Ellerbeck, Utah, and applied to Salt Lake City and Ogden as maximum. There is no question as to the applicability of the rate charged. The complainant contends that that rate was unreasonable to the extent that it exceeded the subsequently established rate of $1.22, applying on paper bags and wrapping paper, in carloads, from Savannah to Salt Lake City and Ogden.

The complainant compares the rate assailed with a transcontinental group commodity rate of $1.10 contemporaneously applicable on paper bags and wrapping paper from Tuscaloosa and Holt, Ala., to Salt Lake City and Ogden. Furthermore, whereas the rate assailed was 33 cents higher than the rate of $1.10, the rates on paper bags and wrapping paper from Savannah to certain points in western trunk-line and southwestern territories were only 5 to 14 cents higher than the rates from Tuscaloosa and Holt to those points. However, point-to-point rates do not afford a proper basis for comparison with rates constructed on the group principle. See National Petroleum Assn. v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 159 I. C. C. 357, 359. Moreover, even if those comparisons were to be considered they would be of no probative value here. For instance, rates of 50 and 56 cents applied from Tuscaloosa and Savannah, respectively, to Springfield, Mo., on these paper articles. Those rates represent a difference of 12 percent which would seem to be low in comparison to the 30-percent difference between the rate of $1.10 and the rate charged of $1.43. But the significance of the wide spread in these percentage differences is considerably lessened when the 30-percent difference is compared to a difference of 35 percent existing between rates of 40 and 54 cents, in effect on the same commodities from Tuscaloosa and Savannah, respectively, to Houston, Tex.

The rate assailed produced ton-mile revenue of 12 and 11.5 mills over the routes of movement. The complainant contends that this was unreasonably high in comparison to the revenue which would be yielded by the contemporaneous rates on paper bags and wrapping paper as shown in the following table:

Comparisons of the revenue produced by individual rates for specific distances are of little, if any, probative value in considering a rate structure comprising extensive origin and destination groups. In the circumstances this evidence does not warrant a finding that the rate assailed exceeded the maximum limit of reasonableness.

The complainant also compares the ton-mile revenue produced from the rate assailed with ton-mile revenue of 9.78 mills which, according to the 1948 yearbook of railroad information, was the average yielded by class I railroads during 1945 for an average haul of 241.15 miles. This comparison is also of little or no value. The reasonableness of a rate may not be measured by comparing its revenue with the average revenue on all traffic, because, if so measured, the inevitable result would be to bring all rates to a common level. Merchants' Exc. of St. Louis v. Missouri Pac. R. Co., 248 I. C. C. 683, 689.

The rate charged was a blanket commodity rate, encompassing extensive origin and destination groups, and was part of the transcontinental rate structure for many years. The meager evidence introduced by the complainant is not sufficient to support a finding of unreasonableness. Nor may a finding of unreasonableness be made merely because the defendants, after the shipments moved, established a point-to-point rate which was lower.

We find that the rate assailed is not shown to have been unreasonable. The complaint will be dismissed.

274 I. C. C.

No. 29803

F. L. WATKINS COMPANY, INCORPORATED, v. BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD COMPANY ET AL.

Submitted November 8, 1948. Decided June 13, 1949

Rates on bituminous coal and Virginia anthracite, in carloads, from mines in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia to complainant's siding adjacent to the Seat Pleasant, Md., station of the East Washington Railway Company, found unreasonable, unduly prejudicial to complainant, and unduly preferential of competing coal dealers in the District of Columbia and nearby Maryland. Lawful rates prescribed, and reparation awarded.

Benjamin J. Brooks and Fred L. Watkins, Jr., for complainant.
Anthony P. Donadio for defendants.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS MILLER, PATTERSON, AND CROSS BY DIVISION 3:

The shortened procedure was followed. Exceptions to the report proposed by the examiner were filed by complainant and defendants. Our conclusions differ somewhat from those recommended by him. Exceptions and requested findings not discussed in this report nor reflected in our findings or conclusions have been given consideration and found not justified.

The complainant is a corporation engaged in the retail coal business at Seat Pleasant, Md. By complaint filed July 24, 1947, it alleges that the rates on bituminous coal and Virginia anthracite, in carloads, from mines in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, on lines of The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company, The Kanawha Central Railway Company, Norfolk and Western Railway Company, The Virginian Railway Company, and Winifrede Railroad Company, to complainant's railroad siding at Seat Pleasant, Md., were and are unjust and unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, unduly prejudical to complainant and unduly preferential of competing coal dealers in the District of Columbia and nearby Maryland who are accorded lower rates from the same mines, in violation of sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Interstate Commerce Act.

1 Except as noted, rates and differences in rates are stated in this report in amounts per ton of 2,240 pounds, and are those in effect prior to July 1, 1946.

274 I. C. C.

The complainant also alleges that the maintenance by defendants of rates to Seat Pleasant which are higher than the rates they maintain from the same mines to destinations on lines of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in Washington, D. C., and to certain destinations in Maryland on that defendant's Alexandria, Washington, Metropolitan, and Georgetown branches, constitutes an unreasonable practice, in violation of section 1 (6) of the act. We are asked to prescribe lawful rates for the future, and to award reparation on shipments delivered since July 23, 1945, predicated upon the Washington rate of $3.24 on the bituminous coal and a rate of $2.99 on the Virginia anthracite, both subject to authorized general increases as they became effective.

3

The New River district, served by the Chesapeake & Ohio, is typical of the bituminous origin fields. Coal from this district to Seat Pleasant moves over lines of the Chesapeake & Ohio 2 to Potomac Yard, Va., from which point it is handled by the Baltimore & Ohio 3 through the southeastern part of Washington and Benning, D. C., to Chesapeake Junction, D. C. There the cars are turned over to the East Washington Railway Company for delivery to complainant's coal yard, located a few hundred feet beyond the District of ColumbiaMaryland line and 2.8 miles from Benning. The haul from Chesapeake Junction to complainant's coal yard, 2.1 miles, is performed by the East Washington switch engine and crew engaged in switching at the junction. Except on rare occasions, cars consigned to complainant are delivered when the crew is returning the engine to the roundhouse, located a short distance beyond complainant's yard.

Complainant markets the coals under consideration in competition with the alleged preferred dealers in the Washington metropolitan area, defined by the Office of Price Administration for price-fixing purposes as embracing the District of Columbia, Arlington County, and Falls Church, Va., and specified points in Maryland. Its sales predominantly are to customers in the northeast section of Washington and at Seat Pleasant and Capitol Heights, Md., with a much smaller volume elsewhere in Washington and in other portions of the metropolitan area in Maryland. The tonnage sold by it beyond the metropolitan area is negligible.

From Orange, Va., to Potomac Yard the Chesapeake & Ohio operates over the line of the Southern Railway Company.

From Potomac Yard the Baltimore & Ohio uses the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company to Long Bridge, The Pennsylvania Railroad Company to Benning, and its own rails to Chesapeake Junction.

Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Sligo, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, College Park, Seat Pleasant, Riverdale, Capitol Heights, Oxon Hill, Kensington, Mount Rainier, Hyattsville, and Brentwood.

5

Rates of $3.71 and $3.46 were charged on the shipments received by complainant prior to July 1, 1946, the former being the rate on southern bituminous coal from the base-rate Pocahontas and New River districts and the latter the rate on Virginia anthracite from mines on the Norfolk & Western and the Virginian Railway. The corresponding Washington rates were $3.24 on both kinds of coal until December 9, 1947, when defendants voluntarily reduced the Virginia anthracite rate to $3.09. Complainant's main objective is to obtain on southern coals to Seat Pleasant, rates the same as those to other points of delivery in the Washington metropolitan area. Such a parity of rates has existed for many years on Pennsylvania anthracite and northern bituminous coal to Seat Pleasant and Baltimore & Ohio stations in that area. On Virginia antharcite, however, complainant suggests a rate of $2.99, or 25 cents less than the Washington rate on southern bituminous. In this connection it relies upon Hood v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., 225 I. C. C. 565, wherein the Commission prescribed a rate on Virginia anthracite to Baltimore, Md., which was 25 cents lower than the rate on southern bituminous from the Pocahontas-New River group. Among other things, the Commission there pointed out that the average distance from the Virginia anthracite mines is 117 miles less than that from the Pocahontas-New River group; that Virginia anthracite coal is of a lower value and has a more restricted use than southern bituminous coal; that there was no competition between the carriers serving the Pocahontas and Virginia anthracite mines that required a parity of rates; and that on shipments to western destinations the rates from the anthracite mines were from 25 to 40 cents higher than those from the Pocahontas mines. As stated, the rate on Virginia anthracite to Washington since December 9, 1947, has been 15 cents less than the corresponding rate on southern bituminous. The instant complaint does not bring in issue the reasonableness of the Virginia anthracite rate to Washington and points grouped therewith. Nor does the evidence warrant the prescription of a rate on Virginia anthracite to Seat Pleasant which is lower than that in effect to the Washington group, or which would create a greater spread in the rates on the two kinds of coal to Seat Pleasant than is reflected in the Washington rates.

The rate of $3.24 which complainant seeks on southern bituminous applies to other coalyards served by the Baltimore & Ohio in Washington and nearby Maryland, including Hyattsville, Md., Langdon, Eckington Yard, University, and Lamond, D. C., Silver Spring,

*Bituminous coal originating on lines of the Baltimore & Ohio and the Western Maryland Railway Company.