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Sunday, June 9, 2019

12:00 PM - Registration, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, 8th Floor Conference Center 

12:55 PM - ATLP Welcome: John Maggio, President

1:00 PM - Modal Updates Part I
Contributing Editors of the Association Highlights newsletter, provide updates representing each of the modes in transportation.

Moderator: Peter Denton, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington DC
Presenters:
Aviation: John Maggio, Condon & Forsyth, New York, NY
Commuter/Passenger Rail: Steven Osit, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell /Justin Marks, Nossaman LLP
HazMat: Robin Rotman, Bryn Karus, Van Ness Feldman LLP, Washington, DC
Motor Regulatory: Jameson Rice, Holland & Knight LLP, Tampa, FL


2:05 PM - The Ninth Circuit
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed a United States District Court’s grant of summary judgment against Union Pacific Railroad (“UP”). The Ninth Circuit’s holding conflicts with holdings in the Eighth and Tenth Circuits. UP has been leasing land under 1,800 miles of its right of way to the Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline (“SFPP”) and was challenged by adjacent landowners on UP’s ability to lease under its right of way. This Panel will discuss the Ninth Circuit’s ruling

Moderator: Michael McBride, Van Ness Feldman LLP, Washington, DC (invited)
Presenters:
Kristine Little, GKG Law, Washington, DC
Paul Hitchcock, Holland & Knight LLP, Jacksonville, FL (invited)

3:05 PM - BREAK

3:15 PM - Rail Infrastructure
Hear about the legal issues and strategies relating to a range of US rail projects and related endeavors.

Moderator:
Presenters:
Byron Smith, Principal Counsel, Maryland Transit Administration – Purple Line
Zachary Radford, Director of External Relations – Washington Metrorail Safety Commission
Jennifer Hu - Director, Railroad Regulatory and Legal Affairs -Texas Central High-Speed Rail

5:00 pm- 7:00 pm - Welcome Reception, Fox Hall Room, DuPont Circle Hotel

Monday, June 10, 2019

9:00 AM - Legislative Updates
This presentation will provide updates to the 116th Congress and other happenings on Capitol Hill as it relates to the transportation industry.

Moderator: Jason Tutrone, Thompson Hine LLP, Washington, DC
Presenters:
Chance Costello, Legislative Assistant for Sen. John Thune
House Committee staff invited

10:05 AM - The Chevron Doctrine: For Whom the Bell Tolls?
Join a panel discussion of the deference that federal courts give agency interoperations of law and the tea leaves from the Supreme
Court that suggest a change to this bedrock principle of administrative law.


Moderator:
Presenters:

11:05 AM - BREAK

11:15 AM - Independent Contractors: the Shifting Legal Landscape
It’s been a busy year for decisions affecting the still ubiquitous independent contractor driver model, with opinions from the US Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, all impacting the way carriers manage their workforce.  There have also been further developments with regard to employee classification issues involving Canadian truck drivers.  These decisions and the implications of each for the trucking industry and other sectors will be examined.

Moderator:
Presenters:
Rick Pianka, American Trucking Association, Arlington, VA
Lisa Goodfellow, Partner, Miller Thomson LLP, Toronto ON
Prasad Sharma, Partner, Scopelitis Garvin Light Hanson & Feary, Washington DC



12:15 PM - Lunch & Learn, developed by the Young Professionals Committee

1:30 PM - Will the Advent of Precision Scheduled Railroading Spark the Last Round of Mergers Among the Class I Railroads.
Recently, most of the Class I railroads have turned to the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) operation model historically resulting in low operating ratios (ORs). Wall Street has reacted extremely positively to the implementation of PSR. However, it is hard to imagine how these ORs will continue to go down once the effects of PSR have run their course. Will this cause the Class Is to seek each other out for the final round of mergers to drive ORs down further? Will the Surface Transportation Board be amenable to further consolidation of the industry after issuing the merger guidelines in 2001, which make approval of these major transactions more difficult?

Moderator: Daniel Elliott, Conner & Winters
Presenters:
David Konschnik, Former STB
Sam Sipe, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, DC
Michael McBride, Van Ness Feldman LLP, Washington, DC

2:30 PM - BREAK

2:45 PM - Legal Issues Involved in Regulating Demurrage/Detention Practices of Ocean Carriers and Marine Terminals
In response to a petition filed by a coalition of shippers and truckers filed in late 2016, the Federal Maritime Commission (“FMC”) conducted a fact-finding investigation into the demurrage and detention practices of ocean carriers and marine terminal operators. In December of 2018, the FMC adopted the final report of the fact-finding officer, which recommended that a number of measures be pursued by industry working groups organized and guided by the FMC. These measures include: development and adoption of transparent, standardized language for demurrage and detention practices; clear, simple and accessible demurrage and detention billing practices and dispute resolution processes; explicit guidance regarding the types of evidence relevant to resolving demurrage and detention disputes; and consistent notice to cargo interests of container availability.

The panel will consider legal issues presented by the recommended measures, including (i) the extent of the ocean carrier’s common law duty to deliver cargo, and the role of the terminal operator and trucker in the delivery process; (ii) FMC precedent with respect to responsibility for delays in delivering cargo and the continuing relevance of such precedent; (iii) past FMC regulations on demurrage/detention; and (iv) the extent, if any, to which other agencies have adopted regulations and/or policies with respect to demurrage/detention.

Moderator: Wayne Rohde, Cozen O’Connor LLP, Washington, DC
Presenters:
Paul Heylman, Saul Ewing, Washington, DC
TBD

4:30 PM - 90th Annual Meeting Celebration: Dinner Cruise on the Potomac to Mt. Vernon

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

9:00 AM - Modal Updates Part II
Contributing Editors of the Association Highlights newsletter, provide updates representing each of the modes in transportation.

Moderator:
David H. Coburn, Editor, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, DC
Presenters:
Labor: Robert Fried, AALRR, Pleasanton, CA
Maritime: Katie Matison, Lane Powell PC, Seattle, WA
Motor: Steve Block, Foster Pepper PLLC, Seattle, WA
Motor Regulatory: Jameson Rice, Holland & Knight LLP, Tampa, FL
Railroads: Sarah Nural/Linda Stein, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, DC

10:30 AM - BREAK

10:45 AM - Now we are in the final two years of PTC implementation.
Compare and Contrast. What does Industry and Regulators think are the obstacles.

Moderator:
Presenters:
Stephanie Anderson, Federal Railroad Association, Washington, DC
Allison Fultz, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell, LLP, Washington, DC
Mike Rush, Sr. Vice President of Safety and Operations at Association of American Railroads,
Washington, DC

11:50 AM - B2C… And Back Again
Reverse Logistics Presents One of the Biggest Operational Challenges in the World of Ecommerce Due to the Sheer Volume and Cost of Processing Returns. Reverse logistics has been described as “the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin for the purpose of recapturing value or proper disposal.

This includes any situation where goods move from their intended end user back to their distributor or manufacturer, such as in the case of a defective or rejected product. An effective reverse logistics program should improve customer satisfaction, decrease resource investment levels, and reduce storage and distribution costs. An ineffective reverse logistics program could result in significant operational losses, and exposure to unnecessary taxes and customs duties. The risks are even higher in the case of cross-border sales.

This panel will explore the logistics and legalities of handling the return of rejected or damaged goods in the age of business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping.


Moderator: Louis Amato-Gauci, Miller Thomson LLP, Toronto, ON
Presenters:
Jonathan Todd, Benesch, Cleveland, OH
Mark Andrews, Member, Clark Hill plc, Washington DC


12:50 PM - Luncheon with Keynote

2:00 PM - Ethics
Presenter: Tom Spahn, Esq. McGuire Woods, LLP, McLean, VA

3:05 PM - Government Agency Panel: USDOT

Moderator: Ray Atkins, Sidley Austin, LLP, Washington, DC
Presenters:
Anika Cooper, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC
Tyler Wood, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC
Representative invited

4:00 PM - ATLP 90th Annual Meeting Adjourned