Archive Report
Archive Report
Position of the Railroads in Autnum of 1934
Hearings before the Interstate Commerce Commission on a petition of the railroads for authorization of higher freight rates are to begin October 1. Except for a temporary increase in the rates on certain commodities, effective from January 4, 1932, to September 30, 1933, and except for increases involved in revisions of so-called class rates—in the Southwest in 1928 and in eastern and western trunkline territory in 1931—no general freight-rate advances have been granted since 1920. On the contrary, charges for transportation of freight by rail have followed a declining course since that year.
An upturn in freight traffic in 1933 and the first half of 1934 tended to make less acute the financial stress experienced by the rail ...