Household Goods Tariffs

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

49 CFR Part 1310

[STB Ex Parte No. 555]

Household Goods Tariffs

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Board proposes to establish regulations governing the

tariffs that motor carriers and freight forwarders are required to

maintain, under 49 U.S.C. 13702, for the transportation of household

goods. The Board also proposes to establish notice requirements that

household goods carriers must comply with in order to be entitled to

enforce the provisions of their tariffs against individuals whose

shipments are subject to such tariffs.

DATES: Comments are due on December 4, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments (an original and 10 copies) referring to STB

Ex Parte No. 555 to: Surface Transportation Board, Office of the

Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20423-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beryl Gordon, (202) 927-5660. [TDD for

the hearing impaired: (202) 927-5721.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. No.

104-88, 109 Stat. 803 (1995) (ICCTA), abolished the Interstate Commerce

Commission (ICC) and transferred to the Surface Transportation Board

(Board) various regulatory responsibilities, including certain

responsibilities regarding the rates charged by motor carriers and

freight forwarders for transportation of household goods. As pertinent

here, the ICCTA retained the requirement that these carriers maintain

tariffs containing their common carriage rates (and related rules and

practices) for household goods transportation (except when providing

such transportation for charitable purposes without charge). However,

the ICCTA eliminated the requirement that household goods tariffs be

filed with a regulatory body. Rather, the carriers are required to make

such tariffs available to the Board for inspection, and available for

inspection by shippers upon reasonable request. The Board may

invalidate a tariff that violates section 13702 of the statute or a

regulation of the Board carrying out that section.

Because household goods tariffs are no longer required to be filed,

they are no longer governed by the tariff regulations at 49 CFR Part

1312 (see 49 CFR 1312.1(c)(i)). Accordingly, the Board is proposing a

new Part 1310 and regulations to govern the household goods tariffs

that motor carriers and freight forwarders are required to maintain.

Our proposed regulations are designed to ensure that the required

information is included in and easily determinable from the tariffs,

and that they are made available as required by the ICCTA. We do not

propose to prescribe the particular formats that must be employed;

rather, we propose to give carriers the flexibility to devise

publications that will best fulfill the needs of the carriers and their

customers.

Additionally, at the request of the Household Goods Carriers'

Bureau Committee (HGCBC), the proposed regulations address the notice

requirements that carriers must comply with in order to enforce tariff

terms incorporated by reference into their bills of lading or other

documents embodying the contract of carriage.1 HGCBC notes that

the ICCTA specifically allows household goods carriers to incorporate

tariff provisions into their bills of lading or other documents

embodying the contract of carriage, subject to a notice requirement.

HGCBC expresses concern that, without uniform rules specifying what is

required, the issue of what constitutes adequate notice of incorporated

tariff provisions would be litigated in various state and Federal

courts, with potentially differing results.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ HGCBC's petition requesting that we promulgate regulations

for this purpose was filed on September 20, 1996, and was initially

docketed as Ex Parte No. 554, but we will consider it in this

proceeding instead.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

We believe that there is merit to establishing uniform notice

requirements for the incorporation of tariff terms and conditions into

contracts of carriage for the transportation of household goods, and we

are proposing regulations for that purpose. Because most of the

movements subject to the proposed regulations will involve individual

consumers who typically deal with commercial carriers on a relatively

infrequent basis, the proposed rules are designed to highlight

important terms and conditions that are likely to be incorporated, and

to require that shippers be provided with a brief summary of the

principal features of such terms. In this way, the information should

be disclosed in a way that will be meaningful to individual consumers.

Request for Comments

We invite comments on all aspects of the proposed regulations. We

encourage any commenter that has the necessary

[[Page 56657]]

technical wherewithal to submit its comments as computer data on a 3.5-

inch floppy diskette formatted for WordPerfect 5.1, or formatted so

that it can be readily converted into WordPerfect 5.1. Any such

diskette submission (one diskette will be sufficient) should be in

addition to the written submission (an original and 10 copies).

Small Entities

The Board preliminarily concludes that these rules, if adopted,

would not have a significant economic effect on a substantial number of

small entities. Nonetheless, the Board seeks comment on whether there

would be effects on small entities that should be considered. If

comments provide information that there would be significant effects on

small entities, the Board will prepare a regulatory flexibility

analysis at the final rule stage.

Environment

This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the

human environment or the conservation of energy resources.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 1310

Household goods carriers, Tariffs.

Decided: October 23, 1996.

By the Board, Chairman Morgan, Vice Chairman Simmons and

Commissioner Owen.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Board proposes to

add a new part 1310 to title 49, Chapter X, of the Code of Federal

Regulations to read as follows:

PART 1310--TARIFF REQUIREMENTS FOR HOUSEHOLD GOODS CARRIERS

Sec.

1310.1 Scope; Definitions.

1310.2 Requirement to maintain tariffs.

1310.3 Contents of Tariffs.

1310.4 Incorporation of tariff provisions by reference.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721(a), 13702(a)(2), 13702(c) and 13702(d).

Sec. 1310.1 Scope; Definitions.

(a) The provisions of this part address the tariff requirements

imposed by 49 U.S.C. 13702 on motor carriers and freight forwarders for

the transportation of household goods, and the notice requirements that

such carriers must comply with in order to be entitled to enforce the

provisions of their tariffs against individuals whose shipments are

subject to such tariffs.

(b) The provisions of this part apply to all movements of household

goods defined in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, and to those

movements of household goods defined in paragraph (c)(2) of this

section that are not provided under contracts entered into pursuant to

49 U.S.C. 14101(b) or former 49 U.S.C. 10702.

(c) For the purposes of this part, the term household goods means

personal effects and property used or to be used in a dwelling, when a

part of the equipment or supply of such dwelling, and similar property

if the transportation of such effects or property is:

(1) Arranged and paid for by the householder, including

transportation of property from a factory or store when the property is

purchased by the householder with intent to use in his or her dwelling;

or

(2) Arranged and paid for by another party.

(d) For the purposes of this part service terms means all

classifications, rules and practices that affect the rates, charges, or

level of service for movements of household goods.

Sec. 1310.2 Requirement to maintain tariffs.

(a) Except when providing transportation for charitable purposes

without charge, carriers subject to the Board's jurisdiction under

Chapter 135 of Title 49 of the United States Code may provide

transportation or service for movements of household goods only if the

rates, and related rules and practices, for such transportation or

service are contained in a published tariff that is in effect under

this section. The carrier may not charge or receive a different

compensation for the transportation or service than the rate specified

in the tariff, whether by returning a part of that rate to a person,

giving a person a privilege, allowing the use of a facility that

affects the value of that transportation or service, or another device.

A rate contained in a tariff shall be stated in money of the United

States.

(b) Tariffs maintained pursuant to this part must be available for

inspection by the Board and must be made available for inspection by

shippers upon reasonable request.

(c) A carrier that maintains a tariff pursuant to this part may not

enforce the provisions of the tariff unless the carrier has given

notice that the tariff is available for inspection in its bill of

lading or by other actual notice to individuals whose shipments are

subject to the tariff, as provided in Sec. 1310.4 of this part.

(d) The Board may invalidate a tariff prepared by or on behalf of a

carrier under this part if that tariff violates 49 U.S.C. 13702 or the

regulations contained in this part.

Sec. 1310.3 Contents of tariffs.

(a) Tariffs prepared under this part must include an accurate

description of the services offered to the public; must provide the

specific applicable rates, charges and service terms; and must be

arranged in a way that allows for the determination of the exact rate,

charges and service terms applicable to any given shipment. Increases,

reductions and other changes must be symbolized or highlighted in some

way to facilitate ready identification of the changes and their

effective dates.

(b) All information necessary to determine applicable rates,

charges and service terms for a given shipment need not be contained in

a single tariff, but if multiple tariffs are used to convey that

information, the tariff containing the rates must make specific

reference to all other tariffs required to determine applicable rates,

charges and service terms. The carrier(s) party to the rate(s) must

participate in all of the tariffs so linked and all such tariffs must

be made available to shippers upon reasonable request.

Sec. 1310.4 Incorporation of tariff provisions by reference.

(a) Carriers that maintain tariffs pursuant to this part may

incorporate the terms of such tariffs by reference (i.e., without

stating their full text) into the bill of lading or other document

embodying the contract of carriage for the transportation of household

goods, provided that:

(1) The bill of lading or other document must contain a conspicuous

notice that the contract of carriage incorporates the terms of the

carrier's tariffs; the carrier must give notice that its tariffs are

available for inspection in its bill of lading or by other actual

notice to individuals whose shipments are subject to such tariffs; and

the carrier must make the full text of incorporated terms readily

available for inspection by the shipper, free of charge, upon request.

If such terms cannot be made available immediately, they must be made

available promptly by mail or other delivery service.

(2) If the incorporated terms include any of the terms set forth in

paragraphs (a)(2)(i) through (a)(2)(iii) of this section, the notice on

the bill of lading or other document must indicate that such terms are

included; the shipper must be provided with a brief summary of the

principal features of such terms on or with the document; and the

notice or summary must indicate that the shipper

[[Page 56658]]

will be able to obtain a more complete explanation of such terms upon

request.

(i) Limits on the carrier's liability for loss, damage, or delay of

goods, including fragile or valuable goods.

(ii) Claim restrictions, including time periods within which

shippers or consignees must file a claim or bring an action against the

carrier for its acts or omissions or those of its agents.

(iii) Rights of the carrier to impose monetary penalties on

shippers or consignees, increase the price of the transportation, or

change any terms of the contract.

(b) A carrier may not claim the benefit as against a shipper or

consignee of, and a shipper or consignee shall not be bound by, any

tariff term that is incorporated by reference under this section unless

the carrier has complied with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this

section.

(c) The disclosure requirements established by this section preempt

any State requirements on the same subject, for tariff terms that are

incorporated by reference into the bill of lading or other document

embodying the contract of carriage for the transportation of household

goods.

[FR Doc. 96-28090 Filed 11-1-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915-00-P