Mr. GALE MCGEE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DENVER, COLO., March 25, 1961. DEAR SENATOR: I understand Mr. James Hoffa and the Teamsters Union are conducting a campaign against the use of piggyback service by the railroads and are attempting to have legislation enacted to serve their purpose. Since you are a member of the Committee on Interstate Commerce I am writing you about this matter. As you know, the railroads in general are having financial difficulties, partly due to truck competition due to operating over publicly owned facilities. We feel that nothing should be done to hinder the railroads from doing what they can to compete with other forms of transportation and I ask your support in the matter. Yours very truly, G. A. HUTCHISON. DENVER, COLO. DEAR SIR: I want to say that I find the truckers of Teamsters Union are unfair in trying to stop the railroads from interstate trade with any company they so desire. In the first place, railroads were transporting material long before truckers became an institution and that they have as much right to do so as any other competitive trade in whatever manner they wish. This bill in favor of Teamsters would seriously cripple railroad freight trade and it already is competing with air service for both passengers and freight. They have not suggested that airlines stop their trade competition so why truckers? I sincerely hope you will consider this side of the issue before voting on such a change. Sincerely, Senator GALE MCGEE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. LOUIS DROTAB, Burlington Railroad. DENVER, COLO., March 13, 1961. DEAR SENATOR MCGEE: We are writing you concerning the proposed piggyback bill legislation. We feel that the railroad industry will be greatly hampered and destroyed if such legislation is passed. The railroads, we feel are still a vital factor in our economy. We don't want them destroyed. So we hope you will see fit not to vote for such piggyback legislation. Sincerely yours, Hon. GALE MCGEE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Mr. and Mrs. L. P. GRATER DANVILLE, ILL., March 30, 1961. SIR: I am a legal and qualified citizen of the United States of America and have for the past several years exercised my right to vote in the State of Illinois. Recently I have noted in the newspapers, magazines, TV programs and through club speeches that certain interests are making claims that the Interstate Commerce Commission has favored the railroads in the development of service by piggyback. It is my opinion that an efficient and economical transportation system should be developed in this country and I feel it is the right of the railroad companies to compete: also, that their movement should not be impeded by political pressures brought by groups who seek benefits by regulations which would deny them the right to compete. Therefore, as a member of the Senate Committee of Interstate and Foreign Commerce, I am requesting that you give this consideration when bills are presented for legislation which would affect the transportation industry of this country. Yours truly, D. L. CRONKHITE, Senator GALE W. MCGEE: UNION LAKE, MICH., March 30, 1961. I'm writing to you because I understand that hearings will start in Cheyenne, Wyo., on April 10 in connection with the rate regulation. You are "people of Wyoming" representative and should be very much interested in their welfare. I sincerely hope that you will insist on seeing facts and figures on this subject, that you insist that the railroads' rates as shown and just exactly how they make up the difference in what they are losing by their illegal rates in the car-hauling industry. Their rates in the car-hauling industry are almost one-half under that of the truckers, so they can't be making money there. Naturally, they have to raise their rates on something else; one thing is the U.S. mail. Here the general public has to pay extra for stamps and so forth, so that the railroads can cheat thousands of men out of their jobs and close down thousands of small businesses. The railroads are causing this to happen all over the United States and not just in Wyoming. I know that the railroads have always been the truckers' competitor, but with the rate that they've been allowed to haul for, anyone with any commonsense at all surely knows that it has to be illegal. Otherwise we could stand a fair chance to compete with them. Someone in Washington surely must care what is happening to the citizens of the United States. For this discriminatory rate of the ICC and the railroads is hurting just as many other people as it is the truckers. I sincerely hope that you will keep an open mind and weigh both sides to the question before making your decision. All really that the truckers are asking for is a fair fight and a fair chance at the industry and not for everything to be one-sided. Sincerely, JAMES E. CRENSHAW. ERIE, MICH., March 25, 1961. DEAR SIR: When you ran for election if a rule that said "Democrats win with 50 votes and Republicans must have 75 or vice versa, would each of you have an equal chance to win? That is what my husband as a trucker faces when he must haul cars as first-class freight and trains haul third- and fourth-class freight. He hasn't worked but a month and a half out of 8 months. I'm sure it was designed to help the rails but let us find a better way than "human sacrifice" which is just what this section 15a (3) has brought about. When whole sections of the trucking industry is fed to this "iron monster" as a tonic, you can imagine the thousands of people going without proper medical care, food, schooling, and many other necessities. My husband worked for ATI, Wixom, Mich., for 8 years. Now he's unemployed. Would you correct this situation while there is still time. May God lead you in your work. Mrs. EULAS HEARST. NEW HAVEN, IND., March 22, 1961. Senator GALE W. MCGEE, Washington, D.C. Honorable MCGEE: The proposed amendments of section 15a (3) were read to us at the last meeting of the Truckaway Wives (National), Inc. We are all in favor that the amendment be enacted. I am the wife of a truckdriver hauling piggyback trucks. If we do not get some legislation soon to stop the railroads on objectionable rates because the ICC has permitted it, and delay hearings to prevent it, my husband will soon be among the many thousands now out of work. It will mean he will be too old to get another job and too young to retire. It will also mean he will not have health insurance or his pension fund. He is only one of thousands in this predicament. Like an unbroken chain letter this situation goes on to affect the welfare of the whole Nation. Filling station, motels, restaurants, hotels, tire industry, truck manufacturing, repair shops, and every taxpayer in the Nation will soon feel "the squeeze." In 1959 total revenue from motor fuel, vehicle registrations, and motor carrier taxes was $5.1 billion. If this source is shut off it will be taken from the taxpayer's pockets. We also feel that President Kennedy is making a grave error to ask for an increase in tariffs on trucks. They are already overburdened. This bill should be voted against. I would appreciate hearing from you about this, as to your ideas and what if anything is being done about it. We are a group of women who have organized to get some legislation for our husbands who are still left in the trucking industry, and to help put those back to work who are laid off through no fault of the companies where they worked. In just a few weeks this organization has grown into a national thing. It is nonunion, nonpolitical. I assure you there is going to be thousands of women who will be well informed as to how those holding offices have voted by the next election, we in turn are educating our husbands as we learn who is doing what, many of them are already attending our meetings as guests to get information. We have already decided come next election to vote for what a man has done not what his politics are. Yours sincerely WILDA WEIST. PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS CO., Re hearing on piggyback hauling by the railroads, Cheyenne, Wyo., April 10, 1961. U.S. Senator GALE W. MCGEE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR MCGEE: Attached is a copy of a letter I have just written on the above subject. Our position is very clear in that the Government has asked the railroads to become competitive. Now that they are, they should be allowed to remain competitive. We have weakened our domestic basic industries too much already. Yours very truly, V. B. SPRING, Manager. Re Senate hearing on piggyback hauling by railroads, Cheyenne, Wyo., April 10, 1961. SUBSURFACE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, GENTLEMEN: I am writing you this letter expressing our opinion as a user on the above problem and trust you will make it a part of the above proceedings. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. operates a warehouse in Cheyenne, not on rail trackage, at 2010 East 13th Street. We employ on the average of 25 people the year around at this location. We have a great many of our shipments delivered by piggyback as we combine the lower rail rate with delivery to our door. The savings to us over full truck rate or in full rail rate are considerable, considering we are not on trackage. With the competitive situation we are faced with, we must take full advantage of any savings possible if we are to remain in business. May I call your attention to the statement of Mr. Robinson F. Barker, vice president, Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., before the U.S. Tariff Commission hearing on sheet glass. March 15, 1961. Yours very truly, Hon. GALE W. MCGEE, U.S. Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. V. B. SPRING, Manager. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, Cheyenne, Wyo., March 7, 1961. DEAR GALE: I telephoned you last week and in your absence, talked to Mr. Joe Davis about a report we had in connection with the possibility of Senate committee hearings as a result of the action of the Teamsters in protesting railroad piggyback service. I would appreciate very much your office advising me in the event hearings are arranged, especially date of hearing in Wyoming. I would also appreciate a copy of any bill that might be introduced to, in any way, change regulations affecting piggyback service. Mr. John Loomis sent you the Association of American Railroads' circular. "Fallacies About Piggybacking and the Facts," which I believe well outlines the railroads' viewpoint and I hope will be helpful for your information and file. I find because of the action of the Teamsters, the railroaders in this area are showing increased interest in this matter of piggyback service. Attached is an article by the Railroad Yardmasters of America, which seems to explain the railroad labor viewpoint. The attached editorial also raises a good question. With kind personal regards, Sincerely yours, C. E. ASTLER. [From the Wyoming State Tribune, Mar. 6, 1961] THE FIGHT ON PIGGYBACKING On the basis of some contracts already negotiated, Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters Union will collect $5 from the shipper for each truck trailer carried piggyback on the railroads. It is a measure of just how tough Hoffa is going to be in his all-out battle to halt the rapid growth of piggybacking, a combination developed by railroads that utilizes the truck from the shipper to freight yard and the steel rails instead of the highway for city-to-city haul. The device is taking a lot of business away from the truckers. It seems like a fair turnabout. For years on end now the truckers have been taking business away from the railroads, in wholesale lots. It's competition, with a capital "C." But Mr. Hoffa is going to try to wreck it-not by becoming more competitive but by exacting fees, or by legislation, or by some other means. Think a bit about that $5 fee business. How that idea can spread if it takes root. The barber could collect each time we shave ourselves. The restaurant could bill us for every meal we eat at home. The cabdrivers could nick our pocketbook every time we drive the family car downtown. We would be there too, with our hand out, every time a potential reader takes some news-dug up by the newspapers-off the radio or TV. [From the Railroad Yardmaster, January-February 1961] BRIEF COMMENT BY OUR PRESIDENT-RAILROAD YARDMASTERS OF AMERICA Piggyback has been the means of returning to the rails a very considerable amount of traffic more recently transported over the highways by trucks. Old records show this sort of thing was used long before there was such a thing as a motorized truck, or concrete highways upon which to operate such motorized vehicles. The Teamsters Union through the magazine the International Teamster has been making a great fuss about the adverse effect on its membership of the return of this traffic to the rails. The union acknowledges the growth of piggyback to be "fantastic" and, correctly, that it is on the increase, and, we add, properly so. In their attack on the railroads in this matter, the Teamsters do not tell the entire story by any means. They do not of course say that this movement of new automobiles, for example, was formerly railroad business, and that the truckers actually caused it to be diverted to them from the railroads by way of changes in rates and service, which is the very means by which the railroads have gotten the business back to the rails. Fair competition in meeting the needs of shippers and bringing benefits to the public is what has resulted in this increased business for the railroads and there is not any sense to the barrage of propaganda by the Teamsters that piggybacking is uneconomical. On the contrary, this is simply a selfish attitude on the part of that union which is asking-demanding rather-that the Government impede transportation progress. It all boils down to a question of who is giving way and under rates bearing the approval of the Interstate Commerce Commission the appropriate authority. The Teamsters Union is not facing up to the economical facts of this highly competitive age when it seeks to pressure Congress and the Interstate Commerce Commission into holding back transportation progress by imposing artificial restrictions against moving this traffic on the railroads. All forms of transport should have equal freedom to compete for the transportation business of our country. This attitude by the Teamsters Union is a direct attack on the jobs of railroad men. This service provides traffic and gives more work for railroad employes. The Teamsters Union is trying to wipe out this railroad employment. It is urging its members to put pressure on Congress to pass legislation that would curb this competition. But this improvement, this progress in railroad transportation by the use of improved freight equipment gives the shipper what he wants and it gives it to the shipper at rates arrived at under fair competition. Naturally no one wants to see employees lose their jobs, but it is an indisputable fact that over the years railroad employes have seen their jobs dwindling because of decline in freight traffic resulting to a considerable degree directly from the loss to the trucks of this traffic which is, at last, being returned to the rails and now when our better service to meet the needs of the shippers brings this once-lost traffic back to the rails, railroad employees can properly (and should) stand up and challenge any unfair criticism directed to the railroad service they are providing for these satisfied shippers. Railroad employees in all parts of the country have an obviously direct interest in this situation; many of their jobs are at stake and they should not hesitate to let their Senators, their Representatives in the House, their Governor, legislators and other public officials know the facts in this situation. We send directly to our membership additional information on this subject. one that is vital to their welfare. LARAMIE, Wyo., March 9, 1961. SENATOR MCGEE: I am against Mr. Hoffa's attack on the railroad piggyback service. This business was railroad business for many years, so why should he complain when we are trying to get the business back on rails again. The railroads should be allowed to compete and not be restricted by so many regulations that prevent it. Other carriers are not paying their fair share of taxes now, that enable them to operate on our highways. Hon. GALE W. MCGEE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. BILLY BROWN. RAWLINS, Wyo., March 10, 1961. DEAR SIR: As a railroad employee, I am very much concerned with the campaign being conducted against railroad piggyback service. I believe that wherever railroads can move automobiles or other goods more efficiently and economically than trucks do, they should be given every opportunity to do so, not only in piggyback service, but in all other areas as well. Railroads should be free to compete for their share of the transportation business without being subject to discrimination. Your support to this end will be appreciated. Very truly yours, W. H. FORD. |