One requirement was that every common carrier railroad submit an annual report to the commission, which were then collected and published.
These reports were published every year from 1873 until the abolition of the commission in 1919, and remain an important resource for historians.
From 1905 onward the commissioner had some measure of control over the state police; this need was apparently prompted by a sharp increase in accidents involving the new electric interurbans.
This was prompted by the urging of then-Commissioner Chase Osborn, who believed the system of a single commissioner was antiquated that a "modern type" of commission with greater powers of intervention was necessary.
To provide greater continuity in policy, the three commissioners would serve six-year terms at staggered intervals.