2007 Minnesota Statutes

221.161 SCHEDULE OF RATES AND CHARGES.
    Subdivision 1. Filing; hearing upon board initiative; armored carrier exemption.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a permit carrier, including a livestock carrier but not
including a local cartage carrier, shall file and maintain with the commissioner a tariff showing
rates and charges for transporting persons or property. Tariffs must be prepared and filed in
accordance with the rules of the commissioner. When tariffs are filed in accordance with the rules
and accepted by the commissioner, the filing constitutes notice to the public and interested parties
of the contents of the tariffs. The commissioner shall not accept for filing tariffs that are unjust,
unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, unduly preferential or prejudicial, or otherwise in violation
of this section or rules adopted under this section. If the tariffs appear to be unjust, unreasonable,
unjustly discriminatory, unduly preferential or prejudicial, or otherwise in violation of this
section or rules adopted under this section, after notification and investigation by the department,
the board may suspend and postpone the effective date of the tariffs and assign the tariffs for
hearing upon notice to the permit carrier filing the proposed tariffs and to other interested parties,
including users of the service and competitive carriers by motor vehicle and rail. At the hearing,
the burden of proof is on the permit carrier filing the proposed tariff to sustain the validity of
the proposed schedule of rates and charges. Tariffs for transporting livestock are not subject to
rejection, suspension, or postponement by the board, except as provided in subdivisions 2 and
3. The tariffs and subsequent supplements to them or reissues of them must state the effective
date, which may not be less than ten days following the date of filing, unless the period of time is
reduced by special permission of the commissioner.
(b) A holder of an armored carrier permit is not required to file a tariff under this subdivision
for the service authorized by the armored carrier permit.
    Subd. 2. Hearing upon complaint. Tariffs, supplements, and reissues must be prepared
and filed in accordance with rules of the commissioner. Rates or charges, including pickup
charges named therein, are subject to complaint to the commissioner by an interested party. The
commissioner, after investigation by the department, by order on not less than ten days' notice,
may assign the complaint for hearing, and if at the hearing, the complainant submits facts and
evidence sufficient to establish proof that the rates or charges complained of are excessive or
noncompensatory, the commissioner may order the rates or charges canceled, and require the
filing of alternative and reasonable rates and charges, the reasonable level of which at that time
must be indicated by the commissioner in the order.
    Subd. 3. Hearing upon petition by another carrier. Upon the filing of a tariff or subsequent
supplement or reissue, any other carrier has the right to petition the commissioner to suspend
it from taking effect until opportunity is had for a hearing on the reasonableness of the rates or
charges, and the commissioner may suspend the rates or charges if in its judgment the rates or
charges complained of are so unreasonably low as to create destructive competitive practices
among or jeopardize the economic position of competing carriers. In determining whether the rates
or charges are excessive or noncompensatory, the commissioner shall include in consideration,
among other things, the reasonable cost of the services rendered for the transportation, including a
reasonable return on the money invested in the business and an adequate sum for maintenance and
depreciation of the property used.
    Subd. 4. Hearing on merits of rates and charges. The commissioner, (1) after a suspension
and hearing upon a schedule of rates and charges, or upon complaint, or upon the commissioner's
own initiative, either in extension of an existing complaint or without a complaint whatever, (2)
after department investigation and petition, (3) upon notice to the permit carrier or tariff agent
proposing, maintaining, or charging a schedule of rates and charges on a single group of related
commodities, and (4) upon notice to the users of the service and competitive carriers by motor
vehicle and rail, may assign for hearing the schedule of rates and charges proposed, maintained,
or charged by any or all permit carriers. Upon a finding, after a hearing, that the schedule of
rates and charges are unjust or unreasonable or unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential or
prejudicial or otherwise in violation of this section, the commissioner may prescribe minimum
rates and charges and the rates, rules, and practices thereafter to be maintained and applied by the
permit carrier or tariff agent. In the hearing the burden of proof is upon the permit carrier or tariff
agent whose schedules of rates and charges are under investigation to show that the schedules
are not below a minimum reasonable level or are not noncompensatory. Schedules of rates and
charges for the transportation of livestock are not subject to rejection, suspension, postponement,
or investigation by the commissioner except as provided in subdivisions 2 and 3.
History: Ex1957 c 17 s 16; 1959 c 376 s 4; 1965 c 523 s 5; 1971 c 25 s 67; 1976 c 166 s 84;
1980 c 534 s 70; 1983 c 371 s 31; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1985 c 299 s 22; 1992 c 578 s 45; 1993 c
213 s 9; 2001 c 213 s 30