proximately uniform road-haul earnings for actual distances, plus 10 cents per 100 pounds to cover terminal and overhead expenses; and rates 25 percent and 50 percent higher prescribed for minima of 10,000 and 5,000 pounds. Central Territory Motor Carrier Rates, 571 (582).
QUESTION OF FACT. See CLASSIFICATION (CARRIERS OF PROPERTY); CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRETATION (LEGISLATIVE INTENT); EQUIPMENT (LEASED); (FINDINGS IN GENERAL).
Coordination of Services: See also CONTINUITY OF MOVEMENT; SECURITY FOR PROTECTION (SELF-INSURER).
The Commission lacks jurisdiction to compel coordinated service by rail and motor carriers. Such coordination can be accomplished only through joint rates and through routes, and as Commission has no power to require their establishment, any such plan must depend upon voluntary cooperation. City S. Transport Co., Inc., Common Carrier Application, 5 (8).
Findings in 10 M. C. C. 221, 17 M. C. C. 413, 19 M. C. C. 702, and 22 M. C. C. 213, that public convenience and necessity required coordinated rail-motor service in movement of less-than-carload traffic, and that the motor portion could more efficiently be supplied either by rail carriers themselves or by motor carriers under their control than by existing independent carriers, affirmed. Coordinated service through voluntary cooperation of existing carriers did not appear practicable, nor as effective in serving the public need, and applicants' proposed services would not seriously endanger established carriers. Id. (8, 22).
Authority granted Louisville & N. R. for common-carrier operation over routes between Elizabethtown and Madisonville, Ky., and between Nashville, Tenn., and Hopkinsville, Ky., was subject to conditions limiting service to that auxiliary or supplemental to rail service, prohibiting service to points not stations on applicant's rail line, and prohibiting transportation of shipments between designated key points, or through, to, or from more than one of them. Id. (22). Applicant, a motorbus corporation financially supported by the Mobile & O. R., and assisted by its employees in providing a coordinated motor-and-rail passenger service under the direction of the railroad, was authorized to operate as common carrier of passengers between St. Louis, Mo., and Cairo, Ill. Mobile & Ohio Transp. Co. of Illinois Common Carrier Application, 675. Extension of operation as a common carrier of passengers between St. Joseph and Kansas City, Mo., to furnish a coordinated service with the Burlington Railroad, authorized. Burlington Transp. Co. Extension-Council Bluffs, 783 (790-791).
Pick-up and Delivery: See PICK-UP AND DELIVERY.
Substitution of Motor for Rail Service: See SERVICE
RAIL CARRIERS. See COMPETITION (RAIL); PICK-UP AND DELIVERY; RAIL-
AND-MOTOR; SERVICE (SUBSTITUTION OF MOTOR FOR RAIL).
RAIL SERVICE.
Substitution of Motor: See SERVICE (SUBSTITUTION OF MOTOR FOR RAIL). RATE COMPARISONS. See also REASONABLENESS (RATES, FARES, AND CHARGES); REDUCTIONS (JUSTIFICATION); RELATION OF RATES.
Contract with Common Carrier Rates: Proposed minimum charge of contract carrier on steel cylinders and couplings from Harrisburg, Pa., to Worcester, Mass., higher than motor common carrier rate as well as the rail carload rate on steel cylinders and rail carload rate on pipe couplings, found justified, but a similar charge to Youngstown, Ohio, lower than truckload and rail carload rates, found unlawful. Premiu Coal Co., Minimum Charges on Steel Cylinders and Couplings, 251 (252).
Earnings: See ALL-COMMODITY AND MERCHANDISE RATES.
Long-and-Short-Haul Rates: See COST OF SERVICE (RATES BELOW COST).
Proportional with Local Rates: Proposed any-quantity proportional rate
on mixed shipments of articles classified as sheet-steel ware from Canandaigua
and Geneva, N. Y., to Buffalo, N. Y., found not justified when comparison with
local class rates on the individual commodities indicated that it was unreasonably
low. Sheet Steel Ware, Canandaigua, Geneva, N. Y., to Buffalo, 169 (171).
Rates on dairy products from Minnesota and the Dakotas to east-bound concen-
tration points, designated proportional rates and designed to apply in connection
with rail movement beyond, were lower than corresponding local rates although
they entailed no different service, and were made without regard to distance in
order to meet the through rail or lake-rail rates. They were not parts or re-
mainders of through rates on like shipments from primary origins to ultimate
destinations, and therefore were unlawful for reasons stated in 10 M. C. C. 556,
17 M. C. C. 573, and 19 M. C. C. 460. Dairy Products in the Northwest, 267
(280, 288).
Rail with Motor: See also REDUCTIONS (Justification).
Proposed reduced rate and 40,000-pound minimum on printing, wrapping, or
newsprint paper from Mechanic Falls, Maine, to Boston, Mass., the same as rail
carload rate and minimum, found not justified. Paper from Mechanic Falls,
Maine, to Boston, Mass., 196 (197).
Less-than-truckload commodity rates on fish from Maine points to points in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, lower than the rail rates, were not justified.
New England Motor Carrier Rates, 537 (546).
Disruption: Petition for prescription of increased minimum third-class,
fourth-class, and fifth-class less-than-truckload rates between points in New
England and between New England and points in eastern New York and north-
eastern New Jersey, denied. Proposed method of increasing revenues by an
increase in some of the less-than-truckload class rates would subject some rates
and not others to an increase, increase some rates by greater percentages than
others, and observe rail rates as maxima in some and not other cases, tend to
destroy completely any consistency in the motor-carrier less-than-truckload
class-rate structure, and place more than a just share of burden of increased costs
on shipments moving the shortest distances. New England Motor Carrier Rates,
Reduction in minimum rates prescribed in 8 M. C. C. 233 on frit from Chicago
(Cicero), Ill., to Cincinnati, Ohio, would undoubtedly bring about a similar
reduction in the rating throughout central territory and was not justified on the
record. Central Territory Motor Carrier Rates, 349 (353).
REASONABLENESS (RATES, FARES, AND CHARGES). See also particular
rates, fares, and charges by name.
Basis of Construction: To require motor carriers to charge shippers rates
based on the price of rail service would be contrary to sec. 216 (i), under which
the Commission must consider, in prescribing motor-carrier rates, the inherent
transportation advantages of motor carriers, the effect of rates upon movement of
carriers for which prescribed, the need of the public for adequate and efficient
transportation service at lowest cost consistent therewith, and the carriers' need
of sufficient revenue. Expense to shippers of competitive rail, water, and motor
contract-carrier service is a factor to be considered in determining reasonableness
of proposed motor common-carrier rates, but is not controlling. If any one
factor is controlling, it is whether the proposed rates would be reasonably com-
pensatory. Trunk Line Territory Motor Carrier Rates, 369 (371).
Commission-Made Rates: See also MINIMUM RATES (PRESCRIPTION BY
Proposed specific less-than-truckload commodity rates on nut meats, peanuts,
and chestnuts, and on display refrigerators, counters, and show cases, from
Kansas City, Mo., to points in certain Midwestern States, found unreasonably
low. Minimum class rates prescribed in 27 M. C. C. 297 on less than truckloads
from Kansas City to a majority of considered destinations should apply on respond-
ent's traffic, and the same ratings should apply to the other destinations not
involved in 27 M. C. C. 297. Commodities from Kansas City to Midwestern
States, 151 (155).
Competition: Rates on dairy products from Minnesota and the Dakotas to
east-bound concentration points, which admittedly were less than reasonably
compensatory, were not justifiable on ground of competition. Evidence as to
contract-carrier, private-carrier, and forwarder competition was too meager to
warrant any conclusion as to its effect, and the record was conclusive that carriers
had gone further than necessary to meet rail competition. Dairy Products in
the Northwest, 267 (291).
Cost of Service: See COST OF SERVICE (RATES BELOW COST).
Disturbance of Adjustment: Proposed rate 30.3 percent of first class on
various types of glass from Ottawa, Ill., to Janesville, Wis., much lower than the
general basis on common window glass, was below a reasonable minimum, con-
sidering the high value and susceptibility to damage of the commodities involved.
Its approval would lead to requests for similar reductions which, if granted, would
cause an unwarranted shrinkage of carriers' revenues. Central Territory Motor
Carrier Rates, 173 (179).
Proposed rates on dairy products from Madison, S. Dak., to Chicago, Ill., found
unreasonable when they would disrupt existing relation with Sioux Falls, S. Dak.,
a competing origin. Dairy Products in the Northwest, 267 (277-278).
Earnings: See EARNINGS (FACTOR IN REASONABLENESS).
Establishment: See also MINIMUM RATES (ESTABLISHMENT).
Proposed establishment of any-quantity commodity rates on fertilizer between
Woburn, Mass., and New England points found not justified. While difference
in operating conditions and competition may justify higher rates to one point
than to another, even though the distances to the two points are substantially
equal, the proposed rates would be unreasonably low and would disregard dis-
tance without any explanation. M. H. Winn Trucking Co., Commodities in
New England, 228 (231).
Proposed establishment of commodity rate on junk and on hides, pelts, or skins,
minimum 20,000 pounds, from Council Bluffs, Iowa, and certain Omaha points
to Chicago, Ill., the same as or higher than corresponding rail rates, found justi-
fied when they compared favorably with rates and minima prescribed for mid-
western territory in 27 M. C. C. 297. Proposed rates on canned goods, dairy
products, and binder twine between points in Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois, found
not justified. Donaldson Transfer, Commodities Between Illinois, Iowa, and
Nebraska, 359 (362).
Grade and State of Commodity: Rates on burlap in compressed bales should
not exceed rates on burlap bags in uncompressed bales. New England Motor
Carrier Rates, 537 (545).
In prescribing and approving rates for the transportation of freight the Com-
mission has long recognized distinctions between high-grade and low-grade
commodities or traffic. The application of such distinctions involves classifica-
tion. Section 216 (b) of the act makes it the duty of motor common carriers to
establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable classifications. Classification
principles apply to commodity rates as well as to class rates. All Freight from
Chicago and St. Louis to El Paso, Tex., 727 (730).
Proposed commodity rates on all freight, with exceptions, from Chicago, Ill.,
and St. Louis, Mo., to El Paso, Tex., found not justified. Rates which might
be held reasonably compensatory on low-grade traffic may well be found not
reasonably compensatory on high-grade traffic. Proposed rate would apply on
high-grade traffic, and a major proportion of most shipments would consist
of commodities rated higher than third class, and certain commodities had been
excluded without explanation. Id. (730).
Minimum Rates: See MINIMUM RATES.
Minimum Weights: See MINIMUM WEIGHTS.
Prescription by Commission: The Commission's task under sec. 216 (i) of
the act is to prescribe just and reasonable rates and charges for the transportation
of property by motor common carriers, giving "due consideration, among other
factors, to the inherent advantages of transportation by such carriers; to the
effect of rates upon the movement of traffic by the carrier or carriers for which
the rates are prescribed; to the need, in the public interest, of adequate and effi-
cient transportation service by such carriers at the lowest cost consistent with the
furnishing of such service; and to the need of revenues sufficient to enable such
carriers, under honest, economical, and efficient management, to provide such
service." New England Motor Carrier Rates, 31 (37).
Prohibitive Rates: While neon electric signs were extremely liable to damage
and in some instances might be extremely bulky and of high value, there were
many varieties, and proposed any-quantity rating eight times first class in central
territory did not appear to be a proper minimum basis for all such articles. There
would be some movement, although it might not be considerable, and such a high
rating would make the charges prohibitive. Central Territory Motor Carrier
Rates, 571 (598).
Proportional Rates: See PROPORTIONAL RATES.
Rate Comparisons, Test of Reasonableness, Generally: See RATE CON-
Unreasonably Low Rates: See also ANY-QUANTITY (RATES); COMMODITY
RATES (LESS-THAN-TRUCKLOAD); PROPORTIONAL RATES; REDUCTIONS (JUSTIFI-
CATION).
Proposed initial commodity rates on blueberries and cranberries in seasonal
movements from Burlington County, N. J., to New York, N. Y., and Philadel
phia, Pa., found not justified when they would be unreasonably low. Schedules
ordered canceled without prejudice to establishment of rates on wild and culti
vated berries not lower than those maintained by competing motor carrier.
Berries, Burlington County, N. J., to Philadelphia, 156 (160).
Proposed rates on canned goods, dairy products, and binder twine, from and to
points in Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois, lower than rail rates, found unreasonably
low to the extent that they were less than minimum rates prescribed for midwest-
ern territory in 27 M. C. C. 297, or to the extent that they were less than rates or
minimum weights maintained by competing motor carriers on September 30,
1940, to points to which no rates were prescribed in that proceeding. Donaldson
Transfer, Commodities Between Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, 359 (360, 362).
Upon investigation, record found inadequate to support a finding that rates on
clay, concrete, and shale products between certain points in southern territory
were unreasonably low, although somewhat higher rates appeared necessary to
compensate carriers adequately for the hauls in view of the character of the traffic
which must frequently, if not almost entirely, be handled without return loads.
Clay, Concrete, and Shale Products in the South, 713 (718).
REASONABLENESS (RULES, REGULATIONS, AND PRACTICES). See
various topics involved.
REBATES. See BROKERS (FEES).
Commission's: Upon reconsideration, order in 20 M. C. C. 8 vacated to the
extent that it required placing contracts between contract carriers and shippers
filed pursuant to order in 2 M. C. C. 55, as amended, in the Commission's public
files and making them available for public inspection, because of amendments in
the Transportation Act of 1940 of secs. 220 (a) and 218 (a) of part II of the Inter-
state Commerce Act, formerly the Motor Carrier Act, 1935. Filing of Contracts
by Contract Carriers, 75.
By amendments under the Transportation Act of 1940, sec. 220 (a) specifically
prohibits making public any contract between a contract carrier and a shipper,
except as a part of the record in a formal proceeding where consistent with the
public interest and except where the contract does not conform to published
schedules, and sec. 218 (a) requires that a carrier's schedules contain "the mini-
mum rates or charges of such carrier actually maintained and charged for the
transportation * *," thus obviating the necessity for making contracts
public, since the minimum rates or charges must be actual rather than mere paper
rates and charges. Order in 20 M. C. C. 8, vacated to the extent that it required
placing contracts filed pursuant to order in 2 M. C. C. 55 in the Commission's
public files for public inspection. Filing of contracts to be kept in confidential
files, required. Id. (76).
Prior to amendment by the Transportation Act of 1940, sec. 220 (a) of part II
of the Interstate Commerce Act, formerly known as the Motor Carrier Act, 1935,
in conjunction with sec. 204 (f), was construed as authorizing the Commission to
open for public inspection contracts between contract carriers and shippers filed
with them when in the public interest. While filing can still be required, the
amendment specifically prohibits the making public of any such contract, except
as part of a record in a formal proceeding when consistent with public interest,
and except that when the contract does not conform to the carrier's published
schedules the Commission may make public such provisions of the contract as it
may consider necessary to disclose such failure and the extent thereof. Id. (76).
Loss or Destruction of: See EVIDENCE (DOCUMENTS).
REDUCED-RATE TRANSPORTATION. See PASSENGERS (REDUCED-RATE
TRANSPORTATION).
Competition, Reductions to Meet: See COMPETITION (CARRIER) and Jus-
tification under this heading.
Justification: See also ADVANTAGES (LOCATION); CLASSIFICATION (PROFERTY
(REASONABLENESS)); COMMODITY RATES (RELATIONSHIP TO CLASS RATES);
COMPETITION (CONTRACT CARRIERS VS. COMMON).
Proposed reduced rate and 40,000-pound minimum on printing, wrapping, or
newsprint paper from Mechanic Falls, Maine, to Boston, Mass., the same as rail
carload rate and minimum, found not justified to meet rail competition when that
minimum could not be transported in one truck and, because of tariff deficiencies,
a single truckload could be spread over several days, thus extending carload rate
to less than truckloads. Proposed rate was unjust and unreasonable. Paper
from Mechanic Falls, Maine, to Boston, Mass., 196 (197-198).
Authority granted to establish reduced commodity rates on groceries from
Chicago, Ill., and Milwaukee, Wis., to Michigan points which would remove the
wide difference between rates to Wisconsin and to the Michigan points and permit
carriers to meet competition of private carriers. Central Territory Motor Car-
rier Rates, 217 (222).
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