Section 142. Rate bureau regulation

1.  For  the  purpose of achieving a
  stable rate structure through regulated  competition,  the  commissioner
  shall  establish  rules  and  regulations  with  respect  to  collective
  ratemaking procedures for all motor carrier transportation services over
  which the commissioner has jurisdiction. Any common carrier of  property
  or passengers by motor vehicle subject to regulation by the commissioner
  and party to an agreement between or among two or more carriers relating
  to  rates,  fares,  classifications,  divisions,  allowances or charges,
  including charges between carriers and compensation paid or received for
  the use of facilities and equipment, or rules and regulations pertaining
  thereto, or  procedures  for  the  joint  consideration,  initiation  or
  establishment  thereof,  may,  under  such  rules and regulations as the
  commissioner may prescribe, apply to the commissioner  for  approval  of
  the  agreement,  and  the  commissioner  shall by order approve any such
  agreement if it is found that, by reason of  the  transportation  policy
  declared in section one hundred thirty-seven of this article, the relief
  provided  in subdivision seven of this section should apply with respect
  to the  making  and  carrying  out  of  such  agreement;  otherwise  the
  application  shall  be denied. The approval of the commissioner shall be
  granted only upon such terms and  conditions  as  the  commissioner  may
  prescribe as necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
    2.   Each   conference,   bureau,   committee  or  other  organization
  established or continued pursuant to any such agreement approved by  the
  commissioner  under  this section shall maintain such accounts, records,
  files  and  memoranda  and  shall  submit  to  the   commissioner   such
  information and reports as may be prescribed by the commissioner and all
  such  accounts,  records,  files  and  memoranda  shall  be  subject  to
  inspection by the commissioner or department representatives.
    3. The commissioner shall not approve any such agreement which  is  an
  agreement  with respect to a pooling or division of traffic, or service,
  or of gross or net earnings, or of any portion thereof.
    4. The commissioner shall not approve under this section any agreement
  which establishes a  procedure  for  the  determination  of  any  matter
  through  joint consideration unless it is found that under the agreement
  there is accorded to each party the free and unrestrained right to  take
  independent  action  either before or after any determination arrived at
  through such procedure.
    5.  The  commissioner  is  authorized,  upon  complaint  or  upon  the
  commissioner's   initiative   without   complaint,  to  investigate  and
  determine whether any such  agreement  previously  approved  under  this
  section,  or  terms and conditions upon which such approval was granted,
  is not or are not,  in  conformity  with  the  standards  set  forth  in
  subdivision  one  of  this  section,  or  whether  any  such  terms  and
  conditions are unnecessary for the  purposes  of  conformity  with  such
  standards,  and, after such investigation, the commissioner may by order
  terminate or modify any approval of such agreement, or modify the  terms
  and  conditions  of such approval, if such action is necessary to assure
  conformity  with  such  standards.  The  effective  date  of  any  order
  terminating  or  modifying  approval, or modifying terms and conditions,
  shall be postponed for such period as the commissioner determines to  be
  reasonably necessary to avoid undue hardships.
    6.  No  order  shall  be  entered  under  this  section  except  after
  interested parties have been afforded reasonable notice and  opportunity
  to be heard.
    7.  Parties  to  any such agreement approved by the commissioner under
  this section and other parties are hereby relieved from the operation of
  section three hundred forty of the general business law with respect  to
  the  making  of  such agreement, and with respect to the carrying out of

  such agreement in conformity with the terms and conditions prescribed by
  the commissioner.
    8.  Rate  conferences,  by  regulating collective ratemaking under the
  supervision of the department, have  established  a  system  of  pricing
  actively  supervised by the department which fosters competition through
  approved  rate  levels  and  the  right  of  independent  action   while
  furnishing a responsible transportation service to the public. Continued
  departmental  supervision  of  proposed rate filings by such conferences
  will continue to yield advantageous transportation rates which, although
  they may tend  to  displace  competition  in  the  classical  sense,  in
  actuality  foster  responsible, competitive motor carrier transportation
  service to the  public,  while  concurrently  developing  and  approving
  competitive  rate  levels  among  motor  carriers  in furtherance of the
  transportation policy contained in section one hundred  thirty-seven  of
  this  chapter. The dangers inherent in a consumer's selection of a motor
  carrier on the basis of price alone will also be discouraged.