Baggett Transportation

Citation: Baggett Transportation Co., 57 M.C.C. 690 (1951).

The petitioner sought to purchase the operating rights of another motor carrier which had ceased operating over certain routes. The intervenors in the action were other common carriers who claimed that there was sufficient service at the present time, and that there was no public necessity for the acquisition.

The petitioner attempted to introduce into evidence certain computer-generated abstracts of various traffic data. Intervenors objected to their admission on the following grounds:


 * 1. the actual underlying data (freight bills and shipping documents) were not available for inspection at the hearing;


 * 2. no one with any knowledge of the underlying data, or with knowledge as to the data's preparation, was called to testify; and,


 * 3. petitioner's witness testified that it would now be difficult to trace the original data.

The Commission held that the objections were valid and, under those circumstances, it was proper to reject the evidence. The Commission found that any objection must go to the weight accorded the evidence, and not its admissibility. The judgment was affirmed.