Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-27 | Page 6 | Approve New Express Rates

APPROVE n EXPRESS RATES Average Increase of Ten Per Cent, Mainly on Short Hauls. Charges Are Subject to Review Re-view on Complaints by Shippers. WASHINGTON, Oct. 26. New express rates involving average increases of about 10 per cent, applied mainly on short hauls, win be initiated shortly by the American Railway Express company with the approval ap-proval of Director General McAdoo, to raise $24,000,000 added revenue, half of which will go to the express company to meet contemplated wage advances and the other half to the railroads for transporting1 transport-ing1 express matter. The interstate commerce commission today approved the methods of applying higher rates, but suggested that some plan should be worked out between the company and the railroad administration to give all the added revenue to the company com-pany instead of dividing it with the railroads rail-roads according to terms of the existing contract. Entitled to Share. Director General McAdoo tonight announced an-nounced that the suggestion would not be followed on the ground that the railroads rail-roads are entitled to a proportionate share of any new revenue on account of the higher cost of hauling express shipments. ship-ments. The railroads now receive 504 per cent of every dollar received by the express company for transportation. The express company will proceed immediately im-mediately to raise charges, but these rates will be subject to the review by the interstate in-terstate commerce commission on complaints com-plaints of shippers. The new rates would be a maximum of 17 cents per hundred pounds higher on first-class shipments and 12 cents on second-class, in so-called first zones, or short hauls, generally less than 100 miles. For longer hauls, first and second-class rates would be advanced 12 and S cents a hundred pounds respectively, as maxima. max-ima. Xn addition 10 cents per hundred pounds, regardless of distance would be added to commodity rates. For Higher Wages. The express company has estimated that of the 523,679.000 which the proposed rates should produce, $17,037,000, or more than two-thirds would come from transportation transporta-tion in tire first zone. The entire $11,780,000 which the express company would receive from the increased revenue is to go to pay higher wages to employees who did not share in previous wage advances.