Wheaton Van Lines

Citation: Wheaton Van Lines, Inc., 65 M.C.C. 331 (1955).

Petitioner sought to purchase the operating lights of another motor carrier. Certain intervenors opposed the application and introduce evidence, generated by computer, that reflected the movement of 668 shipments. The electronic data, however, was sought to be authenticated by producing just ten of the original freight bills. Petitioner objected, claiming that admission of the evidence was error.

The Commission stated that such abstracts were normally admissible as evidence, if the data was authenticated by production of the original documents, and the opposing party had an opportunity to review the data. The commission concluded that the computer-generated data were abstracts, and not authenticating documents. Since only ten of the 668 originals were actually produced, the evidence was held inadmissible.