Public Service Commission v. State ex rel. Great Northern Railway Co.

Citations

• 118 Wash. 629
• 204 P. 791
• 25 A.L.R. 186
• 1922 Wash. LEXIS 718

Syllabus

<p>Carriers (6) — Regulation of Rates — Preferences and Discriminations. Tbe public service statute does not contemplate that the charge made by a carrier for a particular class of service shall always be exactly the same to all shippers, but it does require the fixing of a tariff which is general and public, rather than individual, and that shipments under it be made according thereto, and not according to exceptions to it.</p> <p>Same (6). The fact that a timber company at its own expense furnishes facilities for the shipment of its logs, such as constructing steel bunks on the ears, providing train loads of logs to the railroad, which does away with switching, coupling and spotting of cars and furnishes extra' help in unloading its cars, thus enabling each car to be loaded and unloaded once in each 24 hours, for which service it is charged the same freight rates as other shippers who do not furnish such facilities, does not show discrimination against it in favor of such other shippers.</p> <p>Same (6). A freight charge to a shipper furnishing train load lots of a less rate than to a competitor furnishing less than train load lots is unlawful, as in effect allowing lower rates upon a condition which only a few shippers can comply with.</p> <p>Same (3-1, 6) — Regulation—Powers of Commission — Discrimination. A public service commission in fixing freight rates may, under certain conditions, take into consideration things done by shippers which would reduce the cost of transportation, provided they are of such importance as to distinguish such shippers from others, but they should be individual acts of material consequence and not a number of acts each of small significance.</p> <p>Same (3-1, 6). Where a public service commission, in determining the fairness of a carrier’s rate schedule, undertakes a comparison with the charges of other carriers, it should take into consideration such circumstances as the distance of the haul, the amount of competition, the amount o