The regulatory body may create, interpret, and enforce its regulations upon the common carrier (subject to judicial review) with independence and finality as long as it acts within the bounds of the enabling legislation.
Common carriers typically transport persons or goods according to defined and published routes, time schedules, and rate tables upon the approval of regulators.
Although common carriers generally transport people[6] or goods, in the United States the term may also refer to telecommunications service providers and public utilities.
Unless otherwise agreed upon in the contract, the carrier may use whatever means of transport approved in its operating authority, as long as it is the most favorable from the cargo interests' point of view.
Regular services by horse-drawn vehicles would ply to local towns, taking goods to market or bringing back purchases for the village.
In a case concerning a hot air balloon, Grotheer v. Escape Adventures, Inc., the court affirmed a hot air balloon was not a common carrier, holding the key inquiry in determining whether or not a transporter can be classified as a common carrier is whether passengers expect the transportation to be safe because the operator is reasonably capable of controlling the risk of injury.
[10] The Telecommunications Act of 1996 made extensive revisions to the "Title II" provisions regarding common carriers and repealed the judicial 1982 AT&T consent decree (often referred to as the Modification of Final Judgment) that effectuated the breakup of AT&T's Bell System.
Further, the Act gives telephone companies the option of providing video programming on a common carrier basis or as a conventional cable television operator.
Using provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, the FCC classified Internet service providers as common carriers, effective June 12, 2015, for the purpose of enforcing net neutrality.
[10] Led by the Trump administration's appointed commissioner Ajit Pai, on December 14, 2017 the FCC reversed its rules on net neutrality, effectively revoking common carrier status as a requirement for Internet service providers.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates rates charged and other tariff terms imposed by interstate common carrier pipelines.