Transportation Law Commons^™

The Dependent Origins Of Independent Agencies: The Interstate Commerce Commission, The Tenure Of Office Act, And The Rise Of Modern Campaign Finance, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

Independent regulatory agencies are some of the most powerful institutions in the United States, and we think of them today as designed to be insulated from political control. This Article shows that their origins were the opposite: this model first emerged in the late nineteenth century because it offered more political control.

The modern executive's design of unitary presidential control over most offices, alongside "independent" regulatory agencies, took shape in the winter of 1886-1887. Congress repealed the Tenure of Office Act, giving the President the unchecked power to dismiss principal officers and ending the Senate's power to protect those officers. …

International Trade - Canada-United States - Motor Carriers - Reciprocity, Bernard Snell

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Regulation - The Balance Point , W. D. Brewer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Reform In The Intercity Bus Industry, Cornish F. Hitchcock

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article will analyze the economic structure of the intercity bus industry and the type of service received by the public under the present regulatory scheme. It will then discuss what regulatory reforms could improve service, how these issues are addressed in the recent House-passed bill, and what further legislative reforms should be made.

Recent Trends In Transport Rate Regulation, Leonard S. Goodman

Michigan Law Review

The object of this Article is to describe the trends in the Commission's work during the 1960's in some of the areas of rate regulation that could not be settled by mere reference to costs, and in other areas of changing rate policy. This was a prolific period for the Commission, one that involved many rate innovations and a sense of new direction in certain aspects of rate regulation. The present discussion of the Commission's rate work is in no sense complete; and there is no intention to make it so. By emphasizing the decisions of the recent decade, I …

Regulation Of Intermodal Rate Competition In Transportation, Joseph R. Rose

Michigan Law Review

The controversy over intermodal rate competition comprehends both legal and economic issues. Clarity requires that each be explicitly stated and separately treated. The legal issues center on the meaning of section 15a(3) of the Interstate Commerce Act and the declaration of the National Transportation Policy that precedes the Act, which are the sources of the Commission's authority. The economic issues involve the effect on resource allocation of rate-making proposals devised to carry out these provisions of the Act.

Icc Jurisdiction Of Great Lakes Rail-Water Competition, Arthur E. Miller

Cleveland State Law Review

The regulatory framework surrounding the transportation industry is complex and the absence of any easy resolution of contemporary problems fostered by competitive abuse can be appreciated only by viewing the development and application of administrative powers initiated by the Act to Regulate Commerce.Although the Interstate Commerce Commission has supervised the competitive arena , the age and condition of the Great Lakes fleet manifests water carrier inability to overcome railroad economic power. The viability and future existence of the Great Lakes water carrier could well be determined by a Commission decision in a in a current coal case which represents the …

Administrative Law-Primary Jurisdiction-Availability Of Common-Law Reparations Remedy Following Commission Finding Of Unreasonable Practice Under The Motor Carrier Act, James D. Zirin

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner delivered goods to respondent, a common carrier by motor vehicle, for shipment from Buffalo, New York, to New York City, with the route of shipment left unspecified. The goods were shipped over the carrier's interstate route at a higher tariff filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission rather than over its intrastate route at the lower tariff filed with the New York Public Service Commission. Alleging causes of action under the Motor Carrier Act and at common law, the petitioner brought a postshipment action in a federal district court seeking reparation of the difference paid. The court, after a …

Labor Law - Norris - Laguardia Act - Federal Courts Without Jurisdiction To Enjoin Strike In Support Of Demand That No Jobs Be Abolished Without Railiway Union's Consent, David G. Hill

Michigan Law Review

Respondent railroad sought authority from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to reduce the number of its station agents. Petitioner union not only contested but also demanded of the railroad that the following provision be added to the existing collective bargaining agreement: "No position in existence on December 3, 1957, will be abolished or discontinued except by agreement between the carrier and the organization." The commission thereafter found maintenance of the particular jobs to be wasteful and issued a mandatory order directing their abandonment. When the union prepared to strike in support of its demanded contract provision, the railroad sought …

Administrative Law - Powers Of Agencies - The Interstate Commerce Commission And Discontinuance Of Railroads Under The Transportation Act Of 1958, Robert A. Smith

Michigan Law Review

The Transportation Act of 1958 amended the Interstate Commerce Act by authorizing railroad discontinuance of interstate train or ferry operations by posting advance notices thereof. The Interstate Commerce Commission can investigate such discontinuances either upon complaint or its own motion, and may require continuance of service if, after hearing, it finds such operation required by public convenience and necessity and not unduly burdensome to interstate commerce. Public Law 85-625, August 12, 1958, 72 Stat. 568.

Judicial Review Of Orders Of The Interstate Commerce Commission Relating To Motor Carriers, Robert W. Ginnane, James A. Murray

Vanderbilt Law Review

When, in 1935, Congress provided for federal regulation of inter-state motor transportation by the Interstate Commerce Commission,it made applicable to the Commission's regulatory orders with respect to motor carriers the same system of judicial review which it had devised for orders relating to railroads in the Urgent Deficiencies Act of 1913.' This invoked not only the naked statutory review provisions but also, at least by analogy, the mass of judicial decisions applying the 1913 legislation to Commission orders involving railroads. The statutory provisions for review of orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission have been codified into Title 28 of the …

Antitrust Considerations In Motor Carrier Mergers, Carl H. Fulda

Michigan Law Review

Unification of separate independent business enterprises in a single organization may raise important questions of antitrust policy. The entity which emerges may have acquired, as a result of such unification, a market position of such significance that a substantial lessening of competition or even the creation of a monopoly becomes not only possible but probable. This would be apparent whenever opportunities for buyers of the products or services of the new single unit to shop freely, and to make independent decisions as to prices, channels of purchases and selection of suppliers were to be seriously curtailed, or where such curtailment …

Competition Versus Regulation: The Agricultural Exemption In The Motor Carrier Act, Carl H. Fulda

Vanderbilt Law Review

Transportation of passengers or property by motor carriers engaged in interstate or foreign commerce has been subject to federal regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission since 1935. At that time motor carriers in intrastate commerce were regulated in all the states of the Union by state commissions which controlled entry into the industry, rates, and safety of operations, but there was no comparable federal regulation. The Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935, now part II of the Interstate Commerce Act,' was intended to fill this gap by creating a federal regulatory scheme similar to that provided by the states. In …

Constitutional Law-Interstate Commerce-Carriers-Validity Of State Statute Requiring Racial Segregation Of Passengers, George Brody S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, a passenger on a motor common carrier, was traveling from Virginia to Baltimore. Pursuant to a Virginia statute requiring all passenger motor carrier vehicles to "separate without discrimination the white and colored passengers in their motor busses so that contiguous seats will not be occupied by persons of different races at the same time" the driver of the carrier upon which appellant was traveling requested her to vacate her seat so that it could be used by a white passenger. She refused and was arrested and convicted under authority of a statute punishing such refusal. The Virginia Supreme Court …

Carriers - Motor Carrier Act - Contract Carrier Permits Under The "Grandfather Clause", William H. Shipley, Jay W. Sorge

Michigan Law Review

The Rosenblum Truck Lines and Manhattan Truck Lines applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for contract carrier permits under the so-called "grandfather clause" of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. Prior to July 1, 1935, the applicants hauled only for common carriers by motor vehicle and, in each case, principally for a single common carrier. The freight so handled was always solicited by a common carrier and accumulated at its terminal. The applicants carried only the overflow freight, employing their own insurance and paying their own operating and maintenance costs. The Interstate Commerce Commission's finding that the applicants' equipment was …

Interstate Commerce - Motor Carrier Act Of 1935 - Power Of States To Regulate Interstate Carriers As To Sizes And Weight, Spencer E. Lrons

Michigan Law Review

The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 provides, in section 204 (a) (1) and (2), that the Interstate Commerce Commission, in performing its duty of regulating interstate motor carriers, shall have power to "establish reasonable requirements with respect to . . . safety of operation and equipment." In section 225, the act authorizes the commission "to investigate and report on the need for Federal regulation of the sizes and weight of motor vehicles. . . ." These two sections, when read together, indicate that Congress felt that sizes and weight regulations deserved consideration apart from general safety regulations. The former are …

Railroads - Reorganization - Validity Of Conditioning Approval Of A Consolidation By Reference To Proper Treatment Of Employees, Kenneth J. Nordstrom

Michigan Law Review

A railroad made application to the Interstate Commerce Commission to obtain authorization to lease the lines of another railroad. The relevant federal statute provided that the commission should authorize consolidations and leases subject to such terms and conditions as it should find just and reasonable and as would promote the public interest. Accordingly, the commission conditioned approval of the lease by requiring that employees dismissed as a result of the lease be paid monthly allowances for fixed periods, or until securing re-employment; that those not dismissed be protected against any decrease in wages for five years, and reimbursed for expenses …

Constitutional Law - Carriers - Supersedure Of State Regulations By Federal Regulations - Regulation Of Hours Of Service Of Motor Vehicular Drivers - Effect Of Federal Motor Carrier Act Of 1935, Fred C. Newman

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, whose business was chiefly interstate, violated a statute of New Hampshire which regulated the hours of service of drivers of certain motor vehicles. The violation occurred after the passage of the Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935, which, among other things, conferred authority upon the Interstate Commerce Commission "to establish reasonable requirements with respect to . . . maximum hours of service of employees" of common and contract carriers by motor vehicle in interstate commerce. At the time of the breach of the state statute, the Interstate Commerce Commission had not prescribed regulations as to hours of service. Defendant …

State Taxation Of Interstate Motor Carriers, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Although in point of years motor carrier transportation is in .ll. its infant stage, it has exhibited such prodigious growth as to take rank today as a business of huge proportions. In 1932 there were in the United States about 40,000 motor vehicles engaged in common carrier passenger service. Their operations for the year produced a gross revenue of $348,000,000, as compared with $612,000,000, produced by electric railway passenger operations, and $376,000,000, produced by steam railroad passenger operations.

The Emergency Railroad Transportation Act, 1933, Edwin C. Goddard

Michigan Law Review

From Munn v. Illinois to the Emergency Railroad Transportation Act of 1933 has been a long journey traveled by the public and the public utilities, notably the largest public utility, the railroads. In 1876 the very term "public utility" was unknown. The idea that the public could break in on laissez faire and regulate any business was to the persons regulated, and to their lawyers, odious. With them agreed Justices Field, Brewer, Peckham, and many another, who predicted that the public would not long tolerate such interference with business. But prophecy is hazardous, and these prophets were wrong.

Carriers - Allocation Of Rate Charges On Cost Basis

Michigan Law Review

In a proceeding in equity to secure the annulment of an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission fixing the cost of icing, for shipments of poultry and dairy products originating in the six western states, on the "cost of ice" basis already existing in the other forty-two states, it was held that the rate is reasonable if it furnishes reasonable and adequate return for service rendered, and such return must pay cost of that service as distinguished from all other service, plus reasonable profit thereon; but that, in arriving at this "cost of ice" rate, the Interstate Commerce Commission was …

Carriers-Transportation Of Private Cars-Deviation From Rates In Filed Tariffs

Michigan Law Review

Complainants instituted this suit to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission prohibiting the transportation of private passenger train cars, including so-called office cars of other carriers, free or at other than published tariff rates. Held, the transportation of a private or office car of another carrier is subject to the filed tariffs which "apply to all traffic transportation and facilities" defined in the Interstate Commerce Act. L. & N. R. Co. and others v. United States, U. S. Sup. Ct. 1931, Adv. Op. No. 333, 51 Sup. Ct. 39.

Review: Watkins On Shippers And Carriers, Chas. E. Cullen

Michigan Law Review

A Book Review on WATKINS ON SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS Fourth edition by Edgar Watkins assisted by J. Halden Alldredge.

Carriers-Division Of Joint Rates

Michigan Law Review

The divisions here involved were those to be made in joint rates between points in southwestern territory and those in western trunk-line territory, or via western territory to and from eastern points. The line between western and southwestern territory passes through St. Louis and other Missouri and Illinois towns. The divisions of these joint rates between the carriers in these territories had been in existence for many years and were without uniform or rational basis. The Interstate Commerce Commission, investigating these divisions, found them more favor able to southwestern lines than present circumstances justified. Conditions in southwestern territory had become …

Carriers-Limit Of Liability In Bill Of Lading Where Carrier Converts Shipment

Michigan Law Review

The Carmack and Cummins Amendments to the act of 1887 have wrought some startling changes in the law applicable to interstate shipments. But the end is not yet. The provision in those amendments which makes the initial carrier liable on a bona fide contract, to the amount fixed in the published tariff, "for loss, damage or injury to such property, caused by it or by any common carrier * * * to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass", provokes the question as to how broadly that provision is going to …

Some Constitutional Phases Of The Cummins Railroad Consolidation Bill

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court in four decisions has gone far in sustaining Congress and the Interstate Commerce Commission in regulating interstate commerce: (1) in sustaining the Adamson Act of 1916, establishing an eight-hour day for interstate railroads. Wilson v. New, 243 U. S. 332 (1917); Ft. Smith, etc. R.R. 71. Mills, 253 U.S. 306 (1920); (2) in sustaining the "recapture" clause in the Transportation Act of 1920 impounding surplus earnings of prosperous railroads, Dayton-Goose Creek Ry. v. United States, decided January 7, 1924; (3) in sustaining the order of the Commission raising intrastate railroad fares which were so …

Compulsory Construction Of New Lines Of Railroad, Kenneth F. Burgess

Michigan Law Review

In the half century of public regulation of railroads in the United States, regulatory legislation has dealt primarily with functions incident to the operation of existing enterprises. The basic concept has been that railroad corporations as common carriers have voluntarily assumed obligations to the public which the public has a right to require to be performed.

Bill For The Nationalization Of Railroads, William W. Cook

Michigan Law Review

The great Mississippi Valley from the Alleghanies to the Rockies and from the Lakes to the Gulf dominates the Federal Government. It sends 231 of the 435 Representatives and 48 of the 96 Senators to Congress. In its confines are 24 of the 48 states. It has an area of over a billion acres of land-over one-half of the United States. It has fifty million people-over one-half of the nation. Some day it will have two hundred and fifty million. It contains a new race of men-fused of many nations-strong, enduring, resilient.' To it and the South, as Elihu Root …

The Judicial Test Of A Reasonable Railroad Rate, And Its Relation To A Federal Valuation Of Railway Property, Charles G. Fenwick

Michigan Law Review

When the difficulties of the subject are fairly weighed it is not surprising that the problem of the basis by which the reasonableness of railroad rates may be tested continues to await a definite solution by the courts. The Interstate Commerce Commission has confessed its inability at present to decide upon those larger aspects of the question which arise when general schedules are under consideration. In its Annual Report for 1903, the Commission made appeal to Congress that provision be made, whether independently of the Commission or by an enlargement of its powers, for an authoritative valuation of railway property. …

The Standard Oil Fine, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

Articles

August 3, 1907, Judge Landis, in the United States District Court, for the Northern District of Illinois, sentenced the Standard Oil Co. to pay the largest fine ever inflicted upon any offender.1 The suit was an indictment on 1,903 counts for violations of the Elkins Rebate Law in receiving concessions on the movement of 1,903 cars of oil from Whiting, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois, and from Chappell, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, during the eighteen months between September I, 1903, and March 1, 1905. Four hundred and forty-one counts were withdrawn as not necessarily involved in this case. …