Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 Feb 04,1887 Although designed to regulate the railroad industry, by 1920, this act was the preferred weapon of railroad companies used against the trucking in... Read More >>

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Jul 02,1890 A practical piece of legislation which the Motor Carrier Act of 1935 literally mandated truck owners to violate to protect the financial interests... Read More >>

Elkins Act of 1903 Feb 19,1903 Proof-positive that the ICC was doing its job prior to the enactment of the Transportation Act of 1920 by restricting railroad companies from impo... Read More >>

Hepburn Act Jun 29,1906 More proof-positive that the ICC was doing its job prior to the Transportation Act of 1920. It gave the ICC power to establish maximum railroad ra... Read More >>

Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 Jun 18,1910 Strengthened the authority of the ICC over railroad rates giving them control over regulation of telephone, telegraph, and wireless companies. The... Read More >>

Clayton Antitrust of 1914 Oct 15,1914 Adding further substance to the U.S. antitrust law this was designed to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incipiency. The law was said to... Read More >>

Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 Jul 11,1916 This was the first federal highway funding legislation in the United States constructing public roads to those states which submitted plans. It ai... Read More >>

Esch-Cummins Act of 1920 Feb 28,1920 While originally for everyone, this was the legislative turning point where the ICC focused exclusively on benefit for the railroads. The law allo... Read More >>

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 Nov 09,1921 Defined the Federal Aid Road program to construct an immense, interconnected national highway system. The plan was crafted by the head of the Nati... Read More >>

Oppression: Why wealthy capitalists despised the early pioneers of American trucking (1920 to 1935) The Transportation Act of 1920 practically guaranteed financial assistance from the government to the railroad companies. It even mandated the ICC... Read More >>

Motor Carrier Act of 1935 Aug 09,1935 Amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 to regulate bus lines and trucking as common carriers. Read More >>

Control: The Rate-making Process and how it Was Used to Profit the Railroads From 1935 until 1980 there existed a rate making process enacted by the railroads which put rate restrictions on trucks. This system relied on adv... Read More >>

Subjugation: How Wealthy Capitalists Squashed Freight Rates for Truckers for 45 Years Major historical changes can often be traced back to a piece of legislation. Where freight rates for the trucking industry is concerned, that legi... Read More >>

McCarran-Ferguson Act Mar 09,1945 Exempts the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including federal antitrust laws giving railroads power to alleviate insurance con... Read More >>

Reed-Bullwinkle Act of 1948 Jun 17,1948 Formally exempted motor carriers from antitrust laws and allowed the ICC full regulatory and policing powers over the transportation industry prov... Read More >>

Jurisdiction: Inside the Reed-Bullwikle Act of 1948 Jurisdiction: Inside the Reed-Bullwinkle Act of 1948 The Reed-Bulwinkle Act of 1948 set a new standard in low and egregious behavior. The Motor... Read More >>

Federal-Aid Highway Act Jun 25,1952 This act coincided with moves by former railroad owners who pivoted away from railroads and toward other forms of shipping control. It expanded pr... Read More >>

Transportation Act of 1958 Aug 12,1958 This act attempted to reinvigorate the railroads by granting the ICC money for railroad loans and more power to fix their rates. In spite of this,... Read More >>

Department of Transportation Act Oct 15,1966 Began operation on April 1, 1967. The Secretary of Transportation is the head of DOT. The goal was to provide single organization control over coo... Read More >>

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 Aug 23,1968 As former railroad owners expanded their investment in shipping through alternative measures, this act expanded the Interstate Highway System by 1... Read More >>

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Aug 13,1973 This ruling was in favor of mass transit, offering additional funding for interstate roads and new urban and rural primary and secondary roads. By... Read More >>

Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 Apr 01,1975 A precursor to a complete I-80 and mass deregulation where before had been monopolistic regulation, this act permanently implemented a national 55... Read More >>

The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 May 02,1976 After the popular Penn Central Transportation Company filed for bankruptcy, alongside other railroads, this reform established mass deregulation t... Read More >>

The Motor Carrier Regulatory Reform and Modernization Act of 1980 Jul 01,1980 Flooding the trucking market to ensure only the top companies, owned by former railroad capitalists, could maintain profitability, this eliminated... Read More >>

Deregulation: When Fast Wasn’t Fast Enough Deregulation: When ‘Fast’ Wasn’t Fast Enough Following The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 created a highly competitive... Read More >>

Staggers Rail Act of 1980 Oct 14,1980 Similarly, this federal regulation of railroads authorized implementation details for Conrail, the new northeastern railroad system. Rails could e... Read More >>

Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Act Apr 02,1987 Nominally gave power to provide government funding to the Secretary of Transportation allocated when and where wealthy capitalists wanted it most.... Read More >>

The Beginning of Market Structure: Competition from Railroads The Beginning of Market Structure Changes: Competition from Railroads Within a few years of its passage, the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 achieved... Read More >>

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 Dec 18,1991 Posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, creating planning organizations which converted dormant railroad corridors into rail t... Read More >>

Trucking Industry Regulatory Reform Act Jul 01,1994 Exacerbating the saturation of competition, this law promoted increased competition among interstate motor carriers by changing rules for rates, e... Read More >>

National Highway Designation Act of 1995 Nov 28,1995 Designated about 160,955 miles of roads, including the Interstate Highway System. Congress was given the power to prioritize highway road projects... Read More >>

ICC Termination Act of 1995 Dec 29,1995 No longer needed to regulate the industry, this act abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and replaced it with the Surface Transportation B... Read More >>

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Jun 09,1998 Another program for federal surface transportation programs for highways, this act also provided additional programs to control competing trucking... Read More >>

Transportation Equity Act of 2005 Aug 10,2005 A funding and authorization bill, this continued regional transportation plans with federal spending designed to switch all state transportation p... Read More >>

Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act Jul 06,2012 This bill further governed United States federal surface transportation spending, reducing government spending by ⅔, enforcing environmental polic... Read More >>

Why is No One Talking About the Elephant in Long Haul Trucking? Long Haul Trucking is a Virtual Mountain of Gold Just Waiting to be Mined. What makes the proverbial mining of gold in the trucking indus... Read More >>

The BIG Picture: Industry Jumping by Wealthy Capitalists Scattered along the perimeter of the Amazon rainforest are cattle farming communities. Over the decades the Amazon rainforest has gotten smaller a... Read More >>

HERE’S WHAT HISTORY TEACHES US

TRUCKING IS RIGGED AGAINST TRUCKERS

Long-haul trucking is a zero-sum game between large trucking companies and the larger shippers—manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. But the game is rigged to subjugate trucking companies and take from them price control. Trucking companies, large and small, are powerless to affect change.

The market is fragmented, the industry is plagued with problems that no one can solve, like the driver shortage, and its forty year old system for moving freight is incapable of capturing the benefits of blockchain technology or to aid in the advent of electric trucks and driverless vehicles. In truth, trucking companies, large and small are powerless to affect change.

None of this is accidental.

LOST WEALTH

Fleet owners are cheated out of billions of dollars every year. Long haul truck drivers (LHTDs) are exploited for their time and labor and stripped of their wealth while giving twenty years [of their life] more than is necessary, for a worse outcome.

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BIASED LEGISLATION

The Motor Carrier Act (MCA) of 1935 outlawed competition, suppressing growth, and limiting the revenue of trucking companies. The MCA of 1980 incited excessive competition to force a change in market structure to Perfect Competition.

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FRAGMENTED MARKET

Long haul trucking is plagued with problems that no one can solve, like the driver shortage, and its forty year old system for moving freight is unable to benefit from blockchain technology nor aid the arrival of electric trucks and driverless vehicles.

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HERE’S WHAT HISTORY COSTS US

TRUCKERS ARE BEING CHEATED OUT OF MONEY

Hidden History

There is a war being waged on our highways. A battle to control the cost and flow of interstate freight. It began in the late 1920s when wealthy capitalists and railroad investors started to lose money to the burgeoning trucking industry. In 1935, they did something about it. They declared war, paying experts and academia to influence politicians – ensuring Acts of Congress were drafted to their advantage. These acts changed the landscape of trucking forever and still impedes trucking companies that transport full truckload (FTL) freight shipments today.

There is ample money in the system to pay LHTDs what they deserve. Upward of $10.8 billion every year after fifteen years. Compelling truck owners to exit the market is really about taking their future net earnings and giving ALL of it to LHTDs. By doing so, Alliance members effectively find ‘new money’ outside their existing [cash flow] system. We contend this money is far better served sitting in the pockets of LHTDs than in the bank accounts of smaller trucking companies.

IF in 2006, twenty-five of the best of the biggest trucking companies had worked together to successfully take the drivers of their competitors, and the average gross revenue per truck in 2021 was $318,182, those twenty-five companies today, would be substantially larger and their combined annual gross income would have been $175.7 billion more in one year

Biased Legislation

The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 outlawed competition, suppressing growth, and heavily affecting the revenue of trucking companies while benefiting the railroad companies. The act further constrained truck owners by forcing them to fix prices in blatant violation of Antitrust laws. Having forced trucking companies into operating unlawfully, the Reed-Bulwinkle Act of 1948 backtracked by exempting them from prosecution while leaving the other constraints intact. Trucking companies suffered yet another blow when the Motor Carrier Regulatory Reform and Modernization Act (MCA) of 1980 virtually incited excessive competition, lowering the price to the great advantage of the same wealthy capitalists who had exited the railroads and were now heavily investing in manufacturing and retail trade. Within a few years of its passage, the MCA of 1980 had achieved its goal: to force a change in market structure from a Monopoly (good for trucking companies) to Perfect Competition (good for shippers).

HERE’S HOW WE REDRESS HISTORY

CONSOLIDATE & MODERNIZE LONG HAUL TRUCKING

Long haul trucking is a poorly-built distribution system worth $350 billion as a direct service and $17.3 trillion [intangible] as the principal utility to twenty major U.S. industries. Unfortunately, it is a functioning mess incapable of adopting quality innovation [IF it threatens the profitability of larger shippers and middlemen] and aiding in the advent of electric trucks and driverless vehicles.

An opportunity exists to reform, reorganize, upgrade, and consolidate the industry in such a way that it resembles the high efficiency of the Less-than-Truckload (LTL) freight shipment segment. Including systems and processes, methods and methodologies, the acquisition of land and buildings, and an entire rethink of inventory management and delivery systems, from Just-in-time (JIT) delivery to Same-Day and Next-day.

We propose the following:

HERE’S WHO BENEFITS AND HOW

MODERNIZE LONG HAUL TRUCKING