DOT Joins Opposition to SMC Ratemaking Plan

he Department of Transportation and the National Industrial Transportation League joined other transportation organizations in opposing the Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference’s request for nationwide ratemaking authority, raising broader objections to collective ratemaking in general.

In filings with the Surface Transportation Board Dec. 15, the DOT, NITL, Rocky Mountain Tariff Bureau and EC-MAC Motor Carrier Service Association asked the board to deny SMC’s request to establish baseline less-than-truckload rates across the country.

Granting bureaus nationwide authority might lead to class rates that would not only be “artificially high” but “less susceptible to effective discounting,” DOT said.