Public Service Commission of South Carolina 1963-1964
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Eighty-Sixth Annual Report of the Public Service Commission Of South Carolina 1963-1964 J. LEWIS MOSS, Chairman ' JOHN J. SNOW, Vice-Chairman ) EDWARD WIMBERLY CLYDE F. BOLAND Commissioners ARTHUR D. AMICK GUY BUTLER ) CHARLES A. RICE I J. N. LAND, JR., Executive Secretary HARRY M. LIGHTSEY, JR., Asst. Attorney General R. M. BALLENTINE, Dir. Motor Transport Div. C. E. LOGWOOD, Director of Rate Bureau 0. E. BRUCE, Director of Telephone, Gas and Water J. H. STILL, Asst. Director of Telephone, Gas and Water L. R. MILLER, Director Electrical Utilities Division W. C. SHEELY, Assistant Director, Electrical Utilities Division Printed Under the Direction of the State Budget and Control Board Eighty-Sixth Annual Report of the Public Service Commission Of South Carolina 1963-1964 J. LEWIS MOSS, Chairman JOHN J . SNOW, Vice-Chairman EDWARD WIMBERLY CLYDE F . BOLAND Commissioners ARTHUR D. AMICK GUY BUTLER CHARLES A. RICE J. N. LAND, JR., Executive Secretary HARRY M. LIGHTSEY, JR., Asst. Attorney General R. M. BALLENTINE, Dir. Motor Transport Div. C. E. LOGWOOD, Director of Rate Bureau 0 . E . BRUCE, Director of Telephone, Gas and Water J. H. STILL, Asst. Director of Telephone, Gas and Water L. R. MILLER, Director Electrical Utilities Division W. C. SHEELY, Assistant Director, Electrical Utilities Division Printed Under the Direction of the State Budget and Control Board LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL OFFICE oF PuBLIC SERVICE CoMMISSION To His Excellency, DonaldS. Russell, Governor of South Carolina: Sir: We have the honor to transmit herewith the Eighty-Sixth Annual Report of the Public Service Commission of South Caro lina for the year ending June 30, 1964. Yours respectfully, J . LEWIS MOSS, Chairman JOHN J. SNOW, Vice-Chairman EDWARD WIMBERLY CLYDE F. BOLAND ARTHUR D. AMICK GUY BUTLER CHARLES A. RICE J. N. LAND, JR., Executive Secretary ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA To the General Assembly of South Carolina: The Public Service Commission has the honor to respectfully submit for your consideration this its Eighty-Sixth Annual Report. Below is the personnel of the present Commission and the Counties comprising the seven districts. Sixth District John J. Snow, Vice-Chairman _____________________ _______ Hemingway, S. C. Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro, Williamsburg Seventh District Edward Wimberly ____ __________________________________________ _st. Matthews, S. C. Calhoun, Lee, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter J?irst District Clyde F. Boland ________________ ________________________________________ Charleston, S. C. Berkeley, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester Second District Arthur D. Amick ___ ___ __ ________ __________ _____________ _______________ __Batesburg, S. C. Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Edgefield, Hampton, Jasper, Saluda Third District Guy Butler _______________ __ ________________________ ___________________ Greenwood, S. C. Abbeville, Anderson, Greenwood, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens Fourth District Charles A. Rice _____________________________________ _________ ________ _Greenville, S. C. Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg, Union l?ifth District J. Lewis Moss, Chairman ------------------------------------------------ York, S. C. Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lan caster, York r- SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION - ., I I I I DIRECTOR OF TELEPHONE, RATE BUREAU SECRETARY r-- GAS AND WATER I ~ I MOTOR TRANSPORT ELECTRICAL UTILITIES _J DIVISION DIVISION REPORTER ,. ' This report is divided into four sections as follows: PART !-Railroad and Express Companies, Freight and ,Express Rates, Motor Carrier Rates. PART II-City Bus Transportation, Gas Utilities, Telegraph Companies, Telephone Companies, Water Utilities. PART III-Motor Transport Division. PART IV-Electrical Utilities Division. Part I RATE BUREAU Physical Condition of Railroads The major lines of railroads operating within the State have continued their maintenance programs to an extent necessary to keep their properties in good condition. Main tracks are well ballasted and free of weeds. Expenditures during 1963 for ties, rails and other track materials, ballast and track laying and sur facing were on approximately the same level as for the prior year 1962. Smaller lines and branch lines have been maintained sufficiently to accommodate the traffic being handled over them. Station buildings generally are in satisfactory shape and the more active ones, of course, are in an excellent condition of main tenance. In some instances where station agency activities have declined appreciably, the agencies have been closed, and station buildings have been retired to avoid further maintenance ex penses. New Equipment Class I rail lines, the larger ones, serving the State are con tinuing to purchase and place in service new equipment, particu larly new, greater capacity, freight cars. New, 100-ton capacity, open top hopper cars (sometimes called coal cars) are being put into service; jumbo tank cars, of 20,000-gallon capacity, are find ing wider fields of usage in transporting various liquids in bulk; and high-capacity covered hopper cars are finding service in transporting many dry bulk commodities, including grain, soy beans and cement. These higher capacity freight cars permit rail lines to reduce rates, with the result of lowered unit transporta tion costs to shippers. Trailer-on-flat-car service continues to expand in acceptance by shippers. Plans II, all rail service, and III, ramp-to-ramp movement of private shipper trailers, are most commonly used in our area. Many different commodities are being transported in this type of service. In the box car field, carriers are placing in service more and more of the so-called damage-free (DF) cars, with cushioned underframes, which greatly reduce, if not completely eliminate, transit damages to lading. These cars are usually equipped with built-in bulkhead equipment and/or sidewall fillers to secure lading, thus eliminating shipper-installed dunnage and bracing for that purpose. 7 Railroad Abandonments and Extensions The Georgia & Florida Railway Company (successor to Geor gia & Florida Railroad, Receivers) was authorized by the Inter state Commerce Commission to discontinue operating and aban don approximately 20 miles of its line extending from the south ern outskirts of Edgefield to North Augusta. There was only one non-agency station, Stephens, along this stretch of track and train movements over it had been suspended for some time be cause of the condition of the trackage. The Railway had obtained trackage rights over Southern Railway between Edgefield and North Augusta, and a physical connection between the Southern and the G&F was installed at Edgefield; thus permitting re sumption of through train movements via the G&F between Greenwood and Augusta and beyond. The Greenville & Northern Railway Company was authorized by the ICC to abandon the nub-end of its line from Marietta to Cleveland, a distance of about five ( 5) miles. One industry was served by this portion of line, and in recent years that industry had replaced rail service with motor carrier service, except for coal traffic, and more recently had converted to natural gas, thus eliminating the coal traffic. Railroad Mergers The merger of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company into a new company known as the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company has re ceived a generally favorable decision from the Interstate Com merce Commission, but opponents of the matter have appealed the ICC's decision to the Courts and the case rested in the Courts as of the end of our fiscal year. It is anticipated that litigation will consume another year or more, with outcome uncertain. Railway Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses, and Operating Ratios For the year ending December 31, 1963, South Carolina rail lines reported their operating revenues, operating expenses, and operating ratios, resulting from their entire operations in state and interstate commerce, as follows: 8 Railway Railway Operating Operating Operating Reporting Company Revenues Expenses Ratio Atlantic Coast Line ----------------------$177,725,825 $138,597,626 77.98 Carolina & Northwestern ____________ 3,474,899 2,061,001 59.31 Carolina Western ------------------------ 27,535 15,462 56.15 Clinchfield Railroad ------------------- 22,381,074 13,141,909 58.72 Columbia, Newberry & Laurens 1,196,717 662,174 55.33 Georgia & Florida (Receivers)*-- 1,134,840 1,200,457 105.78 Georgia & Florida Ry. Co.t _______ _ 601,418 1,333,722 221.76 Greenville & Northern --------------- 94,453 77,410 81.96 Hampton & Branchville ________ __ __ _ 100,907 102,181 101.26 Lancaster & Chester ----------------- -- 720,518 335,865 46.61 Pickens Railroad ---------------------------- 43,867 37,338 85.12 Piedmont & Northern ------------------ 5,691,728 3,149,214 55.33 Rockton & Rion:j: ---------------------------- 86,248 70,765 82.05 Seaboard Air Line ------------------------ 172,542,586 132,755,368 76.94 Southern Railway ------------------------- 278,313,790 193,520,015 69.53 Ware Shoals ------------------------------- 59,291 54,494 91.90 *First six months ending June 30, 1963. t Last six months ending December 31, 1963. :j: Rockton & Rion Railroad is a common carrier railroad intrastate in South Carolina only. The operating ratio is simply the percentage relationship of operating expenses to operating revenues. Railway Tax Accruals Tax accruals of the