Union Pacific Railroad (UP), BNSF Railway Co. and other railroad companies have come under fire from Oxbow Corp. for violating federal antitrust laws through price-fixing and collusion with other train lines.

The lawsuit, filed last Tuesday by the mining and energy giant, asserts that UP, BNSF and the other companies, CSX Corp. Inc. and Norfolk Southern Corp., conspired to establish elevated fuel surcharges and nixed the negotiation of long-term deals with customers.

UP bit back against the claims with vitriolic comments regarding the Oxbow's longstanding threats against the railroad to bring litigation unless it acceded to Oxbow's demands for commercial concessions. Not only did UP “vigorously” deny the allegations that it violated antitrust laws or fix prices, but said in a statement that many of Oxbow's assertions about UP's fuel surcharge practices paraphrase previous litigation against UP.