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October 27, 1999 9:27 AM, EDT

A bill to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Board would eliminate antitrust immunity for rail and motor carrier rate agreements, pooling arrangements and mergers.

The proposal, submitted by Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater, would subject carriers to antitrust oversight by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Antitrust immunity is essential to the functioning of motor carrier rate bureaus, which establish freight rates based on financial and operating results of many individual carriers.

The Department of Transportation proposal is one of four bills under consideration in the Senate and House to reauthorize the STB, and according to some trucking industry observers, is not likely to go anywhere.

For the full story, see the Oct. 25 print edition of Transport Topics. .