Railroads Beat Class Certification Appeal in Price-Fixing Case

The country’s top freight railroads beat an appeal Aug. 16 by shippers who unsuccessfully sought class status for their long-running lawsuit alleging a nationwide conspiracy to rig fuel surcharge rates.

The case, part of a consolidated multidistrict suit, targeted the country’s four largest freight railroads—BNSF Railway Co., CSX Transportation Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway Co., and Union Pacific Railway Co.—on behalf of a proposed class of 16,000 shippers. It alleged a scheme to fix prices between 2003 and 2008.

The shippers moved for class certification based on a economic model that sought to isolate the impact of the ...