB Waybill Sample, define the waybill 
information or data that each class of users may obtain, and set forth 
the applicable requirements for the data's release. They also formalize 
notice and protest procedures for the possible release of waybill data 
to other users to protect against the inappropriate release of 
confidential data. The Director of the Office of Economics, 
Environmental Analysis, and Administration shall be responsible for 
releasing waybill data in accordance with these procedures.
    (b) Class of user, available data, and applicable release 
requirements. (1) Railroads. Each requesting railroad may obtain any 
waybill record from the STB Waybill Sample covering traffic that 
originated, terminated, or was bridged by that railroad. The railroad 
shall not have access to waybill data pertaining to traffic in which it 
did not participate. Also, it must meet all STB and legal requirements 
concerning release of shipper information in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 
11910(a).
    (2) Federal agencies. Each requesting Federal agency (including 
quasi-governmental agencies) may obtain any waybill record from the STB 
Waybill Sample subject to the following requirements:
    (i) The Federal agency shall make the information contained in the 
STB Waybill Sample available only to its employees or those contractors 
working on the particular project or study requiring the waybill data.
    (ii) The Federal agency will ensure that railroads and shippers are 
afforded the same privilege and protection against disclosure of the 
waybill data as the Board provides.
    (iii) The Federal agency will not release any data to the public 
unless the data elements are aggregated to contain at least three 
shippers and to prevent identification of an individual railroad.
    (iv) The Federal agency will refer any requests for waybill data and 
accompanying documentation to the STB for processing and will so inform 
the requesting party of such referral to the Board.
    (v) The Federal agency must sign an agreement annually with the 
Board agreeing to these restrictions.
    (3) States. Each requesting State may obtain any waybill record 
pertaining to traffic that was originated, terminated, interchanged in, 
or that passed through its State subject to the same requirements 
imposed on federal agencies under paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of 
this section.
    (4) Transportation practitioners, consulting firms, and law firms--
specific proceedings. Transportation practitioners, consulting firms and 
law firms may use data from the STB Waybill Sample in preparing verified 
statements to be submitted in formal proceedings before the STB and/or 
State Boards (Board) subject to the following requirements:
    (i) The STB Waybill Sample is the only single source of the data or 
obtaining the data from other sources is burdensome or costly, and the 
data is relevant to issues pendng before the Board.
    (ii) The requestor submits to the STB a written waybill request that 
complies with Sec. 1244.8(e).
    (iii) All waybill data must be returned to the STB, and the firm 
must not keep any copies.
    (iv) A transportation practitioner, consulting firm, or law firm 
must submit any evidence drawn from the STB Waybill Sample to the Board 
only unless the evidence is aggregated to the level of at least three 
shippers and will prevent the identification of an individual railroad. 
Nonaggregated evidence submitted to the Board will be made part of the 
public record only if the Board finds that it does not reveal 
competitively sensitive data. However, evidence found to be sensitive 
may be provided to counsel or other independent representatives for 
other parties subject to the usual and customary protective order issued 
by the Board or appropriate authorized official.

[[Page 188]]

    (v) For each Board proceeding, a firm must sign a confidentiality 
agreement with the STB agreeing to the above restrictions before any 
data will be released. This agreement will permit use of the released 
data for a period of one year from the date the agreement is signed by 
the user. If the data is required for an additional period of time 
because a proceeding is still pending before the Board, the firm must 
sign a new confidentiality agreement covering the data needed for each 
additional year the proceeding is opened.
    (5) Public use. Nonconfidential waybill data may be obtained from 
the ``Public Use Waybill File''. Reports produced from the Public Use 
Waybill File may be used, published, or released. The Public Use Waybill 
File contains the following nonconfidential items:
    (i) Waybill Date (Month, Day, Year).
    (ii) Accounting Period (Month, Year).
    (iii) Number of Carloads.
    (iv) Car Ownership (Rail or Private).
    (v) AAR Car Type.
    (vi) AAR Mechanical Designation.
    (vii) STB Car Type.
    (viii) TOFC/COFC Plan.
    (ix) Number of TOFC/COFC Units.
    (x) TOFC/COFC Unit Ownership.
    (xi) TOFC/COFC Unit Type (Trailer or Container).
    (xii) Hazardous/Bulk Material in Box Car Flag.
    (xiii) Commodity Code--Excluding STCC 49/50 (All 5 digit STCC Codes, 
except STCC 19).
    (xiv) Billed Weight in Tons.
    (xv) Actual Weight in Tons.
    (xvi) Linehaul Freight Revenue.
    (xvii) Transit Revenue.
    (xviii) Miscellaneous Revenue.
    (xix) Interstate/Intrastate Code.
    (xx) Type of Move (Import/Export/Minibridge).
    (xxi) All Rail/Intermodal Code.
    (xxii) Type Move Via Water.
    (xxiii) Outbound Transit Code.
    (xxiv) Substituted Truck for Rail Service.
    (xxv) Rebill Code.
    (xxvi) Estimate of Miles.
    (xxvii) Stratum Identification.
    (xxviii) Replicate Number.
    (xxix) Population Count/Strata Count (expansion factor).
    (xxx) Theoretical Expansion Factor.
    (xxxi) Number of Interchanges.
    (xxxii) Origin BEA (omitted if STCC and BEA pair reveals 
competitively sensitive shipper data).
    (xxxiii) Origin STB Rate Territory.
    (xxxiv) States of Interchanges (first through ninth).
    (xxxv) Termination BEA (omitted if STCC and BEA pair reveals 
competitively sensitive shipper data).
    (xxxvi) Termination STB Rate Territory.
    (xxxvii) Waybill Reporting Period Length.
    (xxxviii) AAR Provided UMBLER Data.
    (xl) Bad Routing Code.
    (xli) Miscellaneous Factored Expanded Data (e.g., carloads).
    (c) Other Users. (1) Users other than those described in paragraphs 
(b)(1) through (b)(5) of this section may file written requests in 
accordance with paragraph (e) of this section for permission to use data 
from the STB Waybill Sample.
    (2) All written requests filed by such users are subject to the 
notice and protest procedures described in paragraph (d) of this 
section.
    (d) Notice and protest procedures for waybill requests by other 
users. Railroads and shippers will be notified and afforded the 
opportunity to protest waybill requests filed by users other than those 
described in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(5) of this section in 
accordance with the following procedures:
    (1) Notice of request for confidential waybill data. Affected 
railroads and shippers will receive notice by Federal Register 
Publication. If railroad specific or shipper specific data are 
requested, those parties will be given written notice of the request.
    (2) Form of notice. The notice shall identify the parties requesting 
the data; describe the type of waybill data requested; and state the 
purpose for which the data is requested. The notice shall include a 
statement that parties seeking information concerning the filing of 
objections should refer to Ex Parte No. 385 (Sub-No. 2), 49 CFR 1224.8, 
or contact the Surface Transportation Board's Office of Economics, 
Environmental Analysis, and Administration.

[[Page 189]]

    (3) Objections to release. (i) Objections to release of the 
confidential waybill data must be filed by the railroad and/or shipper 
no later than 14 calendar days from publication of the notice in the 
Federal Register.
    (ii) An original and 3 copies of each objection shall be filed with 
the Director, Office of Economics, Environmental Analysis, and 
Administration, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423.
    (iii) The objection shall identify the parties seeking the 
confidential waybill data, reiterate the purpose for which the data is 
sought, and state all grounds for objection to full or partial 
disclosure of the requested data.
    (4) Board determination. (i) The Director of the Office of 
Economics, Environmental Analysis, and Administration will consider all 
objections in determining whether to release the requested waybill data. 
Each railroad or shipper who filed objections will be sent written 
notice of the Director's decision not less than 14 calendar days prior 
to the disclosure date.
    (ii) The Board reserves the right to deny the release of waybill 
data although no objections may be filed.
    (iii) Appeals must be filed with the Chairman within 10 days of the 
date of the Director's decision. Responses to appeals must be filed 
within 10 days thereafter (49 CFR 1011.7(b)(1)). The filing of an appeal 
will automatically stay the effect of the Director's decision.
    (e) Content of waybill requests. (1) All requestors under paragraphs 
(b)(4) and (c) of this section shall include the following information:
    (i) A complete and detailed explanation of the purpose for which the 
requested data are needed.
    (ii) A description of the specific waybill data or fields actually 
required (including pertinent geographic areas).
    (iii) A detailed justification as to why the specified waybill data 
are needed.
    (2) An original and 2 copies of the waybill request shall be filed 
with the Director, Office of Economics, Environmental Analysis, and 
Administration, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423.
    (f) Aggregation of confidential shipper data.
    (1) Any shipper data obtained from the Waybill Sample shall not be 
publicly released unless the data are aggregated to include at least 
three shippers.
    (2) To aggregate the waybill data to the level of three shippers, 
the three-FSAC Rule shall be used. Under this rule, there must be at 
least three different freight stations as identified by the Freight 
Station Accounting Code (FSAC) on one railroad or there must be at least 
two more FSAC's than there are railroads present in the waybill data 
being aggregated.
    (3) The three-FSAC Rule shall apply to every number and calculation 
publicly released.
    (4) The Director of OTA will consider requests to apply an 
alternative aggregation method provided the requestor establishes that a 
particular project necessitates an alternative approach and that 
approach effectively protects the identity of individual shippers.
    (g) Complaint procedures. (1) Complaints for alleged breaches of 
confidentiality or misuse of confidential waybill data must include the 
following:
    (i) Identification of all known parties involved in the alleged 
violation.
    (ii) The approximate date(s) of the alleged violations.
    (iii) A full and detailed description of the alleged violation.
    (iv) A description of any resulting harm to the complainant.
    (2) Prior to filing a complaint, a complainant, upon written 
request, may obtain a copy of the incoming waybill request and the 
applicable confidentiality agreement. This request must identify the 
party involved, give the approximate date the data was released, briefly 
describe the alleged violation, and substantiate the need for this 
information for purposes of filing a complaint.
    (3) An original and three (3) copies of the complaint shall be filed 
with the Director, Office of Economics, Environmental Analysis, and 
Administration, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423. A 
copy of the complaint shall also be served on the alleged violator(s).

[[Page 190]]

    (4) An answer must be filed within 20 days after service of the 
complaint.
    (5) All parties will be notified in writing of the Director's 
decision. If the Director determines that a violation has occurred, the 
offending parties will be denied access to the waybill sample for a 
period of time commensurate with the nature of the violation.
    (6) Appeals to the Director's determination shall be filed in 
accordance with paragraph (d)(4)(iii) of this section.
    (h) Munitions shipments. All waybill requests for munition data at 
the 3-digit Standard Transportation Commodity Code (STCC) level or 
greater will be forwarded by the STB to the Department of Defense's 
Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC). The STB will not release 
this type of information without MTMC's consent.

[52 FR 12416, Apr. 16, 1987. Redesignated at 65 FR 37711, June 16, 2000, 
as amended at 67 FR 57534, Sept. 11, 2002]