Not restricted by the requirement to break even, cars and trucks use the highway system as constructed by the state, leading to the end of passenger train service on most railroads.

After the war, they expanded their operations as the highway network grew and acquired increased market share of the cargo business.

[2]: 219  Railroads continued to be regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and a complex system for setting shipping rates.

The provisions dealt with "reciprocal switching" (handling of railroad cars between long-haul rail carriers and local customers) and trackage rights.

[5] The Staggers Act was one of three major deregulation laws passed by Congress in a two-year period, as the cumulative result of efforts to reform transport regulation begun in 1971, during the Nixon administration.