JULY 18, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



Interstate Commerce Commission Comes to the Aid of the Shippers 



OF special importance to florists 

 shipping light boxes is the order 

 of the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission, made public July 14, in which 

 H general reduction of express rates is 

 lorced. But the order of the commis- 

 sion upsets the entire scheme on which 

 the present express rates are based and 

 substitutes an entirely new plan. Just 

 what effect the rulings will have on the 

 loinmodities heretofore classed as gen- 

 eral specials, enjoying a rate twenty 

 jicr cent below the merchandise rate, it 

 is as yet impossible to say. Cut flow- 

 ers have paid the merchandise rate and 

 will get the reduction. Even if the 

 companies cut off the special plant rate 

 tlie small shipments will be carried 

 cheaper than at present. The new rates 

 average a general reduction of fifteen 

 ])er cent, but the cut is principally on 

 weights of fifty pounds and less, the 

 rates for 100 pounds not being mate- 

 lially reduced. 



The New Minimum. 



The new rates may be said to be 

 i)ased on a minimum charge of 21 cents 

 for a one-pound package. This charge 

 increases in ratio to the increase of 

 weight and distance at rates varying 

 from .S-10 of a cent a pound to 12 cents 

 a pound. Packages weighing two 

 l)0unds, for instance, may be shipped 

 1,000 miles, New York City to Chicago, 

 for 24 cents; and 2,000 miles. New 

 York City to Denver, for 31 cents, the 

 l)resent rates being respectively for 

 each 35 cents. 



A three-pound package will cost 27 

 cents for 1,000 miles and 37 cents for 

 2,000 miles, the existing rates being re- 

 spectively each 45 cents. A ten-pound 

 ]»ackage may be transported 1,000 miles 

 for 42 cents and 2,000 miles for 77 

 cents, as against the existing rates of 

 75 cents and $1.25 respectively. The 

 cost of transporting a twenty-five-pound 

 jiackage 1,000 miles will be 76 cents, 

 against the present rate of .$1.10, ancl 

 for 2,000 miles $1.64, against the pres- 

 (Mit rate of $2.25. 



Divide Country into Blocks. 



The most radical departure from ex- 

 isting methods lies in that adopted for 

 applying the new rates. In the United 

 States there are 35,000 express stations. 

 To name rates from each of these to 

 every other one requires the statement, 

 of more than (300,000,000 different rates. 

 The rates themselves are so involved 

 it requires expert authority to deter- 

 niine the lawful rate. 



Commissioner Lane has evolved a 

 method whereby the rates from any 

 point to all other points may be printed 

 on a single sheet or card about the 

 size of a single page of The Review. 



The first step was the division of the 

 Tnited States into blocks, each approx- 

 imately fifty miles square. Kates are 

 proposed between each of these blocks, 

 treating all cities and towns within 

 each block as common points. Each 

 of these blocks is one degree of longi- 

 tude in length and one degree of lati- 

 tude in width. To every express station 

 within each of these blocks the rate 

 is the same from any other given block. 



The present system requires the state- 

 ment of 200 times as many rates as the 

 system proposed by the commission. Aa 

 each agent, under the new system, will 

 be obliged to know only the rates that 

 apply between his station and each of 

 the other blocks, he will have to con- 

 sult only 830 rates to find the proper 

 charge from his station to every other 

 station within the United States. 



While there has been an almost uni- 

 form reduction in charges upon par- 

 cels weighing fifty pounds or less, the 



Effect on Rates to and from 

 Chicago. 



Express rates 



Between Chi- on packages weighing 

 cago and— 5 lb 10 lb 25 lb 100 lb 



Buffalo, N. Y.: 



Present . . . $0.50 $0.60 $0.85 $1.75 



Proposed... .28 ,36 .60 1.80 



Fort Wayne, Ind. : 



Present 35 .40 .45 .75 



Proposed ... .24 .28 .40 1.00 



Cleveland, O. : 



Present 45 .55 .75 1.50 



Proposed... .26 .32 .50 1.40 



Burlington, la.: 



Present..,. .40 .50 .65 1.25 



Proposed ... .25 .29 .44 1.15 



Lincoln, Neb. : 



Present 65 .80 1.20 2.75 



Proposed ... .32 .43 .79 2.55 



New Orleans, La. : 



Present 70 1.00 1.40 3.75 



Proposed... .34 .49 .92 3.10 



Dubuque, la. : 



Present 40 .50 .65 1.25 



Proposed... .24 .28 .40 1.00 



Sioux Falls, S. D.: 



Present 60 .75 1.10 2.50 



Proposed ... .31 .42 .76 2.45 



Mason City, la. : 



Present 55 .70 1.00 2.00 



Proposed... .28 .36 .61 1.85 



Pittsburgh, Pa. : 



Present 55 .70 1.00 2.00 



Proposed. . . .27 .35 .57 1.70 



Atlanta, Ga.: 



Present 70 1.00 1.40 3.75 



Proposed ... .32 .44 .80 2.60 



Vincennes, Ind.: 



Present 40 .50 .65 1.25 



Proposed... .25 .29 .44 1.15 



Nashville, Tenn. : 



Present 60 .75 1.10 2.50 



Proposed ... .28 .35 .59 1.75 



Chattaqooga, Tenn. : 



Present 65 .80 1.20 3.00 



Proposed... .30 .40 .70 2.20 



Grand Rapids, Mich.: 



Present 40 .50 .65 1.25 



Proposed... .24 .28 .40 1.00 



Houston, Tex.: 



Present 75 1.15 1.85 5.25 



Proposed... .39 .59 1.17 4.10 



rates on packages weighing more than 

 fifty pounds have not been materially 

 reduced. In some instances the com- 

 mission's proposed rate basis shows a 

 slight increase of the charges on heavy 

 packages. This indicates the belief of 

 the commission that the rates of the 

 express companies per 100 pounds are 



not, on the whole, seriously excessive. 

 This is particularly manifest from an 

 analysis of the rates for distances of 

 200 miles or less, which are scarcely 

 disturbed on the heavy weight traffic. 

 Partly Effective at Once. 



By the terms of the commission's 

 order the changes in the regulations, 

 methods and practices of the express 

 companies; the reclassification of ex- 

 press matter; the changes in the billing 

 of packages, and other administrative 

 reforms are required to be put into 

 effect practically immediately. 



The rates proposed, however, will not 

 become effective before some time next 

 autumn. 



The commission has fixed October 9 

 as the date for the beginning of a 

 hearing of the representatives of ex- 

 press companies and shippers as to 

 why the rates prescribed by the com- 

 mission should not go into effect. 



The commission's order in the matter 

 of classification is as follows: 



(ji) Then, must he a new clHssiticiitlon of 

 ti-Mllic in whicli the stHiidanl or first class rate 

 shall he that on merchandise, and to which there 

 shall he one great class of excei)tlons— a second 

 class, as it were— consisting of artiilcs of food 

 and drink now carried under the nieaninRless 

 term of "Keneral specials." The rate for this 

 latter class should hear a relation in percentage 

 to the former. Our condnslon is tliat sevent.v- 

 tive per cent of nicrcliandise would vield a fair 

 and reasonable rate. ()tli<>r rates m'av he nuide 

 to meet tratt.c needs and develop industiy: hut 

 all such rates shall he hnsed on conditli.ns of 

 servi(e and should for C(mvenieii<e likewise he 

 stated m percentage of the merchandise scale. 



Follows Long Investigation. 



The report follows an investigation 

 by the commission into the business of 

 the thirteen great express companies of 

 the United States. The report finds 

 that while these thirteen companies are 

 separate legal entities, "they are, bv 

 stock ownership and otherwise, so in- 

 terlocked that it is with <lifficulty we 

 can trace any one of the greater com- 

 panies as either wholly independent in 

 its management or the agencv of a 

 single railroad system. So that, while 

 these companies operate separately and 

 compete with each other for traffic, the 

 express business of the United States 

 is managed by not more than three 

 groups of interests." The report shows 

 that more than 300,000,000 parcels are 

 handled annually by the express com- 

 panies in tlie United States. 



The charges of the express companies 

 now in many instances are the same 

 for fifty jiounds as for 100 pounds be- 

 tween the same points; and in some in- 

 stances they are as much for thirtv 

 pounds as for 100 pounds. 



Must Give Through Routes. 



Of foremost importance is the re- 

 quirement that all of the express com- 

 panies shall join in the establishment 

 of through routes by the quickest lines 

 of communication' between all express 

 offices and shall publish through rates 

 to apply between those points. The 

 same provision gives the shijjper the 

 right to name the route bv which his 

 property shall be carried. 



It is believed by Commissioner Lane 

 that these provisions will effect an im- 

 provement in the service and a great 

 economy to the carriers. 



