Quote:
Originally Posted by RWood
Back in its hey-day the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was responsible for the rates charged for interstate transport of goods. Those were days of fixed transport rates and regulated carriers. While the public posture was one of protecting the consumer from being overcharged by trucking companies, the reality was that most of the enforcement actions were against companies cutting their rates to win a little bit more business. It seems that that was a no-no. I expect no less sanity this time around.
|
The keyword above is "regulated". Interstate truckers were part of conferences, conferences published rates, and all member companies were expected to abide by them. The same regulation applied to airlines.
Remove the regulation, allow companies to set prices to gain business, and the result is predictable. Sooner or later, you get two or perhaps three large dominant players in any particular market, and an assortment of smaller companies in specialized niches. Everybody else either gets acquired or exits the business.
Is what we have now an improvement over the old regulated days? I'm not sure.
______
Dennis