California Motor Transport Co. v. Public Utilities Commission

Airway Trucking Co. applied to the Public Utilities Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity that would extend its operating authority as a highway common carrier. After a hearing the commission ordered the removal of some of the restrictions on Airway and granted a new certificate. The only finding the commission made was the ultimate one of public convenience and necessity. Competing carriers who protested in that proceeding were denied a rehearing, and upon their petition we issued a writ of review.

Petitioners contend that section 1705 of the Public Utilities Code, as amended in 1961, 1 requires the commission to state separately findings on all issues material to its decision, that the commission did not comply with that section, and that it therefore did not regularly pursue its authority. (See Pub. Util. Code, § 1757.) The commission contends that section 1705 governs only complaint proceedings and that in any event it *272 complied with the section even if it also governs application proceedings.

Section 1701 of the Public Utilities Code provides that “all hearings, investigations, and proceedings” are governed by sections 1701 through 1709. Those…