Federal regulators on Friday banned excessive fuel surcharges by railroads and imposed strict rules on the fees that many companies this week credited with bolstering their quarterly earnings, though the savings were unlikely to trickle down to consumers.

In its decision, the Surface Transportation Board said the railroads must link the surcharges directly with the actual fuel costs for specific rail shipments.

The ruling prohibits “double-dipping,” meaning that fuel costs can’t be calculated into certain price hikes if the shipments already have other fuel surcharges.

The Surface Transportation Board also is proceeding with a proposal to monitor the fuel surcharge practices of the rail industry by imposing mandatory reporting requirements on all large railroads.