Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993                   TAG: 9309220074
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

ICC DENIES TRUCKERS HELP WITH FUEL TAX

The commission, by a 5-0 vote, told truckers it will neither impose a mandatory fuel surcharge or give common carriers special tariff authority to levy increases on short notice and without challenge.

And in what could be a crushing blow to some contract carriers, the commission said it will not grant them the power to reopen shipper contracts to negotiate fuel-related adjustments. Most contracts contain a "fuel kicker" letting carriers adjust rates to compensate for higher pump prices.

Effective Oct. 1, truckers will pay an additional gas tax of 4.3 cents a gallon to help reduce the federal budget deficit. They also will shell out an estimated 7 cents a gallon to comply with the costs of converting to a cleaner-burning diesel fuel under a measure in the 1990 Clean Air Act.

The American Trucking Associations wanted the ICC to order a mandatory pass-through of the higher fuel costs, saying it could not absorb the increased expense without further eroding profit margins battered by surplus capacity and seemingly endless rate-cutting.

Kenneth Siegel, an attorney for the American Trucking Associations, the industry group that sought ICC relief, said he was disappointed with the decision but was pleased the ICC at least recognized the truckers' problem.

Bob Voltmann, director of policy for the National Industrial Transportation League, said the decision reflects the league's view that the government shouldn't mandate fuel price increases when diesel prices are either stable or falling. - Journal of Commerce