As the ICC was trying to figure out how to help the railroads without hurting the ship lines, Congress intervened—with conflicting instructions. Congress wanted to “breathe into our whole system of transportation some new competition,” Florida Senator George Smathers explained. But while it wanted the economy to benefit from lower rates and new services, Congress also wanted to protect transportation companies and their workers. The result was the Transportation Act of 1958. In a single remarkable sentence, the law ordered the ICC not to keep any carrier’s rates high to protect another mode of
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