§ 142 — Rate bureau regulation

§ 142. Rate bureau regulation. 1. For the purpose of achieving a\nstable rate structure through regulated competition, the commissioner\nshall establish rules and regulations with respect to collective\nratemaking procedures for all motor carrier transportation services over\nwhich the commissioner has jurisdiction. Any common carrier of property\nor passengers by motor vehicle subject to regulation by the commissioner\nand party to an agreement between or among two or more carriers relating\nto rates, fares, classifications, divisions, allowances or charges,\nincluding charges between carriers and compensation paid or received for\nthe use of facilities and equipment, or rules and regulations pertaining\nthereto, or procedures for the joint consideration, initiation or\nestablishment thereof, may, under such rules and regulations as the\ncommissioner may prescribe, apply to the commissioner for approval of\nthe agreement, and the commissioner shall by order approve any such\nagreement if it is found that, by reason of the transportation policy\ndeclared in section one hundred thirty-seven of this article, the relief\nprovided in subdivision seven of this section should apply with respect\nto the making and carrying out of such agreement; otherwise the\napplication shall be denied. The approval of the commissioner shall be\ngranted only upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner may\nprescribe as necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.\n 2. Each conference, bureau, committee or other organization\nestablished or continued pursuant to any such agreement approved by the\ncommissioner under this section shall maintain such accounts, records,\nfiles and memoranda and shall submit to the commissioner such\ninformation and reports as may be prescribed by the commissioner and all\nsuch accounts, records, files and memoranda shall be subject to\ninspection by the commissioner or department representatives.\n 3. The commissioner shall not approve any such agreement which is an\nagreement with respect to a pooling or division of traffic, or service,\nor of gross or net earnings, or of any portion thereof.\n 4. The commissioner shall not approve under this section any agreement\nwhich establishes a procedure for the determination of any matter\nthrough joint consideration unless it is found that under the agreement\nthere is accorded to each party the free and unrestrained right to take\nindependent action either before or after any determination arrived at\nthrough such procedure.\n 5. The commissioner is authorized, upon complaint or upon the\ncommissioner's initiative without complaint, to investigate and\ndetermine whether any such agreement previously approved under this\nsection, or terms and conditions upon which such approval was granted,\nis not or are not, in conformity with the standards set forth in\nsubdivision one of this section, or whether any such terms and\nconditions are unnecessary for the purposes of conformity with such\nstandards, and, after such investigation, the commissioner may by order\nterminate or modify any approval of such agreement, or modify the terms\nand conditions of such approval, if such action is necessary to assure\nconformity with such standards. The effective date of any order\nterminating or modifying approval, or modifying terms and conditions,\nshall be postponed for such period as the commissioner determines to be\nreasonably necessary to avoid undue hardships.\n 6. No order shall be entered under this section except after\ninterested parties have been afforded reasonable notice and opportunity\nto be heard.\n 7. Parties to any such agreement approved by the commissioner under\nthis section and other parties are hereby relieved from the operation of\nsection three hundred forty of the general business law with respect to\nthe making of such agreement, and with respect to the carrying out of\nsuch agreement in conformity with the terms and conditions prescribed by\nthe commissioner.\n 8. Rate conferences, by regulating collective ratemaking under the\nsupervision of the department, have established a system of pricing\nactively supervised by the department which fosters competition through\napproved rate levels and the right of independent action while\nfurnishing a responsible transportation service to the public. Continued\ndepartmental supervision of proposed rate filings by such conferences\nwill continue to yield advantageous transportation rates which, although\nthey may tend to displace competition in the classical sense, in\nactuality foster responsible, competitive motor carrier transportation\nservice to the public, while concurrently developing and approving\ncompetitive rate levels among motor carriers in furtherance of the\ntransportation policy contained in section one hundred thirty-seven of\nthis chapter. The dangers inherent in a consumer's selection of a motor\ncarrier on the basis of price alone will also be discouraged.\n