Court Opinion

ID: 9518791
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:02:08.894985+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:36:14.581697
License: Public Domain

Smith and McCown, JJ.,
dissenting.
On Canada’s application for statewide authority the commission in 1950 broadened his territory to 13 counties, not the entire state. This court reversed: “The application was clearly for a new unlimited certificate * * *. The ambiguous provision * * * obviously was not intended to authorize * * * operations to and from all locations in the state. If it was, the specifications * * * were meaningless * * *. * * If the commission allowed one carrier to thus broaden its rights and territory * * *, it would be impossible for the commission to regulate such carriers * * *.’ ” In re Application of Canada, 154 Neb. 256, 47 N. W. 2d 507.
Canada summarized his transportation business for 1958 and 1961 through 1965. The abstract, inflated with shipments to Canada himself as jobber at Bertrand and Lexington, discloses:
Points of Origin Unloading Points 1958 Number of Trips
1961-1963 1964-65 Total
Doniphan Lexington 36 7 43
” (other) 11 24 35
Geneva Bertrand 97 51 148
” Curtis 411 151 562
” Giltner 40 74 114
” Hendley 111 54 165
*59” Lebanon 164 71 235
” Loomis 49 114 163
” (other) 265 0 265
Greenwood Loomis 3 13 16
” (other) 108 0 108
North Platte Cambridge 201 42 243
” ” (other) 219 0 219
(six others) (all) 136 0 136
Total 1,851 601 2,452
The finding on color of authority is not supported by sufficient evidence. Canada’s abstract negates statewide operations for purposes of this extension proceeding. After our former opinion Canada continued for 13 years to violate his certificate restrictions without excuse. The majority opinion in warning against monopoly confuses ethical issues. We agree that concomitants of the state overcontrolling entry and extension in the motor carrier field are costly administration and enterprise inefficiency. Still, we disapprove wrenching ethical requirements for color of authority in order to relax those controls.