For many years, the economic practices of much of the transportation system in the United States were regulated. Today, interstate pipeline and some interstate railroad traffic is regulated, as is intrastate motor carriage in most states. At one time, nearly all intercity transportation was subject to economic regulation. The railroads came under federal regulation in 1887 to curtail abuse of their monopoly powers. They were the first large monopolies in the United States, and society was not certain how to protect itself from them. Strict regulations, enforced by the Interstate Commerce Commission, controlled rates and provided that railroads could not charge more for a short haul than for a long haul over the same route. This latter rule was to overcome a railroad practice of charging low rates between major cities where several railroads competed, subsidizing this competition by charging high rates to intermediate points served by a single railroad. Regulators tried to make railroads set rates that were “fair” to all users and to the communities and industries that the railroads served. Entrance into and exit from the industry was also controlled.

The nation’s oil pipelines were regulated in 1906, as a reaction to John D. Rockefeller’s use of them as a tool for monopolizing the oil industry. Some motor carriers were regulated in 1935. In this situation, the problem was too much competition, rather than too little. Truckers engaged in what was referred to as “cutthroat” competition. They charged rates that did not even cover their operating costs and tried to make up for this by avoiding maintenance on their trucks and tires and driving long hours. Motor carrier regulation attempted to provide stability to the industry, although not all motor carriers were subject to regulation.

In 1938, domestic airlines were placed under the purview of the new Civil Aeronautics Board, which regulated routes, service, entry and exit, and rates. Some segments of the inland waterways industry were regulated in 1940. Freight forwarders—intermediaries who accepted small shipments from many shippers and consolidated them into larger shipments to tender to carriers—were regulated in 1942. In 1948 carrier rate bureaus, committees representing carriers that would meet to agree on rates for the industry to charge, were given immunity from antitrust prosecution.

In the post-World War II era, it became apparent that regulation was not working well. Those segments of the truck and inland waterways industry that had not been regulated grew in size and took considerable traffic away from the railroads. Most railroads in the Northeast were bankrupt. One of these was the Penn Central, and, in financial terms, this had been the nation’s largest bankruptcy to date. In some transport modes, the workers’ unions were very strong, and management would award union members wage increases which the regulatory body would then allow carriers to pass on to shippers as increased rates. In markets where rates were set by regulatory bodies, the carriers did compete, but not by driving costs down; instead, they would add services and increase costs up to the point at which they equaled the regulatory agency’s approved rate. About 1970, the United States passed a number of laws that removed many economic regulatory shackles from the nation’s carriers. Included in this wave of deregulation were airlines, motor carriers of freight, railroads, intercity buses, and household goods movers. Deregulation has caused difficulties for carriers and carrier labour. Individual carriers, and the industries they are part of, are not as stable as they were prior to deregulation. Many carriers have gone bankrupt, and carrier labour has lost much of its economic and political clout. However, and as a result, charges for freight and passenger carriage have dropped.

In addition to economic regulation, all levels of government regulate transportation safety and movements of hazardous materials. Testing transportation operators to detect possible drug use is a controversial matter. States also limit the lengths, weights, and axle spacings of heavy trucks.

Economic regulation is handled differently in various other countries. A common pattern is for the government to own the railroads and airlines and to restrict other carriers if they appear to be capturing traffic from the government operations. International airline operations and services are regulated by strict treaties between the nations exchanging airline service. Actual fares are established by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a cartel (or organization) of all the world’s air carriers. Cartels known as conferences also regulate the rates charged by ocean liners that carry cargo on a regular basis. Each conference is made up of member lines that serve certain routes, say, between U.S. gulf ports and ports along the Baltic. Over the years, the U.S. government has attempted to control practices of both airline and ocean liner cartels serving the United States, but it has had limited success because it must share jurisdiction with other nations.

Modern domestic and international transportation industries are discussed in Donald F. Wood and James C. Johnson, Contemporary Transportation, 3rd ed. (1989). Transportation systems and regulation prior to deregulation are studied in D. Philip Locklin, Economics of Transportation, 7th ed. (1972). Paul Stephen Dempsey and William E. Thoms, Law and Economic Regulation in Transportation (1986), offers an analysis of transportation regulation in the era of deregulation in the United States. Hans A. Adler, Economic Appraisal of Transport Projects: A Manual with Case Studies, rev. and expanded ed. (1987), demonstrates the application of cost-benefit analysis to projects in different nations. A classic treatment of overhead cost allocation is provided in J. Maurice Clark, Studies in the Economics of Overhead Costs (1923, reissued 1981). Clifford Winston, “Conceptual Developments in the Economics of Transportation: An Interpretive Survey,” Journal of Economic Literature, 23(1):57–94 (March 1985), offers an analysis of current thought in the economics of transportation. Economic statistics pertaining to automobiles and trucks are collected in a publication by Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association, MVMA Motor Vehicle Facts & Figures (annual). David L. Lewis and Laurence Goldstein (eds.), The Automobile and American Culture (1983), explores the influence of the automobile on all aspects of American life.