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- Each night the headquarters of a city police department compiles a list of the license plate numbers and descriptions of automobiles reported stolen within the metropolitan area during the previous 24 hours. This list is delivered by 7 a.m. the following day to each of the local precinct offices in the city. By 9 a.m. that day, the list is circulated for use by law enforcement units operating from each office. Effective police recovery of stolen vehicles depends on having this information handed out at least daily in written form to all units. The private carriage of these lists qualifies under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- From time to time, the same police department headquarters distributes memoranda responding to inquiries from the local precinct offices and advising the local precinct officers on departmental policy and vacation schedules. No substantial police business depends on whether these memoranda arrive by midnight or by 10 a.m. the next business day, or whether their transmission takes a day or more to complete. The private carriage of these memoranda does not qualify under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- A health maintenance organization (HMO) operates its own hospital, clinics, and medical laboratory, with the laboratory located apart from the hospital and clinics. Each day the HMO’s hospital and clinics send test samples and specimens to the medical laboratory for immediate analysis. In return, the medical laboratory sends to the hospital and clinics the laboratory reports for these samples and specimens on the day that the reports are completed. The hospital and clinics then promptly utilize the reports as part of regular diagnostic procedures. The private carriage of these reports qualifies under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- The same HMO’s hospital and clinics send requisitions and invoices to the HMO’s central office as the need arises for the ordering of and payment for goods and services, which are handled centrally. Every other Friday, the central office sends to the hospital and clinics reports and memoranda on expenditures for personnel, supplies, utilities, and other goods and services. No substantial hospital business depends on whether these materials arrive the same day or by 10 a.m. the next business day, or whether their transmission takes a day or more to complete. The private carriage of these materials does not qualify under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- On Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, the central office of a regional grocery store chain sends out to its various stores in the area inventory bulletins prepared during the previous 24 hours showing the current availability and prices of meat, produce, dairy products, bread stuffs, frozen food, and similar items. Early the following afternoon, each store must return these inventory bulletins to the central office with a notation of the store’s orders to ensure that the central office can ship sufficient supplies of such items for sale by the store on its next business day. The private carriage of these bulletins qualifies under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- On Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, the central office of a different regional grocery store chain sends out to its various stores in the area inventory bulletins prepared during the previous 24 hours showing the current availability and prices of meat, produce, dairy products, bread stuffs, frozen foods, and similar items. Early in the afternoon of the second day following receipt of the bulletins, each store returns the bulletins to the central office so that supplies of such items may be shipped to the store 4 days later. No substantial store business depends on whether these bulletins arrive within 12 hours or by noon of the next business day, or whether their transmission takes a day or more to complete. The private carriage of these materials does not qualify under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- Each business day the headquarters office of a large bank prepares and sends to its branch offices lists showing current foreign exchange rates and similar information that must be updated and distributed to the branches on a daily basis in order for the bank to avoid the risk of serious financial loss. Within 3 hours of their receipt by each branch office, the officials of the branch office circulate and utilize these lists in conducting regular banking procedures involving the use of such lists. The private carriage of these lists qualifies under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- Each business day the field office of an insurance company sends the insurance applications it has taken in that day to the company’s central office. The applications are bound (i.e., constitute evidence of insurance) for 30 days, but they may be canceled by the company. Few if any policies have been canceled by the company within 48 hours of their receipt at the central office, though the company normally begins processing the applications soon after their receipt. No substantial insurance business depends on whether these bound applications arrive within 12 hours or by noon of the next business day, or whether their transmission takes a day or more to complete. The private carriage of these materials does not qualify under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- An organization of real estate brokers in a community issues periodic bulletins containing information about properties that have been listed for sale by the constituent brokers. Each broker is entitled to show the properties to prospective buyers. To provide each broker with substantially equal opportunity to secure a buyer, it is necessary that the bulletins be delivered on the same day and within the shortest time span within that day. The bulletins constitute the basic source of information for the brokers, and delivery in the foregoing manner is a key element in the functioning of the brokers. The private carriage of the bulletins qualifies under the loss-of-value test set out in part 4-4.2.
- The same organization distributes memoranda regarding speakers at real estate seminars, sales figures for a given period, and other information of significance and interest to real estate brokers, but such memoranda do not affect their competitive positions. A failure to make simultaneous or near simultaneous delivery to the brokers or to make delivery within a specified period of time has no material bearing on the day-to-day operations of the brokers. The private carriage of these materials does not qualify under the loss-of-value test set out in
part 4-4.2.
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