California Motor Transport Co. v. Railroad Commission

CARTER, J. This is a review of an order of the Railroad Commission (now the Public Utilities Commission) commanding petitioner California Motor Transport Company, a highway common carrier (hereinafter designated Motor Transport), to refrain as underlying carrier or otherwise from transporting property via Pacheco Pass between San Francisco and Fresno and other San Joaquin Valley points unless it obtains a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the commission; and commanding petitioner, California Motor Express, an express corporation (hereafter designated Motor Express), to refrain from using Motor Transport as an underlying intermediate for the transportation of express between the same points unless the latter obtains the above mentioned certificate.

There are two main highway routes between San Francisco and Los Angeles commonly designated the coast route and the valley route, respectively. Paso Robles is a city on the coast route, Fresno is a city on the valley route, and Pacheco Pass is a lateral connecting the two routes at a point between San Francisco and Los Angeles. There is also a connecting lateral from Paso Robles to the valley route.

Motor Transport acquired (1) a certificate of public necessity and convenience from the commission in 1930 to transport express traffic for Motor Express between San Francisco and Los Angeles, via the coast route, subject to the restric[186]tion that no service could be given to intermediate "points; (2) a certificate (in 1934) for similar traffic between San Francisco and Los Angeles via Pacheco Pass and Fresno, with the same restriction as number (1); (3) a certificate (in 1944) to operate between San Francisco and Paso Robles on the coast route; (4) a certificate (in 1944) to operate between Paso Robles and Fresno.

Petitioners maintain that by reason of the-1941 amendment (Stats. 1941, p. 2061, § 1) of section 50% (infra) of the Public Utilities Act (Stats. 1915, p. 115; 2 Deering’s Gen. Laws, Act 6386) Motor Transport has acquired the right to transport express for Motor Express and the latter to use the former for such transportation from San Francisco to Fresno via Pacheco Pass, a saving in distance of 127 miles over such transportation via Paso Robles.

Section 50¾ was added to the Public Utilities Act in 1935 (Stats. 1935, p. 1831) along with other amendments making specific and comprehensive provisions for the regulation of highway common carriers .by the commission. This section (50¾) required such carriers to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (except in certain cases) before commencing operations. It provided that franchises could be transferred only with the consent of the commission, and that in issuing a certificate the commission “may attach to the exercise of the rights granted by said certificate such terms and conditions as, in its judgment, the public convenience and necessity require." The section as amended in 1941 further provides: “Without the express approval of the commission, no certificate of public convenience and necessity issued to any one highway common carrier under the provisions of this section, or heretofore issued by the commission to one highway common carrier for the transportation of property by auto truck or self-propelled vehicle, nor any operative right of one highway common carrier founded upon operations actually conducted in good faith on July 26, 1917, shall be combined, united or consolidated with another such certificate or operative right issued to or possessed by another highway common carrier so as to permit through service between any. point or points served, by one highway common carrier, under any such separate certificate or operative right, on the one hand, and any point or points served, by another highway common carrier, under another such certificate or operative right, on the other hand; nor, without the express approval of the commission, shall any through'route or joint,