Court Opinion

ID: 9527809
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:34:31.876286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:14.133941
License: Public Domain

ZIMMERMAN, Justice
(dissenting):
I agree with the majority that our decisions in Big K Corp. v. Public Service Commission, 689 P.2d 1349 (Utah 1984), and Milne Truck Lines v. Public Service Commission, 723 P.2d 1373 (Utah 1986), as well as the recent revisions of the Motor Carrier Act, Utah Code Ann. § 54-6-1 to -50 (1986), place heavy and appropriate emphasis on the benefits increased competition will bring to the public, and they require that there be sound grounds for denying an application for a certificate when its grant would enhance competition. However, having recited this policy and documented its origins, the majority does not then carefully parse the Commission’s findings and conclusions to show where they fail. Instead, the majority simply concludes that because the Commission denied a certificate to Spreader Specialists, it acted arbitrarily and in defiance of the appropriate pro-competitive policy. I am unpersuaded.
The present case is a close one. Had I been sitting on the Commission when the issue came before it, I might have voted for the issuance of the certificate. However, it is not our job to substitute our judgment for that of the Commission when it makes a decision that falls within the bounds of the discretion granted it by the operative statutes. Having reviewed the findings and conclusions of the Commission, I cannot agree that the Commission acted arbitrarily in denying the certificate.
The Commission found that if Spreader Specialists were given the operating authority it sought, the resulting increase in competition likely would have a severe impact on the financial health of existing carriers. Those four carriers, the Commission found, had operating results that ranged from a very slight profit to a large loss. The Commission reasoned that any deterioration in the financial position of those carriers would have a deleterious impact on service to customers. It concluded that under our decision in Big K, such a potential deterioration in service would warrant denial of a certificate.
The Commission's findings appear to be supported by record evidence, and its conclusions do not appear to be unreasonable. Therefore, I would affirm.
HALL, C.J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of Justice ZIMMERMAN.