CHAPTER VI TARIFF DEPARTMENT Number of Tariffs-Individual Requirements-Request NUMBER OF TARIFFS The freight-rate schedules of transportation companies, or tariffs, as they are commonly styled, correspond with industrial catalogs, or price lists, since they set forth the kind and quality of service offered by the transportation company, and the varying costs attaching to each. It is stated that at the present time there are in effect about 400,000 tariffs applicable on freight traffic that is being handled by our transportation companies. The application on points between which these schedules apply is, of course, confined to different sections of the country. The number of tariffs applying from a given shipping point to various destinations thruout the country is inconsiderable as contrasted with the number of those in effect, and as a consequence the industry can quite easily maintain a tariff file which is well adapted to its particular requirements without a disproportionate expenditure. To accommodate such a number of tariffs and to make provisions for the storing of the superseded issues from time to time, if all of the tariffs are necessary, would require a building of considerable proportions for that purpose alone. The Interstate Commerce Commission at Washington, D. C., is the only agency that attempts to maintain a complete file of all schedules that are or have been applicable on interstate traffic, and it does so because it is charged with that duty by the provisions of the Act to Regulate Commerce. INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS Transportation companies readily supply tariffs to bona fide shippers. Unfortunately, however, some of the shippers in the past have used lists of tariffs filed by the common carriers with federal and state authorities, and selected at random, numbers of tariffs which did not apply to their particular use, and then requested that they be used by the carrier. For this reason, publications are not distributed now with as free a hand as heretofore. An iron industry has no use for tariffs applying on live stock. A request to the tariff issuing officer for tariffs applying on nonallied traffic should usually be accompanied by the reason for its need. The number of tariffs required depends upon the amount of traffic and whether the traffic be of a general or a specific nature. A firm specializing in rough iron work will not have need for as many tariff publications as a wholesale grocery jobber, since the specific tariffs on iron and steel articles will, for the most part, suffice to cover his shipments, whereas a wholesale grocer has need of both commodity and class tariffs. A trained traffic man will have a general knowledge of the tariffs indispensable to his business and will secure them from the issuing agent or official. REQUEST FORMS In securing these publications, it is desirable to design a form which may be easily filled in by a typist or junior clerk. The form illustrated in Fig. 7 has proved satisfactory, as one or a half dozen tariffs may be requested at once. The postal card form reduces labor and postage. Blank spaces are left for the name, title, railroad connection, and address of the officer or association agent on whom the request is made. In the body of the card is to be inserted the I. C. C. number of the schedule, if known, the railroad or committee number, if known, and the class of traffic that the tariff covers. A memorandum of the tariffs requested by this method can be arranged by date of request. Under date of February 8 would be tabulated the name of all the lines on whom request was made, and under each line the number of the publications requested. As the tariffs come in, they may be checked off this memorandum, and when all are received, the memorandum may be destroyed. Sometimes it is necessary to send a second request for a tariff. If this is not successful, a personal letter is sent. BUILDING UP A WORKING FILE The following plan has been successfully employed in building up a working file of tariffs: The agent Chicago, Ill, 191. Application Dear Sir: Will you kindly furnish us copies of your publications enumerated below: I. C. C. No. Tariff No. placing our name on your mailing list for supplements thereto and reissues thereof, obliging at the shipping point or receiving station has been requested to indicate on freight bills and shipping receipts the tariff authority for the charges assessed on inbound and outbound shipments; copies of these publications are then requested of the issuing agent or railroad. This method takes but a comparatively short time, and builds up a file of tariffs which is better adapted to the requirements of a given industry than any which might be the result of haphazard or random selection. REQUEST FORMS FOR RATE QUOTATIONS In the best-maintained departments, some controversy will arise not infrequently as to the rate applicable on a given shipment. When it is necessary to get such information from the carrier, the postal card method used by a prominent concern is recommended. The form shown in Fig. 8 is used when shipments of its general line are to be made, and that in Fig. 9 when shipments of unusual size or nonallied traffic are involved. Fig. 8 is used almost exclusively on the outbound traffic of concerns, while Fig. 9 is used to a greater extent on inbound traffic. If several routes are available, the card is sent to the agent or traffic representative of each of the lines, the quotations obtained are compared, and the most satisfactory figures are accepted. This form is filled prior to the time of shipment, and accurately describes it according to packing specification and contents; the railroad agent inserts in the spaces provided for the different articles offered for eight and returns in b:མ་ the industry. |