For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Spotting services at industrial plants. Standard time zone investigation__. Traffic and earnings of transport agencies.. REPORT OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C., November 2, 1946. To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Interstate Commerce Commission has the honor to submit herewith its sixtieth annual report to the Congress. The period covered by this report extends from November 1, 1945, to October 31, 1946, except as otherwise noted. A statement of appropriations and aggregate expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1946, is contained in appendix F to this report. TRANSPORTATION DURING THE YEAR In our annual report last year we reviewed the vital war performance of the agencies of transportation, noted lessons of the war experience, and directed attention to the varied conditions and problems which carriers, shippers, and others then were facing. The domestic situation, we stated, "abounds in uncertainties." The course of events in the present year has shown that this was a substantial understatement. Forces pent up during the war began to test their strength as soon as the Nation turned its wartime efforts to a normal competitive economy, and were met by resistant forces. The effects of these contests for new economic alinements have brought to us, in a number of forms, issues both novel and difficult, and of a complexity rarely, if ever before, equalled. These problems are part and parcel of the readjustments affecting all phases of our national life in consequence of a world war. By no means are they the result of unfavorable economic developments alone. The fact that industrial production this year has risen to a level substantially higher than in any year prior to 1941 indicates a high order of accomplishment by management and labor in many industries. Apparently, the volume of agricultural production for this year will not fall much below any figure previously recorded. On the other hand, the record for the year is strewn with interruptions of industrial production and of transportation operations which in many instances have been prolonged and costly. Prices for materials and labor have 1 |