My point is that it was the RRs who wanted the ICC. They wanted legalized price fixing to ensure everyone would always have to charge rates which would pay a return on the capital investment. They realized the cutthroat competition of the day would drive them all bankrupt. They also didn't like each State having its own separate set of rules, sort of like the banks today. A few states pass some good customer protection and privacy laws, and the banks go running to Congress to nullify them with Federal pre-emption laws, which only by coincidence are less strict than the State laws they supersede. IOW, plus le change, plus le mem chose.

So the RRs got Congress to pass a law, which they just happened to write, and used the Granger Law and charging more for a short haul than a long haul thing as a smoke screen.