Title 37 — Title 37

(a) Where complaint has been made to the commission concerning any rate or other charge of any transportation company and the commission has found, after a hearing, that the transportation company has received an excessive or unjustly discriminatory amount on account of such rate…

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any transportation company owned by a municipality or by the federal government but shall apply to a state owned transportation company. History: (Acts 1920, No. 42, p. 92; Acts 1931, No. 177, p. 252; Code 1940, T. 48, §103.)

Concentration and transit privileges and rates may be permitted or, upon complaint or upon its own motion after due notice and hearing, may be fixed or prescribed by the Alabama Public Service Commission upon traffic that is wholly intrastate upon such basis as is just and reason…

in Bales; Common-Law Liability Not Affected. (a) Every transportation company receiving property for transportation, originating and terminating in this state, shall issue to the shipper a receipt or bill of lading therefor in which shall be stated the class or classes of freight…

Carrier; Duplicates. A transportation company engaged in the business of carriage, or of keeping for shipment, or of forwarding things or property, must not give a receipt or bill of lading for the things or property for carriage, or for keeping for shipment, or for forwarding un…

or Receipt or for Failure to Endorse Partial Delivery. If any transportation company, not having received things or property for carriage, shall issue or give a bill of lading, or receipt, as if such things or property had been received, the transportation company engaged in the …

A delivery of cotton at or to a compress for the purpose of being compressed, at the instance or in the usual course of business of a transportation company, or other person engaged in the business of carriage, or of keeping for shipment, or of forwarding, may be taken and deemed…

Prohibited. A transportation company or other person engaged in the business of carriage or of keeping for shipment, or of forwarding things or property, must not, otherwise than is authorized by law or by the contract of delivery to him, make sale of things or property entrusted…

Stipulated Rate. All transportation companies doing business in this state shall settle their freight charges according to the rate stipulated in the bill of lading, provided the rate stipulated therein is in conformity with the classifications and rates made and filed with the I…

A transportation company, if the place of destination of freight is a city or town having a daily mail, is not relieved from liability as a transportation company by reason of a deposit or storage of freight in a depot or warehouse, unless, within 24 hours after the arrival of su…

(a) Any transportation company having an office or place of business in this state, and having any unclaimed articles, not perishable, in its possession for a period of 40 days, may, at the expiration of that time, sell the same at public auction. (b) Out of the proceeds thereof,…

Where such unclaimed freight is perishable or live, such transportation company may sell the same as soon as it is deemed necessary and proper for the protection of the transportation company, the consignor or consignee. When it is practicable, the consignor and consignee shall b…

Companies. The Public Service Commission is charged with the duty of supervising, regulating and controlling all transportation companies doing business in this state, in all matters relating to the performance of their public duties and their charges therefor, and of correcting …

Disposition of Surplus. (a) The transportation company may insure the freight, at the expense of the owner, from the date of its arrival to the sale above authorized. (b) A record shall be kept of the articles sold and of the price obtained therefor, transportation charges, cost …

Every transportation company subject to the provisions of this chapter, its agents or officers, whose duty it is to receive freights, shall receive all articles of the nature and kind received by said companies for transportation whenever tendered at a regular station at proper h…

Whenever any freight shall be received by any transportation company in this state to be delivered to any consignee within this state, and a portion of the same shall not have been received at the place of destination, it shall be unlawful for the company to demand any part of th…

(a) In case of any overcharge on published or lawful rates, the person aggrieved may file with the agent of the company collecting or receiving greater compensation than the lawful rate a written demand, supported by a paid freight bill or duplicate thereof, for refund of overcha…

When goods, wares, merchandise or other personal property are shipped to some point of delivery in this state over two or more connecting lines of transportation companies, both or all of which are engaged in the business of a transportation company in the State of Alabama, and s…

Weight Limits. Every transportation company in this state, which shall engage in the carrying of passengers, shall receive and transport, without compensation or other transportation charges, with each passenger, the personal baggage of such person or passenger, not exceeding 150…

Every transportation company in this state shall charge passengers, on all baggage weighing over 150 pounds, sixteen and two-thirds percent of the regular fare to destination per 100 pounds in excess of the said 150 pounds, but no charge for any fraction of the first 100 pounds e…

Travelers. The baggage, samples, goods, wares, appliances, and catalogues of commercial travelers or their employers, and used by them for the exclusive purpose of transacting their business and carried with them solely for that purpose and which in no instance shall be sold or o…

Exceptions. No transportation company shall be required to transport any piece of baggage exceeding in greatest dimensions 72 inches, or 250 pounds maximum weight, excepting immigrant baggage checked at port of landing, whips in flexible cases, and public entertainment parapherna…

in Baggage Rooms or Station Houses. All passengers of whatever character having baggage transported by companies under the provisions of this division shall have 24 hours, not including legal holidays or Sundays, for the removal of such baggage from the baggage room or station ho…

No transportation company shall undertake the extension of its service or the construction of a new plant, property or facility, except ordinary extensions in the usual course of business, or shall acquire or operate any line, plant or property of another transportation company, …

Company to Be Given Notice of Filing of Application for Certificate of Convenience and Necessity. Any utility or telephone company that is required to obtain a certificate of convenience and necessity under Section 37-2-4 or Section 37-4-28 from the Alabama Public Service Commiss…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the carrying, storage or handling by any transportation company, subject to the provisions of this title, of property free or at reduced rates for the United States, or for the State of Alabama, or for any municipality, or for…

(a) Each transportation company doing business in this state and subject to the control and jurisdiction of the commission with respect to its rates and service regulations shall pay quarterly to the commission, beginning November 1, 1985 and on each quarter thereafter, February …

Receipt. Any person, firm or corporation may submit to the commission, by mail or in person, any transportation company expense bill or receipt, showing charges paid for transportation of any property by freight or express for the purpose of having the same examined with respect …

No agent, officer or attorney of any traffic association or freight bureau shall ask for, bid for or solicit any claim from any shipper or consignee against any transportation company, and no portion of any money paid by any company on any such reparation claim shall ever be paid…

This chapter shall not release or waive any right of action by the state, the commission or by any body politic, municipal corporation, person or corporation for any right or penalty which may have arisen or accrued or may hereafter arise or accrue under any law of this state. Al…

A civil action to recover the forfeitures provided for in this chapter may be brought at any time within two years from the date the offense was committed or forfeiture was incurred in the name of the State of Alabama, in any court of competent jurisdiction in any county in which…

Company. Every violation of the provisions of this chapter, or of any order, decision, rule, regulation, direction or requirement of the commission, or any part or portion thereof, by any transportation company, is a separate and distinct offense, and in case of a continuing viol…

No transportation company subject to this chapter shall abandon all or any portion of its service to the public or the operation of any of its lines, properties or plant which would affect the service it is rendering the public, except ordinary discontinuances of service for nonp…

The application for and issuance of any such certificate of convenience and necessity or application for a permit to abandon its service, provided for in Sections 37-2-4 and 37-2-5, shall be under such rules and regulations as to hearing and other matters as the commission may, f…

In all cases of loss, destruction, injury to, delay in delivering or failure to deliver property, chattels or goods of any character to the person entitled thereto by a transportation company, having received the same for shipment in accordance with the contract of shipment, such…

(a) When any property, chattels, or goods have been received by any transportation company for transportation, and such goods, chattels, or property shall be lost, destroyed or injured, or shall not be delivered according to the contract of shipment, the shipper, consignor, consi…

(a) If the value of such goods, property or chattels so lost, destroyed or not delivered, or the amount of damages or injury, where injured, shall not be paid or tendered to such person entitled thereto so presenting such verified claim therefor within the time prescribed in subs…

Revocation; Exception. The commission, as it deems to the best interest of the public, may grant in part or in whole, or may refuse such applications, and in the event such applications are granted, the commission may impose such conditions as it deems expedient for the protectio…

Every transportation company shall, on or before September 1 in each year, and oftener if required by the Public Service Commission, file with the commission a verified list of all railroad tickets, passes and mileage books, issued free or for other than actual bona fide money co…

Every railroad company must erect, at all points where its road crosses any public road, at a sufficient elevation to admit of the free passage of vehicles of every kind, a sign, with large and distinct letters placed thereon, to give notice of the proximity of the railroad and w…

The engineer or other person operating a locomotive on any railroad must blow the horn or whistle or ring the bell: (1) At least one fourth of a mile before reaching any public road crossing or any regular station or stopping place on such railroad and continue with such signal a…

When the tracks of two railroads cross each other at grade, engineers and conductors must cause the trains of which they are in charge to come to a full stop within 100 feet of such crossing and not to proceed until they know the way to be clear, the train on the railroad having …

37-2-82; Burden of Proof. A railroad company is liable for all damages done to persons, or to stock or other property, resulting from a failure to comply with the requirements of Sections 37-2- 80 through 37-2-82, or any negligence on the part of such company or its agents; and w…

(a) The Department of Transportation is given authority and power to abandon and discontinue any portion of a state highway, or street on a state highway route with the approval of the city council or governing body of any municipality, crossing the tracks or right-of-way of any …

(a) It shall be the duty of every person or corporation operating a railroad in this state, before employing any person as train dispatcher, engineer, conductor, fireman, flagman, brakeman, trackman, or switchman to subject the applicant for employment to a thorough examination r…

Any person or corporation operating a railroad in this state who employs any person as engineer, fireman, train dispatcher, conductor, flagman, brakeman or switchman, who has not been examined and licensed as provided by Section 37-2- 85, shall, on conviction, be fined not less t…

Every railroad conductor and engineer in this state shall carry on his person while on duty in train service a conductor/engineer’s qualification permit. Every company, association, person or other entity which employs or permits railroad conductors and engineers to engage in tra…

The chief superintendent of every railroad shall instruct the engineers and conductors thereof, as to the provisions of Sections 37-2-81 and 37-2-82, and order them to comply therewith. History: (Code 1867, §1405; Code 1876, §1703; Code 1886, §1148; Code 1896, §3444; Code 1907, §…

(a) All steamboats approaching, with the intention of passing through, any railroad drawbridge, when about three miles, and again when about two miles, and again when about one mile, and again when about half a mile therefrom, must give, as signals, three loud and distinct sounds…

(a) Whenever the Public Service Commission deems it necessary that any railroad in this state, or any portion thereof, shall be fenced, it shall notify the person or corporation operating such railroad of their conclusion. (b) Upon failure, after a reasonable notice, to fence suc…