PART 1054 - SPECIAL OR CHARTERED PARTIES BY
COMMON CARRIERS

ORDER

At a General Session of the INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION, held at its office in Washington, D.C., on the 15th day of June 1976.

EX PARTE No. MC-29 (SUB-NO. 3)

REGULATIONS GOVERNING SPECIAL OR CHARTERED PARTY SERVICE

It appearing, That investigation of the matters and things involved in this proceeding has been made and that the Commission has made and filed its report herein containing its findings of facts and conclusions thereon, which report is hereby referred to and made a part hereof:

It is ordered, That the attached notice be, and it is hereby, adopted and incorporated by reference into this order.

It is further ordered, That Parts 1041 and 1054 of Chapter X of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations be, and they are hereby, modified in the manner set forth following the notice attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein.

It is further ordered, That the modifications herein prescribed be, and they are hereby, prescribed to become effective 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register of the attached notice.

It is further ordered, That notice of the modified regulations shall be given to the general public by depositing a copy of this order and the attached notice in the Office of the Secretary, Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D.C., for public inspection, and by delivering a copy of the notice to the Director, Office of the Federal Register, for publication in the Federal Register.

And it is further ordered, That this proceeding be, and it is hereby discontinued. 125 M.C.C.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION

TITLE 49 - TRANSPORTATION

CHAPTER X

SUBCHAPTER A

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

PART 1041 - INTERPRETATION-CERTIFICATES

PERMITS

AND

PART 1054 SPECIAL OR CHARTERED PARTIES BY

COMMON CARRIERS

EX PARTE No. MC-29 (SUB-NO. 3)

REGULATIONS GOVERNING SPECIAL OR CHARTERED PARTY SERVICE

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

PURPOSE: The purpose of this document is to amend the Commission's regulations governing special or chartered party service so as to deem the movement of one group of non-identical passengers the "return" movement of another group of passengers, under certain conditions.

By order published in the Federal Register on December 3, 1974, the Interstate Commerce Commission instituted the above-entitled proceeding in order to develop information concerning (1) the interpretation of Commission regulations pertaining to special or chartered party service rendered in Greyhound Corp. v. Edwards, 100 M.C.C. 453, 465 (1966), (2) the effects of such interpretation upon the operations of motor common carriers of passengers and upon the public, (3) the possible modification of relevant regulations, and (4) the formulation of any legislation which the public interest might require. All regulated motor carriers of passengers were made parties to the proceeding, and all interested parties were invited to file written initial and reply statements of their views and suggestions within prescribed time limits.

Based upon analysis of the petition filed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD), which led to the institution of this proceeding, and upon the representions received from DOD and a number of passenger carriers and passenger carrier associations, the Commission has modified its rules and regulations as set forth at the end of this notice. These rules add two new definitional concepts to the present special or chartered party regulations-"third party" and "round trip." Application of these terms will permit special or chartered parties to be transported from the destination territory, as defined in the regulations, to the defined origin territory either on return movement of the same special or charter party, or pursuant to a "round trip contract" with a "third party" as defined. Similar relief will be afforded to those carriers which hold specific certificated authority to conduct charter operations. The Commission's report in this proceeding summarizes the representations received, discusses the issues, and arrives at these conclusions. Generally, it has been found that the regulations will serve the public interest by leading to a decrease in dead head mileage, fuel savings, decreases in air and noise pollution, and increased efficiency in the operations of passenger carriers. The report explains why the regulations do not improperly authorize any "new" service and states that the benefit to be gained by these modifications outweighs any possible detriment

to existing carriers. While it is asserted that the modifications will beneficial to the environment, it is believed that the decision herein is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 so as to necessitate the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

This modification of regulations is issued under the authority of sections 552, 553, and 559 of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 552, 553, and 559) and sections 204 and 208 of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 304 and 308).

Accordingly, 49 CFR, 1041 and 1054 are hereby modified in the following manner. The following new section is added to 49 CFR 1041:

A certificate issued by the Commission to any motor carrier of passengers pursuant to the provisions of part II of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) authorizing the transportation of passengers and their baggage, in charter operations, (a) from a described point, points, or territory to another described point, points, or territory, and return, or (b) beginning and ending at a described point, points, or territory, and extending to another described point, points, or territory, shall be construed as authorizing the transportation of charter groups pursuant to round trip contracts with third parties, as defined in section 1054.2, without regard to the identity of the individuals transported for each segment of trip.

The following new sub-section (c) is added to 49 CFR 1054.2:

(c)(1) The term "third party," as used in the regulations in this part, means a government agency or person (as defined in section 203(a)(1)), engaged in a business or activity other than the transportation of passengers or other than as a broker of passenger transportation, who enters into a contract with a carrier for the exclusive use of a passenger-carrying motor vehicle covering either (i) a one-way movement of passengers for whom the contracting party is responsible from a specified origin to a specified destination, or (ii) a round trip movement of passengers, as defined in paragraph (2) below, for whom the contracting party is responsible, without regard to the identity of the individuals transported for any segment of the trip.

(2) The term "round trip," as used in the regulations in this part, means a movement of passengers from a specified origin to a specified destination followed by a movement of passengers from that destination back to the origin point, provided that, where the identity of the group of passengers for each segment of the trip is not the same, the time between completion of the origin-to-destination segment of the trip and the commencement of the destination-back-to-origin segment does not exceed 24 hours.

The last sentence of 49 CFR 1054.4 is revised as follows:

Special or chartered parties may not be transported from the destination territory described in this rule to the origin territory described in section 1054.3 except on return movement of the same special or charter party as provided therein, or pursuant to a round trip contract with a third party as described in section 1054.2(c).

No. MC-73165 (SUB-NO. 344G)

EAGLE MOTOR LINES, INC., EXTENSION-
GATEWAY ELIMINATION

Decided June 15, 1976

On reconsideration, findings in prior order, decided September 26, 1975 (not printed), reversed in part. Public convenience and necessity found to require operation by applicant as a common carrier by motor vehicle, over irregular routes, of specified commodities between points in a substantial portion of the United States. Issuance of a certificate approved upon compliance by applicant with certain conditions, and application in all other respects denied.

J. W. Cook and Carl U. Hurst for applicant.

Sam Cerniglia, William A. Chestnutt, W. A. Cunningham, Robert Fisher, James W. Hightower, Robert O. Homberger, E. Stephen Heisley, and Leonard R. Kofkin for protestants.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON RECONSIDERATION

DIVISION 1, ACTING AS AN Appellate Division, CommISSIONERS
MURPHY. GRESHAM AND CLAPP

MURPHY. Commissioner:

By application filed June 4, 1974, pursuant to the Commission's Gateway Elimination Rules, 49 CFR 1065 et seq., Eagle Motor Lines, Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., seeks a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing operation, in interstate or foreign commerce, of the commodities, from and to the points set forth in the appendix here to, including, as pertinent, (1) trailers, semitrailers and trailer chassis and semitrailer chassis (except those designed to be drawn by passenger automobiles and except those requiring special equipment), in initial or secondary movements, in truckaway service, from and to the points set forth in A(1) of the appendix hereto; and (2) the same commodities, in secondary movements, in truckaway service, restricted to the transportation of commodities which because of size or weight require the use of special equipment, from and to the points described in A(2) of the appendix here to. The above-described authority is requested to

authorize, on a direct basis, operations presently conducted by the joinder of authority to transport the considered commodities in the manner described above, contained in Certificate No. MC-73165 (Sub-No. 206),' with authority to transport general commodities, with the usual exceptions in applicant's lead certificate, and "sizeand-weight" authority in Certificate No. MC-73165 (Sub-No. 102). The application is opposed by Dealers Transit, Inc., and by the motor common carriers set forth in footnote 2.

The application was processed under the modified procedure, and, by order entered September 26, 1975, Review Board Number 2 granted the requested authority substantially as sought. Upon consideration of the petition for reconsideration filed by Dealers Transit, and for good cause shown, the proceeding was reopened for reconsideration on the present record by order entered January 22,

1976.

In its petition for reconsideration, protestant urges that the abovedescribed certificates may not be joined inasmuch as the operations authorized are incompatible and that consequently, no authority may be issued pursuant to the Commission's Gateway Elimination Rules, supra.

The evidence, the review board's order, and the pleadings have been considered. The review board's statement of facts is correct in all material respects, and need not be restated, inasmuch as the sole issue herein is one of law. The remainder of the review board's grant of authority set forth in part B of the appendix is in accordance with the evidence and applicable law and will be affirmed without additional discussion.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

An obvious precondition to the granting of authority pursuant to the Commission's Gateway Elimination Rules, supra, is the holding by applicant of separate and unrestricted authorities which lawfully may be joined at a common point of service. 49 CFR 1065(a). The sole issue raised by protestant for determination is whether or not applicant's authority to transport "trailers, semi-trailers, and trailer

'The restrictions against and to the transportation of size-and-weight commodities in (1) and (2) respectively, constitute the only alteration proposed.

Colonial Fast Freight Lines, Inc., Bowman Transportation, Inc., Wales Transportation, Inc., C & H Transportation Co., Inc., and H. J. Jeffries Truck Line, Inc., oppose this application. However, the failure of these protestants to file petitions for reconsideration to the review board's partial grant of authority evinces a lack of continuing interest in this proceeding. While their services have been considered in reaching our determination herein, no further discussion of the interest of these protestants is deemed necessary.