f e a t u r e  s t o r y

CARRIERS FACE HEAVY PAYPHONE HIT

Surcharge on 800 numbers can be passed to fleet.

Those 800-number calls that drivers make daily by the hundreds of thousands to their dispatchers from payphones all across the country may soon to be added to trucking companies’ phone bills — and it won’t be small change.
The American Trucking Assns. estimates the increase may average as much as 1% of revenue. Thus, a longhaul carrier grossing $50 million a year could be tapped for an extra $500,000 in annual phone charges. That could be the difference between profit and loss for some companies.
Until Oct. 9, the 800 or 888 number holder simply paid standard long-distance charges for incoming calls from payphones. But on that date, the Federal Communications Commission told long distance providers — such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint and others — they could begin tacking as much as 28.4 cents a call on to the bill to offset a similar charge the payphone owners could collect from them.
The surcharge stems from a little-known provision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, aimed at compensating payphone owners for previously free calls made to 800 and 888 numbers.
The act permitted payphone owners, mostly regional Bell operating companies, to begin billing long-distance companies for those calls, initially set at 35 cents a call but now reduced to 28.4 cents.
Not surprisingly, the long-distance carriers protested loudly and threatened legal action until the FCC amended the rules to allow them to pass along the charge to their customers. They still complain that the rate is too high. AT&T says it could be reduced to 11 cents per call.
The pass-along, however, is optional and so is the amount. The long-distance carriers can eat the surcharge or set a lower compensation figure, especially to high- volume customers willing to sign long-term commitments. But most industry sources agree the net result will be higher phone bills for many trucking companies.
“Longhaul trucking companies are especially vulnerable,” notes Kenneth D. Simonson, ATA vice president and chief economist. “Calls made to the 800 numbers of airlines and catalog services, for example, are usually made from home phones and are not affected. But unless he’s equipped with satellite or other wireless communications, the longhaul truck driver has no option but to call from a payphone.”
And on that score, it’s almost certain to make wireless or satellite communication a much more attractive option for many medium-sized carriers who have held back because of the high initial cost.
Also affected by the surcharge will be prepaid phone card providers who almost universally use 800 or 888 numbers to access their services. Most are expected to respond by reducing the number of minutes a caller gets for his money.
Simonson says the ATA is surveying long-distance carriers to determine how much they plan to pass along to their trucking company 800-number customers. The ATA will also consider participating in any legal action that might be initiated by other industries impacted by the surcharge.
— Jack Thiessen
Contributing Editor