Opinion ID: 1954123
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicant Miller's Case

Text: Miller Transporters, Inc. has an interstate certificate which permits it to transport cargo between points in Louisiana and in other states. Miller also has a limited intrastate certificate which permits it to transport petroleum products within a 150 mile radius of Shreveport and to transport fertilizer from Lake Providence to other points in the state. In the present application, Miller is seeking to expand its intrastate authority to transport certain types of cargo statewide. In support of its application, Miller presented evidence of its ability to provide transportation services. Miller has 554 tractors and 861 trailers, making it one of the largest carriers operating in the south and giving it the flexibility to move large amounts of equipment on short notice and on a regular basis. This equipment includes two rubber-lined trailers which would be useful in hauling muriatic acid. Miller operates shipping terminals in Shreveport, Arcadia and Baton Rouge. In support of its claim that the existing intrastate common carrier service is deficient, and as further evidence of its own abilities, Miller presented evidence from the representatives of thirteen firms which engage in both interstate and intrastate shipping. [1] Generally, these witnesses testified to their satisfaction with Miller's interstate transportation service, desire to use Miller for intrastate shipping and dissatisfaction with the service provided by one or more of the existing intrastate carriers. Charles T. Williams of Vulcan Materials Company, a shipper of chemicals in bulk, testified that on six occasions within the previous year his company experienced problems obtaining carrier service. He stated that Matlack, Inc. failed on four occasions to provide rubber-lined trailers on short notice for the transportation of hydrocloric acid. Vulcan was able to find an alternate carrier on one occasion and used its own equipment on another, but the company did lose sales to its competitors on the other two occasions. The two other instances of problems involved the contamination of a product by Matlack and a late arrival by Quality Carriers, Inc. Vulcan was able to return the contaminated product back into its stock, but the customer who rejected the contaminated load did not ask Vulcan to replace it. Mr. Williams therefore assumed Vulcan lost this sale to a competitor. In the instance involving Quality Carriers' late arrival, Vulcan was able to handle the load with one of its own tractor-trailers. Finally, Williams declared that Vulcan ships approximately sixty truck loads per month by for-hire carriers and that it would like to use Miller in intrastate shipping. Allied Corporation's prepared statement related six instances of existing carriers not having the necessary equipment for the transportation of certain commodities. Three involved a movement of bauxite ore from Marrero to West Monroe, while the other three involved the transportation of liquid aluminum. Joseph Guittari, Allied's representative, testified that he could not personally verify the service problems as they related to the transportation of liquid aluminum since his testimony was limited to aluminum sulfate, sulphuric acid and bauxite ore. He also admitted that the shipments of bauxite ore could have been handled over an interstate route by an interstate carrier, such as Miller, but that this service was not used. Finally, he testified that other qualified intrastate carriers which were available were not called upon by Allied. T. Brice Causey of Causey and Causey, Inc. a fertilizer broker, on direct examination was asked if there were any circumstances in 1984 when he was unable to secure common carrier service. He replied Yes, sir, but further answered that I cannot give you specific dates. I didn't bring those records with me. Mr. Causey admitted that he did not call on Stephens Truck Lines, Inc. or Younger Brothers, Inc. Woodfin Caine of Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company testified that his company twice had trouble procuring rubber-lined equipment on a St. Gabriel to Monroe movement and said he supported Miller's application in order to obtain use of their rubber-lined trailers. Mr. Caine also testified that he was not aware that Miller could have handled those shipments under its interstate authority through Natchez, Mississippi. Additionally, he conceded that he was unaware that Miller had only two rubber-lined trailers in its entire system whereas Matlack had ten in Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. C.J. Schoustra of Olin Corporation testified that his firm would have more flexibility if Miller's services were available, but he could not specify instances of service problems because logs had not been kept by his firm. He admitted that Olin did not call upon or have experience with available authorized intrastate carriers such as Quality Carriers and Younger Brothers due to Olin's policy of using only one primary carrier and one backup carrier at each facility. Furthermore, Olin's verified certification indicated no deficiencies in its intrastate service. Ronald Barrios of Chem Link, Inc. testified as to difficulties in obtaining shipping services on short notice requests, but he failed to produce any documentation concerning these problems. Mr. Barrios also testified that he had never attempted to use Stephens Truck Lines and Quality Carriers, certified carriers in his area. He admitted that Groendyke Transport, Inc. offered to call on Chem Link daily for loads going out, but he said that Chem Link declined because it would rather call for carrier service when it was needed. International Paper Company's Ray Strong testified that an emergency at its Bastrop plant could have been dealt with more effectively if International Paper had been able to call upon Miller for intrastate service. Nevertheless, International Paper's prepared written statement did not cite any problems with service from the existing carriers and Mr. Strong did not testify to any instances of deficient service by those carriers. Charles L. Lohrke of Phillips Petroleum Company testified that service from the existing intrastate carriers was satisfactory but competition would be good for the industry. Lamar Self of Mississippi Chemical Corporation, testified that he was supporting the application to get more dependable service for the transportation of anhydrous ammonia, a very seasonal product, because the existing carriers cannot always furnish adequate service when needed. Dennis Ledet of Paul M. Davison Petroleum Products testified that he had not called on authorized intrastate carriers such as Matlack, Younger Brothers, DSI Transports, Inc., Groendyke and Stephens, and that Davison would only use them if he had to. He also testified that Davison Transport, owned by the same person who owns Davison Petroleum, has all the necessary certification to haul Davison Petroleum products. Mr. Ledet further stated that his company was supporting the Miller application because it wants Miller to be able to carry intrastate as well as interstate. Joe Maciaszek of MacAllen Chemical, Inc. said his firm experienced several problems with service by some of the certified carriers. For example, he said Matlack did not have the hose length necessary to unload certain commodities. However, he was not aware of other authorized intrastate carrier firms, such as DSI Transports, Stephens Truck Lines, and Groendyke and he said that he would use them if they were available. Clive Durboraw of Manville Forest Products Corporation testified that his company experienced difficulty in getting a large number of trucks on short notice. However, he admitted that he had failed to call DSI Transports or Groendyke and that both these companies had solicited Manville's business. Finally, Robert D. Proffitt of Dow Chemical Co., U.S.A., testified that Dow uses all existing carriers holding authority who are interested in handling Dow's traffic. Dow's prepared statement complained that existing carriers Matlack, Groendyke, Quality Carriers, Younger Brothers and DSI Transports do not have sufficient equipment to meet Dow's needs. Nonetheless, Mr. Proffitt testified that when one of the intrastate carriers did not have equipment available, other certificated intrastate carriers did have the equipment to perform the shipment. He also admitted that Quality Carriers had offered to give Dow exclusive use of their equipment and that Quality had done a good job.