Login
or
Register
Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
Justice Dept investigating BNSF's pricing policies
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
Having just read the article, it says the Justice Department is investigating the practice of Burlington Northern Santa Fe AND Union Pacific, not just BNSF, to see if posting public tariffs for coal movements on the Internet is a violation of antitrust law. <br /> <br />Giving DOJ the benefit of the doubt for a second: So should we assume that it's OK for a gas station or a grocery store to advertise a price on their goods, or a plumber to advertise his rate for unclogging a drain, but not a railroad to name a price for their coal? The federal government would prefer that rates be negotiated secretly? That the public good is advanced by hiding information under rocks? It prefers people to lie in the course of negotiations than to tell the truth? It would prefer the court docket to be loaded up with plaintiffs's suits about rate discrimination? It wants to create an environment that encourages people to file suits alleging, for example, that one man got a better deal because his wife is the admissions officer at a fancy kindergarten and the railroad man's kid was trying to get in? <br /> <br />Supposing this holds up, will it then be illegal for airlines to publish rates on the Internet? Will taxis be prohibited from painting their rates on doors? Wasn't that last one pushed by DOJ to protect the public? <br /> <br />Truly, I'm baffled by this one. <br /> <br />OS <br /> <br /> <br />
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
Update Reply
Join our Community!
Our community is
FREE
to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Login »
Register »
Search the Community
Newsletter Sign-Up
By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our
privacy policy
More great sites from Kalmbach Media
Terms Of Use
|
Privacy Policy
|
Copyright Policy