STB adds Erstad, Kitchin to rail shipper council

The Surface Transportation Board has appointed Richard Erstad and Leggett Kitchin to the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC).

Erstad joins RSTAC as a small shipper representative. He is vice president, general counsel and secretary of Hawkins Inc., a specialty chemical and ingredients company. Erstad chairs the regulatory affairs committee of the National Association of Chemical Distributors.

Kitchin joins the council as a large railroad representative. He is VP of industrial products and coal for Norfolk Southern Railway, where he's responsible for the marketing of agricultural and forest products, metals and construction, chemicals and coal. Kitchin also manages sales and customer support for those commodities.

"Both new members have extensive experience with operations in environments where commodities need to be delivered effectively and safely to meet the needs of the public," said STB Chair Martin Oberman in a press release.

The RSTAC was established in 1995 to advise the STB chair, U.S. secretary of transportation and members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The council focuses on issues of importance to small shippers and railroads, including rail-car supply, rates, competition and procedures for addressing claims.