Opinion ID: 1954123
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Protestants' Case

Text: Five certificated intrastate carriers presented testimony and exhibits in opposition to Miller's application. [2] Victor R. Comstock of Groendyke Transport, Inc. testified that his company has seven rubber-lined trailers in its entire system, has had such equipment located in Louisiana in the past and offered to relocate rubber-lined trailers in Louisiana if the need could be justified. He also said Groendyke has discussed with Vulcan the possibility of bringing rubber-lined units into Louisiana to serve Vulcan's needs. According to Groendyke's prepared statement, it had an average of two to seven units available a day and it was prepared to meet the need in Louisiana on bulk liquid commodity transportation. DSI Transports, Inc.'s representative, John C. Browder, testified that DSI has 322 tractors and 422 trailers in their entire system, one of which is rubber-lined. He also testified that equipment presently used on interstate shipments is available to handle intrastate traffic in addition to equipment already located in Louisiana. John Scallan of Quality Carriers, Inc. denied Vulcan's complaint that his firm had been guilty of a late pickup and produced the actual scale tickets evidencing timely service. Mr. Scallan admitted Quality has had complaints from Dow because Quality lacked the equipment needed to haul certain loads, but he said Quality was presently trying to correct the situation. He also stated that Quality had stationed a tractor-trailer unit at Dow Chemical, which was being utilized, and had offered another if Dow needed it. Furthermore, Quality's prepared statement showed that sales calls offering service had been made on Allied Chemical, Olin, Chem Link, International Paper, Manville and Dow. Younger Brothers, Inc.'s prepared statement indicated that the granting of intrastate authority to Miller will reduce the revenue his firm derives from Louisiana intrastate shipping and that it could possibly result in a cut back of personnel and transfer of some of its equipment from the state. Younger Brothers' representative, Wray E. Hughes, admitted his firm did not presently operate any rubber-lined equipment, but he said it was prepared to add equipment if needed. He also pointed out that about 25% of his company's equipment was not being utilized. The prepared statement of Matlack, Inc. showed that several of Allied's complaints about service resulted from Allied's mistakingly calling Matlack's dry bulk terminal instead of their liquid bulk terminal, which is the one that handles Allied's shipments. It also indicated that Matlack had made service calls on Causey & Causey, that it was ready to handle business from Davison Petroleum and Manville, that it had stationed equipment at two of Olin's facilities and had offered to dedicate more equipment to Olin, and that it had offered to station equipment at Mississippi Chemical's and Chem Link's facilities. In response to Dow Chemical's complaints, the prepared statement showed that of the eight complaints noted by Dow involving Matlack, three were handled by Matlack on the date requested and four of the remaining five were for same day service. Additionally, it showed that Matlack's Louisiana terminals posted a $942,856 loss for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1984, because of the general economic downturn in Louisiana. David Kennedy, Matlack's Vice President, testified that Matlack had 11 rubber-lined trailers in Louisiana and 122 in its entire fleet. He also testified that due to business declines, as of the morning of the hearing, Matlack had 62 drivers sitting at its terminals in Louisiana with no work and that Matlack's Louisiana fleet had been decreased in size due to a lack of business. He additionally testified that an additional 25 drivers were currently laid-off and that another 24 had lay-off letters on the way. Finally, he testified that MacAllen Chemical's problem with Matlack not having the proper length of hose for the discharge of chemicals transported by Matlack for MacAllen had been resolved.