STB names ex-BNSF manager to head office behind merger and rate analysis

Marty Schlenker, a former BNSF Railway manager, has been appointed director of the STB Office of Economics, the unit that analyzes rail mergers and rate cases for the regulator.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick Fuchs announced the appointment on September 24, 2026, saying it had the Board’s approval. He also named Terrence McDermott as his senior advisor. McDermott was previously Director of Supply Chain—North American Rail at agribusiness group Bunge. Both men moved into their new posts from temporary transition appointments at the agency.

What the Office of Economics covers

The office prepares economic, cost, financial and engineering analysis for Board cases on maximum rail rates, mergers, line abandonments and constructions, and trackage rights. It also oversees accounting and reporting rules for regulated railroads and audits compliance with them. The office keeps the railroad waybill file and runs the Uniform Railroad Costing System, which the Board uses in rate disputes and to estimate branch-line costs in abandonment cases.

Under the announcement, Schlenker’s remit covers data collection and reporting, along with the economic and industry analysis that feeds into Board decisions.

Schlenker’s rail and technology background

Schlenker was head of strategy at Parallel Systems, a startup developing autonomous rail technology, and he has run a supply chain and technology consultancy. His past roles also include a finance position at CSX Transportation and senior service-planning and technology posts at BNSF Railway. He has served in leadership posts in the Railway Applications Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and in the rail engineering association AREMA. His degrees are a master’s in transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation Studies and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Chicago.

Recent holders of the post came to it as economists. In February 2024 the STB appointed Kristen Monaco, then chief economist and director of trade analysis at the Federal Maritime Commission. William Brennan, director from 2016, first joined the Board as an economist in 1999 and rose to deputy director of the office in 2007.

McDermott’s shipper and railroad record

McDermott earlier held senior roles at Ferromex, which is owned by Grupo México and Union Pacific, serving as chief marketing officer and as vice president of sales for agricultural products, intermodal and automotive. He has sat on the STB’s Rail-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council and National Grain Car Council and held leadership posts at the Transportation, Elevator, and Grain Merchants Association and the North American Freight Car Association. He also served on transportation committees of the National Oilseed Processors Association and on the Rail Shippers/Receivers Committee of the National Grain and Feed Association.

Fuchs said McDermott’s experience on both the shipper and the railroad side will be critical as the Board assesses complex supply chain dynamics. In his view, the two appointments strengthen the Board’s analysis of how its actions play out in practice. The agency presented the moves as support for its ongoing reform efforts.

Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern review deadlines

The appointment announcement does not mention specific cases. One major proceeding now before the Board is the review of Union Pacific’s application to take control of Norfolk Southern, docket FD 36873. On August 18, 2026, the Board adopted a procedural schedule and lifted the abeyance on the revised application, stressing that the step was not a ruling on its merits.

On September 18, the Board denied three motions for summary denial filed on August 6 by BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation and a coalition of shipper associations, again without deciding the merits. Opening comments, including protests and requests for conditions, are due by November 18, 2026, and responses by February 16, 2027. The date of a public hearing will be set in a later decision, and the Board expects it to take place before final briefs are due.