The Agricultural Exemption in Interstate Trucking: A Legislative and Judicial History

Much has been said and much has been written about the scope of the "agricultural exemption." This is the provision in the Interstate Commerce Act exempting motor carriers of agricultural commodities (including unmanufactured products thereof) from economic regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Economic regulation includes control over who may engage in trucking, the routes or areas to be served, and the rates to be charged. The intent of the Congress in writing this exemption into law has been variously interpreted by different groups. It seems appropriate, at this time, to set forth both the words and the deeds of the Congress itself with reference to the exemption clauses. A later chapter reviews the construction placed on the language of the exemption by the Interstate Commerce Commission and the courts in the leading case