B.C.D. 02-71

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

C & J Railroad Company d/b/a Mississippi Delta Railroad

OCT 2 2 2002

This is the determination ofthe Railroad Retirement Board concerning the status of

C & J Railroad Company d/b/a Mississippi Delta Railroad, as an employer under 

the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231 et seep) and the Railroad

Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. § 351 et seq.).

Information regarding C & J was provided by Reggie Howell, President and sole

owner ofC & J. According to Mr. Howell, C & J was incorporated December 9,

1991, and began doing business as Mississippi Delta Railroad on July 1, 2001.

The rail lines involved and the name, Mississippi Delta Railroad, were leased from

Coahoma County, Mississippi, which had acquired them from a number of

different owners1.

C & J operates 60 miles ofrailroad between Swan Lake and Jonestown.

Mr. Howell, characterizes C & J as a switching railroad which interchanges with 

Canadian National Railways and Illinois Central Railroad Company, covered 

employers under the Acts (B.A. Numbers 1103 and 1516, respectively). C & J has

not obtained authority from the Surface Transportation Board and does not have 

any employees2; Mr. Howell advises that C & J contracts for the provision of

sendees with temporary agencies.

Section 1(a)(1) ofthe Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1)), insofar as

relevant here, defines a covered employer as:

(i) any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction ofthe

Surface Transportation Board under Part A ofsubtitle TV oftitle 49,

United States Code;

1 Gulf & Ohio Railways (B.A. number 9521) and Mississippi Delta Railroad (B.A. number 2575), then a division of

Gulf& Ohio Railways, were held to be employers under the Acts effective December 31, 1985. See Legal Opinion

L-86-57. Apparently both companies reported under the same B.A. number, 2575. The coverage ofGulf& Ohio

Railways was terminated effective July 31, 2001 (B.C.D. 02-20). The termination ofthe coverage of Gulf& Ohio

Railways included the termination ofits division, Mississippi Delta Railroad, though it was not named in the

decision.

2 The Board is presently examining the issue ofthe individuals providing services to C & J Railroad.

BA# 4577
C & J Railroad Company d/b/a Mississippi Delta Railroad

Sections 1(a) and 1(b) ofthe Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C.

§§ 351(a) and (b)) contain substantially the same definition, as does section 3231

ofthe Railroad Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C. § 3231).

The evidence ofrecord establishes that C & J is a carrier operating in interstate 

commerce. The fact that it has not obtained authorization from the Surface

Transportation Board (STB) is not determinative of coverage under the Acts

administered by the Board. As indicated above, the Railroad Retirement Act

covers any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction ofthe STB. The STB has

jurisdiction over transportation by rail carrier. See 45 U.S.C. § 10501. Title 49

U.S.C. § 10102(5) defines a "rail carrier" as a person providing “railroad

transportation for compensation." Accordingly, as a person providing “railroad 

transportation for compensation," C & J would be a rail carrier under the

jurisdiction ofthe STB and therefore would be a carrier under the Railroad

Retirement Act. It may be considered that the Railroad Retirement Act covers

"substantially all those organizations which are intimately related to the

transportation ofpassengers or property by railroad in the United States. S. Rep.

No. 818, 75th Cong. 1st Sess. 4 (1937)." Standard Office Bldg. Corp. v. U.S., 819

F. 2d 1371, 1376 (7th Cir. 1987).

Accordingly, the Board finds that C & J is a rail carrier employer providing carrier

services under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance 

Acts effective July 1, 2001, the date on which it began rail carrier operations.

V. M. Speakman, Jr.