Full Volume 19 - Federal Maritime Commission

AGREEMENT NO 57 96 303
Agreement No 57 96 Clearly conference authority over intermodal rates
and traffic especially during this period of changing transportation
systems and concepts is an important public benefit that militates in
favor of the approval of agreements such as the one under consideration
here
In addition to the clear and present benefits that can be derived from
Agreement No 57 96 by virtue of the elimination of the inconveniences
and burden to shippers and consignees which naturally flow from the
existence of multiple intermodal tariffs and conference jurisdiction over
intermodai rates generally the approval of Agreement No 57 96 is also
warranted by transportation circumstances and therefore will serve to
fulfill a transportation need As Hearing Counsel point out although the
Conference has not demonstrated any present rate instability or evidence
of malpractice there is definitely potential for both In short the
conditions and circumstances which have historically led to instability and
resulting malpractices in a trade are present here There is testimony in
this record offered by several witnesses that the trade served by PWC
ie the U S West CoastFar East Trade Westbound is overtonnaged
and it is generally acknowledged that overtonnaging invariably gives rise
to rate instability and malpractices as the carriers in the trade compete for
the available cargo And when one considers the number of individual
minibridge carriers that are competing for the available cargo the
potential to instability becomes very real indeed
In view of the foregoing we find and conclude that the threat to
stability posed by the existing conditions in the subject trade which we
might add can only be expected to continue if not further deteriorate as
minibridge grows coupled with the disadvantages which are inherent in a
multi tariff system fully support PWC s jurisdiction over intermodal tariff
and traffic both interior and minibridge
Hearing Counsel would deny PWC authority over interior intermodal
service 15 on the grounds that present transportation circumstances do not
warrant it Hearing Counsels position appears to us to be somewhat
shortsighted and at odds with their stand on the minibridge aspects of
Agreement No 57 96 unless of course the Commission is expected to
await the actual advent of instability malpractices and the institution of a
hodge podge of differing interior intermodal tariffs before it can act
Since as of the time of the close of the record here no PWC carrier had
fded an intermodal tariff to the Far East other than minibridge any grant
of interior intermodal authority must of necessity rest upon potential
rather than actual traffic considerations In this regard we find consider
able merit in PWC s argument that the identical situation which we found
I The Administrative Law Judge defined interior intermodal as follows
If minibridge were extracted from Far East intermodalism via the west coast the remainder would be what has
beenreferred to in this proceeding as interior intermodal
19 F M C