Paul Hitchcock is a Senior Policy Advisor for Holland
& Knight's
Jacksonville office.
In the most closely watched rail industry litigation in the
country, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has
denied class certification in the railroads' fuel surcharge
antitrust litigation.
The long awaited decision comes in In re Rail Freight Fuel
Surcharge Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1869. This case, now a
decade old, has been to the D.C. Circuit once on class
certification and was remanded. Following a week-long second
hearing, a decision on class certification had been pending for a
year.
The fundamental allegation in the case is that the defendants,
the four largest railroads in the United States, conspired to set
fuel surcharges that were stated as a percentage of the base rate
each assesses its customers. In denying class certification, the
court found that plaintiffs failed to meet Rule 23's
requirement that questions of law or fact common to the
