Florida Motor Carrier Deregulation: Perspectives of Urban and Rural Shipper/Receivers

It is commonly asserted that with release from economic regulations, motor carriers will eliminate or sharply reduce services to small and inconveniently located shipper/receivers. In this study the experiences of shipper/receivers under Florida deregulation are examined. Shipper/receiver experiences are compared according to firm size, community size, and proximity to major metropolitan areas or highways. The results indicate that while firm size has little bearing on service, locational factors are important. For all shipper/receiver subgroups, however, those indicating improvements greatly outnumber those reporting erosions in service. Key words: motor carrier deregulation, receivers, shippers. The reform or elimination of state and federal economic regulations of motor carriers is one of the most significant ongoing developments in the U. S. economy. As the protection from exploitation of small andlor isolated shipperl receivers (SIR) was one of the principal jus-tifications for imposing regulations on motor carriers, the effects of removal or relaxation of these controls are of particular concern to rural or agricultural SIR. In this paper the ex-periences are examined of SIR in Florida, which on 1 July 1980 became the first state to remove totally economic (nonsafety) controls over intrastate trucking. The results of a recent survey of SIR located throughout Florida are reported and analyzed. The pri-mary focus of the work is to ascertain how smaller SIR and those located in small com-munities and rural areas have fared relative to their larger, more urban counterparts. Theoretical Issues and the Regulatory Debate Traditional motor carrier regulations are simi-lar to those for utilities and may be viewed as being akin to a bargain or contract betwee