Opinion ID: 180842
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Parties' Agreement to Arbitrate the Rate Floor Dispute

Text: After several years of wrangling, in 2005 the parties entered into a submission agreement concerning the terms under which they would arbitrate BNSF's rate floor claim. In a joint motion to the district court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, they asked the court to issue an order with the following directions: (a) The arbitration board shall adjudicate BNSF's claim that, pursuant to the [1994 award] and the [1985 agreement], the amount of the rate for BNSF single-line service, as provided for in the Award, cannot be less than $11.77 per ton (BNSF Claim). (b) The arbitration board, in adjudicating BNSF's Claim, shall address all of PSO's defenses to BNSF's Claim, including PSO's defense that BNSF's claim is time-barred, and all of BNSF's responses to such defenses. (c) The board shall not consider any claims by BNSF and PSO other than the BNSF Claim referenced in (a) above. Supplemental R. Doc. 3 at 41. The district court adopted this exact language in its subsequent order, and the parties proceeded to arbitration.