ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) and the National Classification Committee (NCC) requested the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to extend the effective date of its May 7, 2007 decision terminating the agency’s approval of the NCC’s Section 5a classification-making agreement. NMFTA has stated that while there is no doubt that the maintenance and development of the National Motor Freight Classification will continue, the NCC’s existing structure and procedures may require modification to operate without the protection of antitrust immunity.

It will take time for the NCC to develop modified procedures as well as business adjustments that may be required of the thousands of motor carriers and shippers who presently rely on this national standard, according to NMFTA.

In the NMFTA and NCC’s request to the STB, the organizations indicated the 120-day interval between the service and effective dates of the STB decision is not adequate for the substantial modifications to the NCC structure and the development of revised classification-making procedures that must be approved by the NMFTA membership, as well as the process of preparing a successful application for a business review letter from the United States Department of Justice.

The ruling for modification request indicated that NMFTA member carriers and their shipper customers depend on the NMFC not only for the classes and commodity descriptions, but also for rules, packaging specifications, bills of lading, and listing of carriers. The adjustments that accompany their adaptation to a new classification system could entail having carriers modify systems in place for many years and retraining personnel. Similarly, shipper customers of all 1,100-plus NMFTA members would require a reasonable amount of time in order to adjust a core component of their existing systems. As a result, NMFTA is requesting an implementation date of 18 months from the issuance of the STB ruling.