TRANSPORTATION

 

***************************************************************

 

Baker & Miller PLLC attorneys have significant legal expertise and industry knowledge of the issues impacting domestic and international asset-based carriers – railroads, trucking companies, airlines, and ship lines -- and the users of those systems – including shippers, warehousemen, forwarders, and brokers.  Baker & Miller’s experience covers all modes and all types of proceedings – from litigation in state and federal courts involving cargo claims, the interplay between federal and state authority, declaratory orders, breach of contract claims, antitrust violations, and appeals  – to handling a variety of matters before government entities such as:

 

U.S. Congress (Senate and House)

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Railroad Administration

Railroad Retirement Board

Surface Transportation Board

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

 

Baker & Miller attorneys also have helped negotiate, draft, and implement contracts; developed regulatory and antitrust compliance programs; provided regulatory due diligence in consolidations and IPO’s; worked with management to develop strategies to achieve cost reductions for transportation services; and created and reviewed logistics and supply agreements.  In short, no matter the mode or the issue, if it involves the transportation industry, Baker & Miller can provide significant value in addressing your concerns, protecting your strategic value, and helping you to reduce costs.

 

Some of the representative transactions over the past two decades involving Baker & Miller attorneys include:

 

****************************************************************************

 

RAILROAD ISSUES

(Carriers, Shippers, Governments)

 

• Representing a rail carrier or a shipper with respect to the following railroad consolidations and mergers:  Burlington Northern/Santa Fe; Union Pacific/Southern Pacific; Kansas City Southern/Gateway Western; Canadian National/Illinois Central; CSX/Norfolk Southern/Conrail; Canadian National/Burlington Northern Santa Fe; Canadian National/Wisconsin Central; Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern/Iowa, Chicago & Eastern; and Kansas City Southern/Texas Mexican/TFM.

• Participating in Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rulemakings and representing clients before the FRA.
• Facilitating rail line sales and abandonment of inactive rail lines, negotiating acquisitions, and obtaining all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.
• Assisting clients in submitting applications for federal loan funding programs, including the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program.
• Recording security interests in rail rolling stock as required by lending agreements.
• Advising clients on regulatory issues arising under the ICC Termination Act of 1995.
• Negotiating rate and service contracts, trackage right agreements, and joint facility agreements.
• Helping shippers and railroads to acquire underutilized rail lines through the feeder railroad development and offer of financial assistance forced-sale processes.

• Organizing rail line acquisitions by several clients, dealing with regulatory authorization and compliance matters, real estate issues and operating contracts.
• Representing shippers and carriers in rail line construction proceedings that create alternative service routes and additional competition.

• Providing advice regarding the rail privatization process in Mexico.

 

****************************************************************************

 

TRUCKING

 

• Providing ongoing advice on regulatory developments impacting trucking operations.
• Analyzing warehousing and distribution systems of major manufacturers and obtaining regulatory and judicial approvals necessary to enable those manufacturers to cut delivery costs in certain markets.
• Defending truck operators in safety compliance proceedings before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its predecessor.
• Coordinating multi-jurisdiction defense against trucking companies seeking to collect freight charges for past services, and resolving claims with little or no payout by the defendants.
• Assisting clients with regulatory compliance in startup of trucking operations.
• Representing a major fleet operator in FMCSA rulemaking regarding truck driver hours of service.
• Serving as special transportation counsel for a transaction involving the merger of large trucking companies specializing in the transportation of chemicals.
• Counseling motor carriers on contracting practices and developing appropriate contracting tools.
• Obtaining antitrust clearance and regulatory approvals for the merger of the largest U.S. hauler of automobiles and the second largest Canadian carrier in the same market.

****************************************************************************

 

 

LEGISLATIVE COUNSELING

 

• Monitoring legislative developments in the transportation field.
• Preparing briefings, talking points and Congressional testimony for corporate CEOs and Presidential appointees.
• Drafting legislative proposals regarding:

 

• Streamlining the process for expanding airport capacity and eliminating conflicts between local, state, and federal government procedures;
• Government financing of infrastructure improvements for shortline and regional railroads;
• Establishing a commission of experts to determine the best means of revising the antitrust laws to facilitate internet transactions in the transportation industry.

 

• Assisting in drafting of key provisions of various transportation statutes and reauthorizations.

 

****************************************************************************

 

OTHER USERS AND PARTIES

(Shippers, Warehouses, Logistics Companies, Investors, Local Governments)

 

• Counseling one of the nation’s largest private equity investment firms regarding various proposed purchases of major transportation providers.
• Developing, drafting, and analyzing transportation service contracts and distribution agreements for shippers and third-party logistics suppliers.
• Advising a Fortune 500 manufacturer regarding its options to either acquire a financially-troubled service provider or to terminate the provider’s contract and, in the process, discovering contract administration oversights by the manufacturer's personnel which, when remedied, reduced the manufacturer’s contract withdrawal liability upon termination of the contract by approximately $1.0 million.
• Guiding a utility company in acquiring rail assets without being obligated to serve the public, a tactic which can also be utilized to separate mass transit operations from freight operations.
• Advising city and county governments on the interplay between federal, state, and local laws regulating the airline, trucking, and railroad industries.
• Advising a group of intermodal marketing companies on methods and procedures available for working cooperatively to reduce costs and improve efficiencies without violating the antitrust laws.
• Advising a consortium of chemical companies on methods and procedures to collectively purchase transportation services so as to reduce transportation costs.

 

****************************************************************************