[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13620-13621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6192]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Section 5a Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20)]


Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference, Inc.

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board is reopening the record 
regarding the application of the Southern Motor Carriers Rate 
Conference, Inc. (SMCRC) to expand the geographic scope of its 
collective ratemaking authority from regional to nationwide. The Board 
is taking this action to update the record for this matter by providing 
the opportunity for SMCRC to submit additional information in support 
of its application and for interested persons to file comments in reply 
to SMCRC's proposal. SMCRC will then be allowed to file rebuttal.

DATES: Initial statement from SMCRC is due by April 22, 2004. Replies 
are due by May 24, 2004. Rebuttal from SMCRC is due by June 7, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send an original and 10 copies of pleadings, referring to 
STB Section 5a Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20), to: Surface 
Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423-0001. 
Also, send one copy to the representative of applicant SMCRC in STB 
Section 5a Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20): Law Office of John R. 
Bagileo, No. 300, 1101 30th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph H. Dettmar, (202) 565-1609. 
[Federal Information Relay Service for the hearing impaired: 1-800-877-
8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SMCRC is one of several motor carrier rate 
bureaus (associations of motor carriers of property) that have 
antitrust immunity to set rates collectively under Board jurisdiction 
and oversight pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 13703. SMCRC currently engages in 
collective ratemaking on a regional (non-nationwide) basis. In 1994, 
SMCRC filed an application with the Interstate Commerce Commission, the 
Board's predecessor agency, for authority to operate collectively on a 
nationwide basis,\1\ and six other regional rate bureaus responded with 
separate requests that they be granted nationwide authority in the 
event that nationwide authority was granted to SMCRC. The territorial 
expansion requests were eventually (a) consolidated for decision, (b) 
merged into a broader proceeding to determine whether there was still a 
need for antitrust immunity for collective ratemaking, and (c) made the 
subject of two requests in the Federal Register for comments.\2\ In a 
decision served on December 18, 1998, in EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service 
Assoc., Inc., et al., 3 S.T.B. 926, 935 (1998) (EC-MAC), the Board 
commented favorably on territorial expansion, provided that the bureaus 
reduce their class rate levels, but the agency declined to resolve the 
issue with finality due to a request for delay from certain members of 
Congress. In December 1999, Congress amended the Board's governing 
statute to prohibit the agency from authorizing regional rate bureaus 
to operate nationwide.\3\ Recognizing this amendment in its February 
2000 decision in EC-MAC,\4\ the Board thereafter took no further action 
to rule on the requests for nationwide authority, although most of

[[Page 13621]]

them were never formally dismissed.\5\ On February 20, 2003, Congress 
removed the prohibition against granting nationwide collective 
ratemaking authority.\6\
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    \1\ SMCRC's application for nationwide authority was originally 
docketed as Section 5a Application No. 46 (Amendment No. 19). On 
December 19, 1996, SMCRC resubmitted its request for nationwide 
authority in a new application that was docketed as Section 5a 
Application No. 46 (Sub-No. 20), the subject of the instant notice. 
SMCRC's (Sub-No. 20) application also proposed minor, unrelated 
changes that were separately approved in a decision served on 
September 4, 1997.
    \2\ See 59 FR 25121 (May 13, 1994) (consolidating the 
territorial expansion requests and seeking comments); 62 FR 27653 
(May 20, 1997) (broadening the issues to include the need for 
continued antitrust immunity for bureaus and seeking additional 
comments on all issues).
    \3\ See former 49 U.S.C. 13703(d) (2000).
    \4\ EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service Association, Inc., Et Al., 
Sec. 5a Application No. 118 (Amendment No. 1), et al. (STB served 
Feb. 11, 2000). See also the decisions in EC-MAC served on November 
20, 2001, and March 27, 2003.
    \5\ The only exception was the application of the Niagara 
Frontier Tariff Bureau, Inc., which was dismissed at its own request 
in EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service Association, Inc., Et Al., Sec. 5a 
Application No. 118 (Amendment No. 2), et al. (STB served Oct. 16, 
2003).
    \6\ See section 354 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act FY 2003, 
Pub. L. No. 108-7, 117 Stat. 11 (Feb. 20, 2003), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 
108-10 (2003).
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    By petition filed on November 5, 2003, SMCRC asks the Board to 
reopen and to reconsider its prior request for nationwide collective 
ratemaking authority in light of the repeal of the statutory 
prohibition against it. SMCRC argues that the Board previously 
expressed an intent to approve nationwide collective ratemaking 
authority and would have done so but for the prior statutory 
prohibition. SMCRC maintains that its request for nationwide authority 
can be approved on the present record.
    On November 25, 2003, the National Small Shipments Traffic 
Conference, Inc., (NASSTRAC) filed a reply opposing SMCRC's request 
that the Board approve its application for nationwide authority without 
seeking new evidence to supplement the record. NASSTRAC states that it 
has expressed general support for nationwide authority in the past, to 
promote competition among rate bureaus. However, NASSTRAC argues that 
the current record is out-of-date, and it urges the Board to consider 
in detail how the expanded authority sought by SMCRC would affect 
competition among rate bureaus and collectively set rates.
    On December 15, 2003, the United States Department of 
Transportation (DOT) filed a reply opposing SMCRC's request for 
nationwide authority. DOT argues that any expansion of the territorial 
scope of collective ratemaking would be ``contrary to the public 
interest.'' Alternatively, DOT urges that, if the Board wishes to give 
SMCRC's request serious consideration, the agency should develop a new 
record. Similar objections were raised in two other replies filed on 
the same date by (a) the National Industrial Transportation League and 
(b) two other rate bureaus (EC-MAC Motor Carriers Service Association, 
Inc., jointly with the Rocky Mountain Motor Tariff Bureau, Inc.). The 
two other rate bureaus suggest that the issue of territorial expansion 
be resolved in the periodic (5-year) review proceeding that the Board 
is required to begin again in 2004 to evaluate current bureau 
agreements under 49 U.S.C. 13703(c)(2).
    The Board will reopen the record to seek additional information and 
comments. The present record is at least 6 years old. Additional 
information and the opportunity for public comments are needed in light 
of industry changes, subsequent statutory revisions, and the Board's 
decisions in EC-MAC, cited above. After the comments are received and 
analyzed, the Board will schedule an oral argument on the issues raised 
by SMCRC's application.
    Board decisions, notices, and filings are available on its Web site 
at http://www.stb.dot.gov.
    This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the 
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

    Decided: March 12, 2004.

    By the Board, Chairman Nober.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-6192 Filed 3-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P