which includes Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Currently our national headquarters is in New York City. We are about to open a Washington office and begin full scale programing. Although we are still only midway through our initial membership campaign, we already have several hundred members and conservatively I anticipate we will have a membership exceeding 1,000 by the end of the year. At this point I want to put in a plug for one of our initial programs a national convention of minority truckers scheduled this November in Atlanta, Ga. It will be the first meeting of its kind, and we are particularly proud to be sponsoring it. An exhibit to my testimony describes in detail the aims and programs of Minority Trucking-Transportation Development Corp. In brief, the organization is dedicated to the economic interest of all minority truckers throughout the Nation; we plan education, counseling, legal assistance, and other economic service programs. This subcommittee already has heard a great deal of testimony concerning the problems of independent owner operators, and although I could recite examples experienced by members of our association, much of this ground has already been covered. I would emphasize, however, that the problems and abuses of which you have been told are as common to minority owner operators as to any others. They are real problems, for which I hope solutions can be found. However, I want to focus my remarks on the matter of obtaining ICC carrier authority. And I want to submit, as exhibit 2 to my statement, a discussion by Leamon McCoy, president of our organization, dealing in detail with additional problems confronting the minority carrier, economic as well as regulatory. ICC REGULATION AND MASSIVE DISCRIMINATION The Interstate Commerce Commission, through its commissioners, is emphatic about maintaining that its policies and procedures do not discriminate in any way against minorities. However, I am here to inform you that the results of those policies and procedures is in fact massive discrimination against all minorities in trucking. Further, unless and until the ICC changes its policies and procedures, massive discrimination will continue on and on. The system needs to be reformed. Let's look at the results of the first 40 years of ICC motor carrier regulation. The result is that minorities are so under-represented in terms of ICC carrier authority that I submit the term "common carrier" is uncommon to the black man or any other minority group. There are approximately 15,200 ICC-certificated motor carriers in this country. My organization estimates that only about 45 of these 15,200 carriers are black. And the black carriers have only very limited authority. My organization estimates that there is not more than a handful of certificated carriers of other minority groups. These are our conclusions, following substantial efforts to contact minority truckers throughout the country. What we have found is similar to what the U.S. Civil Rights Commission found, when surveying minority and female entrepreneurship in trucking. The Commission's 1974 report, "Federal Civil Rights Enforcement Effort," reports in volume 1, page 174, that The effects of ICC's regulation of the (trucking) industry are clear: Of over 15,000 certified motor transportation companies, a miniscule number are owned totally or in part by minority group members or females. Another summary of the situation was given last December by Mr. Samuel Cornelius, deputy director of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. In testimony to a hearing on minority trucking of the subcommittee on Housing, Minority Enterprise, and Economic Development of the Congressional Black Caucus, he said: the share which minority truckers have of the interstate trucking market is infinitesimally small, apparently less than one-tenth of 1 percent. Why is this the case? Is it a matter of difficulty in capitalization, lack of an experience base in the industry, or disinterest of shippers? After examining this situation we must answer this question with a resounding no. The extent of capitalization required by firms for entering the trucking industry or expanding from local hauling to interstate service is modest compared to the revenue potential of such growth. . . . In addition, there is no lack of minority firms with trucking experience. ... The 1972 census of minority owned firms indicated that there were 12,917 minority owned trucking firms. I don't know where this figure came from because the only reference this could be to would be the independents or the owner-operators because there is in no way 12,000 blacks engaged in trucking as companies. At this point I want to note for the subcommittee that this figure is almost entirely composed of individual trucker owner-operators. Mr. Cornelius then concluded: The incredibly small participation of minority firms in the interstate trucking is without question due in large part to the severely restrictive entry criteria mandated by the Interstate Commerce Act. The Interstate Commerce Commission must labor under the burdens of this archaic act when determining the award of operating rights. The effect of this act is to place enormous barriers in the way of minority truckers. These barriers are fully as restrictive as the discredited practices of the Jim Crow system that barred entry into public facilities and many professions. Under the Interstate Commerce Act, entry into an interstate trucking route is determined largely on grounds of how they may be damaged by the addition of another competitor. The result in any profitable route situation is invariably expensive proceedings and often denial of operating rights to the would-be competitor. In summary, the current result is that after 40 years under ICC regulation, we have somewhat slightly more than 40 certificated minority carriers. And what is the outlook for the future? The ICC in a report to this committee, advises that it is granting about 500 operating authorities to new carriers each year. However, close inspection of the ICC figures on pages 686 and 871 of your recently published hearings shows that only a minor fraction of these new authorities are in fact substantial ones. The vast majority are severely restricted-almost all are for single or limited specific committees, and many are for single points of origin, or for single points of destination. When you discount these, you find that only about 30 new authorities each year are general commodity certificates. There were 31 granted in fiscal 1973, 30 in fiscal 1974, and 37 in fiscal 1975. These are the grants that are meaningful. And at this rate, even if all were awarded to minority applicants, it would be another century before we would achieve satisfactory minority representation among certificated carriers. Clearly, something must be done to alter the system. Something must be done to make the system operate affirmatively toward achieving equal opportunity. Earlier this month the U.S. Civil Rights Commission issued a report on equal employment in trucking, concluding with a recommendation that the ICC should require regulated trucking companies to submit affirmative action plans, and to revoke the licenses of firms which fail to meet their goals and timetables under these plans. I suggest that the ICC should, in addition, adopt an affirmative action program for the granting of certificates of authority to minority applicants, in order to redress the massive discrimination which has resulted over the past 40 years. Now I would like to further go into some specific situations. I have here and you don't happen to have this-a list of the class I and class II carriers, the revenues that they earned in fiscal 1974. This is for household goods movers. This happens to be my particular field of expertise. Of the 101 class I and II carriers, they did from 300 to 1 million plus in business. Not one is a minority carrier. The ICC being the regulating body of the trucking industry in 1969 petitioned Congress to see if they had the authority to move against the trucking industry for their discriminatory hiring practices. That was in 1969. As of yet, the Congress has failed to answer the petition to show that there is something. The American Trucking Association sent a letter to the ICC in which they urged the ICC to shun entry into the equal employment field. Mr. BEDELL. You lost me here. You said that Congress had failed Mr. PERSON. Right. They have not answered the ICC's petition as to whether they have authority to move against the big truckers because of their discriminatory hiring practices. Mr. BEDELL. Who did the ICC address that Mr. PERSON. To Congress. This was 1966. Mr. PERSON. I don't have a copy of that but it is a matter of record that they petitioned Congress. Mr. LYNCH. Which congressional committee? Mr. PERSON. At that time the subcommittee investigating surface 'transportation was the Hartke committee. Mr. Dan O'Neill at that time was Mr. BEDELL. We will have the staff check that. We were not aware of that. Mr. PERSON. I have here which I will give the members a copy of, the Interstate Commerce Commission turned down an application for a certificate to offer service within all 50 states. Our rationale for having applied for this authority was the fact that the local white carriers' agents refused to come into the black community to give service. Although in their order denying application, they said we had failed to prove there was a need for the service and then if the situation I outlined existed, that they were unaware of it, however in the 7 years that since that time, they have failed to investigate the charges that I made. I also have a letter here from an inner city resident stating that she had waited as long as 31 days for services from a white carriers' agent and they never showed up and never offered to give her the necessary services. One of the things that makes the certifying of blacks for interstate carriage is the fact that out of some 4,000 household goods carriers in the United States, there is approximately 14 black companies that have such authority and the authority is not national in scope. In most cases it amounts to 5 or 6 States. We have no one that has any authority that covers the west coast or the western part of the United States. The 10 major carriers in this country that do approximately $800 million in interstate transportation have only 6 black companies that represent them. Mr. BEDELL. This is not for furniture moving? Mr. PERSON. This is for furniture. Although the inner city lacks the services of the white local agents, we don't have the franchises, if you will, to be able to serve the community. I will give you all of these forms that I have not given you but I would very much like to leave the record open, if possible, so that we might submit some other documents that might be of interest to this subcommittee. Mr. BEDELL. You can submit any documents you want to and we will put them in the record, as much as we can. [The documents referred to follow:] ALLSTATES TRANSCONTINENTAL VAN LINES, INC., Hon. PARREN J. MITCHELL, M.C., St. Louis, Mo. DEAR SIR: The enclosed material will basically constitute my testimony before your "Congressional Committee" on the fourth (4) of December, 1975. I think this material will give you some insight as to pitfalls and road blocks facing the minority trucker. In 1969, we applied for national authority to haul household goods and like commodities and we were turned down on the grounds that there was no need for the service. However no less than nine (9) white companies were granted national authority after having turned our application down. For seven years the ICC has been trying to see if they have the authority to move against the large truckers (see exhibit 5). In 1968 the ICC moved against Roadway Express and Leeway Motor Freight, Inc., because of their discriminatory hiring practices (see Ralph Nader report pages x-4 to x-6) (exhibit 6). There are only six (6) black companies leased by the top twelve (12) household goods carriers (see below). 1. Allied, 2. North American, 3. Bekins, 4. Mayflower, 5. United, 6. Lyons, 7. Global, 8. Atlas, 9. Greyhound, 10. Red Ball, 11. Wheaton, 12. Republic. The letters from black shippers will attest to the unwillingness of white carriers agents to come into the black community to give service (see exhibits # 1, 2, 3, and 4). The black household goods company finds himself in a vise. Being closed in from all sides, by the ICC and the major household goods carriers. Example:-The ICC has not granted a black owned moving company a certificate since the 1940's. However there are some four thousand (4000) household goods carriers and approximately one thousand of them (white) were granted in the late forties (40's) and early fifties (50's). From 1969 to 1975 the ICC has granted nine (9) white carriers national certificates (to and from all points and places) in the United States. 76-102-77- -18 1. Lyons, 2. Wheaton, 3. Burhamm, 4. Fernstrom, 5. King Van Lines, 6. John F. Ivory, 7. Andres Van Lines, 8. Rocky Ford, 9. Trans-American Van Lines. Aside from that there are a number of majority carriers (white) that have pending before the ICC applications that ask among other things that they eliminate their gateways, which in affect would constitute a grant of new authority. In St. Louis, the ICC, in the last twenty years has appointed the following white agents without considering or appointing any black owned companies. Example: 1. Mayflower-Chase, International, Dodge. 2. Allied-Fry-Wagoner, Biltmore, Prosser. 3. Bekins-Overland, Bekins of St. Louis, Mo. 4. Lyons-Dodge, Hazzard, Bohling. 5. Wheaton-Bohling, Hartnett. 6. Red Ball-Biltmore, Fry-Wagoner, Dodge, Int'l., Steferman. 7. United-Dodge, Metro, Marazek, Fidelity. 8. North Amer.-Checkerboard, Bohling, Greater St. Louis, Security, Gietz, Kirkwood, Frick, Cord, Adco. 9. Republic-Dodge, Delta, Gee, Lindell, AAA. 10. Global-Chase, Schnieder, Delta, Global of St. Louis, Frisella. 11. Greyhound-Wilson, Frisella, Grass, Dunham, Hazzard. 12. Burnham-Hazzard, Hartnett, Alacan, Colony, Redbird, Town & Country, Creech Bros. 13. Atlas-Needles, Dodge, ABC. Out of all of the household goods carriers that are class one carriers (approximately seventy (70)), not one of them was black. A class one (1) carrier is one who has had revenues amounting to one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) Sincerely yours, TIMOTHY PERSON, Allstates Transcontinental Van Lines, Inc. [From the St. Louis (Mo.) Peoples Guide, Nov. 21, 1972] TIMOTHY PERSON ASKS FOR BLACKS ON I.C.C. Timothy Person, president of the Allstates Transcontinental Van Lines at 5736 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., is spearheading a move to urge President Richard M. Nixon to appoint two Negroes as members of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Interstate Commerce Commission is a governmental agency that regulates railroads, trucking firms, bus lines and other interests concerned with transportation and communication across state lines. Person accuses the present members of the Interstate Commerce Commission of being insensitive to the needs of black citizens and particularly to the black trucking industry. The Commission consists of eleven members whose terms run for seven years. They are paid $38,000 a year. Person said that since its inception in 1887 it has never had a black man as a commissioner. President Nixon, he said, will have an opportunity to appoint at least five members to the Commission during his term of office and he thinks the President should appoint two blacks to that agency. Person said "There is a pressing and urgent need for adequate transportation in the black community if it is to show a satisfactory growth pattern. I have proof that the white, local agents of the major carriers are unwilling to come into the black community to give its residents service. Transportation is considered one of the most important, economic factors governing the success or failure of any country. What would you think of the following countries being without transportation? Ethiopia, Egypt, Columbia, Argentina, Iran, South Korea, Poland, Rumania, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and Yugoslavia?" he asked. He said "these countries are comparable in size to the black community of the United States". He said the decks have so been stacked in the moving industry that black movers have not been allowed the chance to take advantage of the lucrative interstate business. Person said less than a dozen black carriers in the United States represents the black communities in over 12,000 carriers licensed by the ICC. EXHIBIT No. 1 ("A Report Concerning Transportation Problems as They Affect the Black Community, 1969." Submitted to the Interstate Commerce Commission by Allstates Transcontinental Van Lines, Inc., 5736 Martin Luther King Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63112) |