Regulation vs. Deregulation
The question of whether transportation should be regulated or deregulated is a critically important one. Regulation in the context of transportation may fall into different categories including the regulation of the quality of product such as safety, etc. (Savage, 2006). More importantly, regulation in the context of transportation pertains to the economic forms of regulation such as regulation pertaining to “prices, output, entry and exit” (Savage, 2006). The transportation industry was heavily regulated before the last few decades.
The last 40 years have witnessed the transportation arena in the United States going through considerably significant transformations in terms of magnitude and characteristics. The
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Rates were also constrained and a number of railroads reached a point of bankruptcy. Rates and costs both went through elevation. Since the 1960s, different presidents started championing the deregulation of surface freight transportation, trucking, motor carriers, etc. Following some ICC initiatives lessening the oversight related to trucking and the deregulation of the airline industries, Congress passed the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. This Act restricted the control the ICC enjoyed over …show more content…
It has also resulted in lifting economic barriers and liberalizing trade. Globalization has led to deregulation by increasing the need for global shipping activity. It has also impacted transportation by requiring high quality and speedy global travel and more access. Also, one factor that has left an effect on and influenced the deregulation of the transportation industry is inter-modalism in relation to the freight industry or in other words, the transportation of products by a number of transportation modes on the same journey (US DOT,