FINDINGS AND ORDER Upon consideration of all evidence of record, the Administrative Law Judge finds: (1) that the rates charged by defendants for the line-haul transportation of the considered shipments are unjust and unreasonable in violation of section 1 of the act to the extent that they exceed $76,132.41 as determined by the bases described above; (2) that defendants should be authorized and directed to waive collection of outstanding charges to the extent that they exceed charges described in finding No. 1; (3) that the demurrage charges based on charges published in Agent B. B. Maurer's Freight Tariff 4-1 and subsequent issues thereof are applicable and have not been shown to be unjust or unreasonable; and (5) that this is not a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It is ordered, That defendants be, and are hereby, authorized and directed to waive the collection of the aforesaid outstanding line-haul transportation charges to the extent that they exceed charges of $76,132.41; It is further ordered, That, in all other respects, relief requested in the complaint be, and it is hereby, denied; It is further ordered, That this proceeding be, and it is hereby, discontinued, and that in the absence of a stay or postponement by the Commission or the timely filing of exceptions, the effective date of this order shall be 30 days from the date of service hereof. Dated at Washington, D.C., this 12th day of November 1975. 355 I.C.C. INVESTIGATION AND SUSPENSION DOCKET No. 9064 GRAIN TRANSIT PRIVILEGES, QUINCY, ILL., BURLINGTON NORTHERN, INC. Decided March 25, 1976 Proposed cancellation of certain rail transit privileges at Quincy, Ill., on movements of grain and grain products to points in central Missouri, found unlawful in violation of condition 5 imposed in Great Northern Pac.-Merger-Great Northern, 331 I.C.C. 228. Schedules ordered canceled, and proceeding discontinued. Curtis H. Berg and William R. Power for respondent. REPORT AND ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Review Board Number 4, Members FitzPatrick, Shaw, and FisheR BY THE BOARD: The modified procedure was followed. Due and timely execution of our functions under section 15(7) of the Interstate Commerce Act imperatively and unavoidably requires the omission of a recommended decision in this proceeding. Requested findings not specifically discussed in this report nor reflected in our findings or conclusions have been considered and found not justified. By schedules filed to become effective August 5, 1975, and later, the respondent, Burlington Northern, Inc. (BN), published tariff schedules canceling transit privileges at Quincy, Ill., on grain and grain products moving from specified origins primarily in northern Missouri to destinations on connecting rail lines in central Missouri. Upon protest of Quincy Soybean Company (QSC), the operation of the proposed schedules was suspended to and including March 4, 1976, and BN has voluntarily postponed their effectiveness to and including April 3, 1976. Respondent has the burden of proof under section 15(7) of the act. Evidence in support of the proposed schedules was presented by BN, and protestant introduced evidence in opposition. Respondent replied thereto. The origin territory of the considered soybean traffic consists of southeastern Iowa and the northern one-third of Missouri. QSC owns and operates elevators at Edina, Kahoka, La Belle, Macon, and Sheibina, Mo., from which it ships soybeans over the lines of BN to Quincy for milling into soybean meal. Protestant also buys soybeans from various independent elevators located at other points on the lines of BN and ships them in carloads to Quincy for milling. BN's present line-haul rates' (both single and joint-line) include transit. privileges at Quincy and other milling centers in the midwest such as Decatur, Ill., Des Moines, Iowa, and St. Joseph, Mo. Soybean meal is shipped by rail in large quantities from these transit points to many destinations in the Midwest, including the State of Missouri. To the extent here pertinent, present tariff item 3820 authorizes transit on shipments destined to points in "Missouri (on or south of the line of BN, West Quincy to Kansas City.)" In contrast, the proposed tariff item 3820-A limits transit on shipments moving to destinations on connecting lines to a substantially smaller area, namely to points in "Missouri (on or south of the line of the SLSF from St. Louis to Kansas City via Springfield, Mo. and Fort Scott, Ks.)" Thus, proposed item 3820-A has the effect of excluding from the present transit privileges all grain and grain products destined to points on the lines of connecting carriers in Missouri lying between the line of BN from West Quincy, Mo., to Kansas City, Mo., and the line of St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co. (SLSF), from St. Louis to Kansas City, thereby reducing by about 50 percent the area in Missouri to which protestant may ship under joint rates which include transit at Quincy. QSC indicates that about 65 percent of its total rail shipments are to this area and points out that, if the proposed cancellation of transit on traffic destined to the excluded area takes effect, the considered traffic would move at combinations of local rates, inbound and outbound, which are substantially higher than the present through rates via Quincy. Based on traffic moved during 1974, the increases range from 31 to 75 percent, with a weighted average increase in freight charges of 52.7 percent. Protestant alleges that the resulting combinations of local rates would be unreasonably high in comparison to the present jointthrough rates between the same points and that the proposed cancellation of transit privileges is unjust and unreasonable in violation of section 1(5) of the act. It states that, if the proposed cancellation be approved, it will divert to motor carriers large 'Rates are stated per 100 pounds, unless otherwise indicated. |