2140-0015 Supporting Statement A - Waybill Samples 2140-0015 (to ROCIS 2020)

2140-0015
September 2020
Expires 9/30/2020
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
FOR REQUEST OF OMB APPROVAL
UNDER THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT AND 5 C.F.R. § 1320
The Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) requests a modification and a threeyear extension of approval of the regulations governing the collection of the Waybill Sample.
A. Justification.
1. Why the collection is necessary. The Surface Transportation Board is, by statute,
responsible for the economic regulation of common carrier freight railroads and certain other
carriers operating in the United States. In this capacity, the Board often uses the information in
rail-carload waybills to carry out its responsibilities. A carload waybill is a “document or
instrument prepared from the bill of lading contract or shipper’s instructions as to the disposition
of the freight, and [is] 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.” 49 C.F.R. § 1244.1(c).
From these carload waybills, the Board creates an aggregate compilation of the sampled waybills
of all reporting carriers, referred to as the Waybill Sample. The Waybill Sample is the Board’s
principal source of data about freight rail shipments. It has broad application in, among other
things, rate cases, the development of costing systems, productivity studies, exemption decisions,
and analyses of industry trends. The Board has authority to collect this information under
49 U.S.C. §§ 11144, 11145.
The information in the Waybill Sample is used by the Board, other federal agencies (the
Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture, for
example), and industry stakeholders to monitor traffic flows and rate trends in the industry, and
to develop evidence in Board proceedings. The Waybill Sample is also a major source of
information for states developing state transportation plans. In addition, non-government groups
seek access to Waybill Sample data for such uses as market surveys, forecasts of rail-equipment
requirements, economic analyses and forecasts, and academic research.
2. Why the modification is necessary. This modification request stems from the Board’s
proposed rules to amend its regulations with respect to the Waybill Sample data that railroads are
required to submit to the Board. Waybill Sample Reporting, EP 385 (Sub-No. 8) (84 Fed. Reg.
65768 (Nov. 29, 2019)) (NPRM). In the NPRM, the Board proposed to simplify the sampling
rates of non-intermodal carload shipments and to specify separate sampling strata and rates for
intermodal shipments. In the final rule, Waybill Sample Reporting, EP 385 (Sub-No. 8) (85 Fed.
Reg. 54936) (published September 3, 2020) (Final Rule), the Board issued new rules adjusting
the waybill sampling rate for carriers using a computerized system of reporting and provided a
more comprehensive sampling of waybills that would improve the utility of the Waybill Sample
for both the Board and other users of waybill data in a variety of contexts (e.g., increasing the
reliability of parties’ evidentiary presentations in certain rate reasonableness proceedings), which

will further the rail transportation policy goals of 49 U.S.C. § 10101. See 49 U.S.C. § 10101(2),
(4), (6), (13).
3. Extent of automated information collection. Respondents report electronically.
Currently, filers submit flat text files to the Board through an STB contractor, using the FTP or MQ
protocol. The instructions for the Waybill Sample, “Procedure for Sampling Waybill Records by
Computer,” are available on the Board’s website at https://prod.stb.gov/wp-content/uploads/WaybillSample-Directions-Statement-81-exp-9-30-2020.pdf, and general information about the waybill may
be found at https://prod.stb.gov/reports-data/waybill/. Respondents may also contact Pedro
Ramirez by phone at (202) 245-0333 or email at [email protected] to get instructions for
submitting the Waybill Sample electronically or in paper hard copy.
4. Identification of duplication. This information is not duplicated by any other agency.
The Board is the only source of waybill information.
5. Effects on small business. The Board requires a railroad to file carload waybill data for
all line-haul revenue waybills terminated on its lines if: (a) it terminated at least 4,500 revenue
carloads in any of the three preceding years; or (b) it terminated at least 5% of the revenue
carloads terminating in any state in any of the three preceding years. 49 C.F.R. § 1244.2. In
addition, a carrier need only report quarterly (rather than monthly) if it submits computerized (rather
than paper) Waybill Samples or it submits less than 1,000 waybills per year.
6. Impact of less frequent collections. The Waybill Sample may be submitted monthly,
quarterly, or annually, depending on the size of the rail carrier required to submit waybill data.
Less frequent collection would impede the access by government regulators and private stakeholders
to timely information about the industry.
7. Special circumstances. No special circumstances apply to this collection. (Note:
Although 49 C.F.R. § 1244.6 states that railroads submitting computerized Waybill Samples are
required to retain copies of the underlying waybills for four years, that retention period conflicts with
the one-year retention period for waybills provided in § 1220.6. The agency has treated § 1220.6 as
controlling in this matter.)
8. Compliance with 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8. As required, the Board published its proposed
rule change in the NPRM (84 Fed. Reg. 65768 (Nov. 29, 2019)), which provided for a 60-day
comment period (and an additional 30-day period for reply comments through Feb. 27, 2020)
regarding this collection, with specific reference to concerns detailed in the Paperwork
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3521 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
regulations at 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8(d)(3).
In response to the NPRM, the Board received six comments pertaining to the Board’s
burden analysis under the PRA. One comment from CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) offered
estimates for the one-time hourly burden of actual time and costs of collection of Waybill
Sample data. The Board received five other comments that generally pertained to the Board’s
burden analysis under the PRA. The Board addressed all of these comments in the Final Rule
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(85 Fed. Reg. 54936 (September 3, 2020)), finding CSXT’s estimates reasonable, as adjusted in
the Final Rule.
In its comments, CSXT provided two estimates for its one-time hourly burden based on
certain assumptions. First, CSXT estimated a base one-time hourly burden of 200 hours,
assuming (i) the introduction of two new strata, (ii) no changes to the Kth interval and random
starts for the existing strata, and (iii) the use of existing Kth interval and random start tables for
the two new strata. Second, CSXT estimated an additional one-time hourly burden of 50 hours if
new Kth intervals and random start tables were necessary and suggested that other procedural
changes were likely to have a similarly additive effect.
In the Final Rule, the Board addressed CSXT’s estimates, finding them helpful but
adjusting CSXT’s first estimate based on CSXT’s assumptions that were not applicable in the
final rules. The Board found that CSXT’s first assumption—that there will be two new
intermodal strata—was not accurate because the final rule created only one new stratum. The
Board accepted CSXT’s base estimate adjusted for its faulty assumption. Thus, the Board
reduced CSXT’s base estimate of 200 one-time burden hours by half, to 100 one-time burden
hours.
CSXT’s second assumption was for an additional one-time burden of 50 hours for each
time the Board added a new table/interval for the new sampling rates. In the Final Rule, the
Board used this assumption and estimate because the Final Rule created one new sampling rate
requiring a new Kth interval and random starts table. Based on this addition, the Board added 50
one-time hours to the adjusted base estimate of 100 hours for a total of 150 one-time burden
hours (for each railroad providing its own waybills), as incorporated in section 12 below.
In the Final Rule, the Board also addressed the other five comments received. Those
comments were general in nature and provided no data estimates or assumptions upon which to
further adjust the burdens under the PRA. Rather, they related to the PRA burdens in two ways.
First, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and RSI Logistics Inc. proposed general rule changes
that would impact the burdens here. These comments were addressed by the Board in the Final
Rule, but they were not adopted. Second, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers,
Association of American Railroads and National Grain and Feed Association point to the
Board’s estimated total one-time hour burden in the NPRM (80 hours per respondent) as
supporting the limited cost of the changes to the proposed rules. The Board’s estimates were
increased in the Final Rule based on CSXT’s comments, as discussed above, but these comments
remain valid.
9. Payments or gifts to respondents. The Board does not provide any payment or gift to
respondents.
10. Assurance of confidentiality. The Board recognizes that some of the submitted
information is commercially sensitive, and thus the Board’s regulations place limitations on releasing
Waybill Sample data. See 49 C.F.R. § 1244.9.
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11. Justification for collection of sensitive information. No sensitive information of a
personal nature is requested.
12. Estimation of burden hours for respondents.
(1) Number of respondents: 53. The Board categorizes railroads required to report
Waybill Sample data as either quarterly or monthly and as either sampling their
own waybills or having a third party conduct their sampling. The number of
respondents for each category is set forth in Table 1 below.
Table 1 – Respondents
Categories of Respondents*

Number of
Respondents
5
3
2

Railroads that conduct their own sampling and report monthly
Railroads that conduct their own sampling and report quarterly
Railroads that have a third party sample their waybills and report
monthly
Railroads that have a third party sample their waybills and report
43
quarterly
Total Respondents
53
* Respondents that are identified as reporting monthly actually report monthly,
quarterly, and annually (or 17 times per year). All other respondents report quarterly
and annually (five times a year).
(2) Frequency of response: Eight (8) respondents report monthly, quarterly, and
annually; 45 report quarterly and annually
(3) Annual hour burden for all respondents: 861.3 hours. This estimated total burden
hours is shown in Table 2 below.

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Table 2 – Total Burden Hours
Categories of Respondents Number of
Estimated
Respondents Annual Hours
for Samples
Submitted
(unchanged)

Estimated
Annual OneTime Hour
Burden
(Amortized
over 3 Years)

Total
Annual
Hour
Burden

Railroads that conduct
5
their own sampling and
212.5
150
362.5
report monthly
Railroads that conduct
3
their own sampling and
37.5
150
187.5
report quarterly
Railroads that have a third
2
party sample their
42.5
0**
42.5
waybills and report
monthly
Railroads that have a third
43
party sample their
268.8
0**
268.8
waybills and report
quarterly
Totals
53
561.3
300
861.3
** The Board pays for the third-party contractor to prepare samples. There is no onetime hourly or non-hourly burden to these railroads due to the proposed changes.
13. Other costs to respondents. No “non-hour cost” burdens associated with this collection
have been identified. Waybills are created by rail carriers in the normal course of business. Thus,
this collection does not require additional record keeping.
14. Estimated costs to the Board. The Board contracts out the collection of the Waybill
Sample. The annual cost of the contract is $179,599 (based on a three-year average cost). Board staff
also spends time gathering, processing, and evaluating the collection of waybills for the Waybill
Sample. The estimated cost to the Board is approximately 0.1 FTEs, in addition to the Board’s
collection contract.
15. Changes in burden hours. Based on staff’s estimates, the change in reporting
procedures only applies to the eight railroads conducting their own sampling and results in an
estimated one-time burden of approximately 300 hours per railroad providing their own waybills.
Otherwise, the burdens would remain the same.
16. Plans for tabulation and publication. Waybill-Sample data, aggregated at the industry
level to protect commercially sensitive information (and referred to as the Public Use Waybill
Sample), is available on the Board’s website, www.stb.gov (under Industry Data/Economic
Data/Waybill).
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17. Display of expiration date for OMB approval. The expiration date appears on the
instruction document for the collection, which is posted on the Board’s website.
18. Exceptions to Certification Statement. Not applicable.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
Not applicable.

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