The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) will respond to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruling that would result in the removal of the antitrust immunity granted to the National Classification Committee (NCC) in developing the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC).
On May 7, the STB served a decision in Ex Parte #656 Motor Carrier Bureaus-Periodic Review Proceeding that, if allowed to stand, would result in the elimination of the antitrust immunity for the NCC's classification-making activities, effective Sept 4, 2007.
Since this ruling, there has been some confusion over the future of the NCC and the NMFC. The STB decision states, “It is not our [the STB's] intention to discourage the classification process … We recognize that there are significant benefits to having a classification system.”
Bill Pugh, secretary of the NCC and executive director of the NMFTA, insists that the STB's ruling will not end the need for an industry-wide classification standard.
The STB's decision also would not, and does not, alter the statutory requirement that carriers that use or refer to provisions of the NMFC must participate in the NMFC.
The NCC and the NMFTA will be responding to the STB's decision and, while these issues are being resolved, the NCC's antitrust immunity remains in effect.
For more information, go to www.nmfta.org.