Opinion ID: 362297
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Public Testimony

Text: 19 The ALJ concluded that the testimony presented by the nine supporting shippers demonstrated that public convenience and necessity required elimination of the gateway. J.A. II at 869. Review of the record reveals, however, that the evidence adduced through these witnesses falls far short of the substantial evidence necessary to uphold the Commission's orders in their entirety. 20 The geographic scope of the shippers' testimony is extremely limited. Of the nine shippers, three Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., Id. at 852; Elwin J. Smith Division of Cyclops Corp., Id.; and Colt Industries, Crucible, Inc., Id. at 854 support Aero's application only insofar as it pertains to the shipment of commodities from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Bethlehem Steel Corp., Id. at 851, expressed a need for transportation from Pennsylvania to these four destination states, and additionally to Alabama. Universal Cyclops Specialty Steel Division, Id. at 851-52, supports Aero's application as it relates to shipments from Pennsylvania and Ohio to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana. 21 The remaining shippers claim a generalized need for national service. Of those four, Gibson Motor & Machine Service, Inc., Id. at 854, requires transportation only from a single point in Massachusetts; and Grove Manufacturing Co., Id. at 852, solely from one point in Pennsylvania. The testimony presented by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. and United States Steel Corp., while broader territorially, is still manifestly restricted. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. testified to a need for transportation from points in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to points throughout the nation. Id. at 853-54. United States Steel Corp. expressed a requirement for service from points in Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to points throughout the United States. Id. at 855. 22 The testimony of these nine witnesses can be construed, at best, as favoring a grant of direct authority only between those states to which they specifically refer. This testimony cannot be read, however, as establishing a public need for service to and from all of the states authorized by the Commission. 14 See Pre-Fab Transit Co. Extension Alaska, 82 M.C.C. 72, 74 (1959). 23 The shippers' testimony is not only territorially restricted, but it is also substantively deficient in several respects. The elements necessary to establish public convenience and necessity in motor carrier operations are set out in Pan-American Bus Lines Operations, 1 M.C.C. at 203: 24 The question, in substance, is whether the new operation or service will serve a useful public purpose, responsive to a public demand or need; whether this purpose can and will be served as well by existing lines or carriers; and whether it can be served by applicant with the new operation or service proposed without endangering or impairing the operations of existing carriers contrary to the public interest. 25 Satisfaction of this standard generally requires a showing that one or more shippers desire transportation of the type sought to be authorized and that their plans to use the service are reasonably definite. In this regard, shippers supporting an application for motor carrier authority must  'identify clearly the commodities they ship or receive, the points to or from which their traffic moves, the volume of freight they would tender to applicant, the transportation services now used for moving their traffic, and any deficiencies in existing services.'  Novak Contract Carrier Application, 103 M.C.C. 555, 557 (1967). These are not merely technical requirements, as characterized by the ALJ. See J.A. II at 869. Rather, they constitute, in the Commission's own words, the minimal showing expected of any applicant seeking a grant of motor carrier authority, Novak Contract Carrier Application, 103 M.C.C. at 557, and are meant to assure that sufficient information will be available to determine the nature and extent of the transportation needs of the shippers. See Ashworth Transfer, Inc., Extension Explosives, 111 M.C.C. 860, 866 (1970). 26 By the ALJ's own admission, the testimony offered in this case was  somewhat general. J.A. II at 869. Several witnesses failed to identify the specific volumes of freight to be shipped through Aero to particular points. 15 United States Steel Corp., which claimed the broadest territorial needs, failed to express any dissatisfaction with the present carriers. Similarly, Elwin J. Smith Division of Cyclops Corp., Colt Industries, and Universal Cyclops Specialty Steel Division could not point to any inadequacies in existing service. The complaints asserted by the other shippers proved uniformly vague, undocumented, and insubstantial. 16 See Squaw Transit Co. v. United States, 574 F.2d 492, 494 (10th Cir. 1978); C. A. White Trucking Co. v. United States, 555 F.2d 1260, 1264-65 (5th Cir. 1977). We are constrained to note that the size of some of the shippers seems to have been more influential than their demonstrated needs. See J.A. II at 869. Such emphasis is misplaced and will not support a finding of public convenience and necessity sufficient to uphold the broad authorization granted by the Commission. See Ashworth Transfer, Inc., Extension Explosives, 111 M.C.C. at 865. 27 Analyzed in its entirety, the shippers' testimony can be construed only as demonstrating that public convenience and necessity require direct-route authority from points in Pennsylvania and Ohio to points in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. Seven of the nine 17 testified to a need for direct service between these states with adequate precision. Substantial evidence is found in the record to justify elimination of the York gateway with respect to transportation between these groups of states, and we accordingly affirm the Commission's orders to this extent. In the absence of public testimony sufficient to uphold the remainder of the award, we turn to an examination of the criteria set forth in the Childress case to determine whether the evidence contained in the record meets those tests.