delivered the opinion of the Court.
This сase raises important questions concerning the power of states to bar interstate motor carriers from use оf state roads as punishment for repeated violations of state highway regulations. The respondent Hayes Freight Lines, Inс. is such a carrier transporting goods to and from many points in Illinois and seven other states.
1
This extensive interstate business is donе under a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission under authority оf the Federal Motor Carrier Act.
2
Hayes also does an intrastate carrier business in Illinois under a certificate issued by stаte authorities. Illinois has a statute which limits the weight of freight that can be carried in commercial trucks over Illinois highways; the same statute also provides for a balanced distribution of freight loads in relation to the truck's axles.
3
Repeated violations of these provisions by trucks of a carrier are made punishable by total suspension of the carrier’s right to use Illinois state highways for periods of ninety days and one year.
4
This action was brought in a state court to restrain
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Illinois officials from prosecuting Hayes as a repeated violator. The State Supreme Court held that the punishment of suspension provided by the state statute could not be imрosed on the interstate operations of the respondent Hayes. Such a state suspension- of interstate transportation, it was decided, would conflict with the Federal Motor Carrier Act which is the supreme law of the iand.
5
We granted the State’s petition for certiorari.
Congress in the Mоtor Carrier Act adopted a comprehensive plan for regulating the carriage of goods by motor truck in interstаte commerce. The federal plan of control was so all-embracing that former power of states over interstate motor carriers was greatly reduced. No power at all was left in states to determine what carriers could or could not operate in interstate commerce. Exclusive power of the Federal Government to mаke this determination is shown by § 306 of 49 U. S. C. which describes the conditions under which the Interstate Commerce Commission can issue certificates of convenience and necessity. And § 312 of the same title provides that all certificates, permits or licеnses issued by the Commission “shall remain in effect until suspended or terminated as herein provided.” But in order to provide stability for operating rights of carriers, Congress placed within very narrow limits the Commission’s power to suspend or revoke an outstanding сertificate. No certificate is to be revoked, suspended or changed until after a hearing and a finding that a carrier has willfully failed to comply with the provisions of the Motor Carrier Act
*64
or with regulations properly promulgated under it.
6
Under these circumstances, it would be odd if a state could take action amounting to a suspension or revocation of an interstate carrier’s commission-grantеd right to operate. Cf.
Hill
v.
Florida,
That Illinois seeks to punish Hayes for violations of its road regulations does not justify this disruption of federally authorized activities. A state’s regulation of weight and distribution of loads carried in interstate trucks does not itself conflict with the Federal Act. The reason for this as pointed out in
Maurer
v.
Hamilton,
It is urged that without power to impose punishment by suspension states will bе without appropriate remedies to enforce their laws against recalcitrant motor carriers. We are not persuaded, however, that the conventional forms of punishment are inadequate to protect states from overweighted or improperly loaded motor trucks. More *65 over, a Commission regulation requires motor carriers tо abide by valid state highway regulations. 7 And as previously pointed out, the Commission can revoke in whole or in part certificates of motor carriers which willfully refuse to comply with any lawful regulation of the Commission. 8 If, therefore, motor carriers persistently and repeatedly violate the laws of a state, we know of no reason why the Commission may not protеct the state’s interest, either on the Commission’s own initiative or on complaint of the state. 9
We agree with the Supreme Court of Illinois that the right of this carrier to use Illinois highways for interstate transportation of goods cannot be suspended by Illinois.
Affirmed.
Notes
Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
49 Stat. 543. Now Part II of the Interstate Commerce Act, 54 Stat. 919, 49 U. S. C. § 301 et seq.
Ill. Rev. Stat., 1953, c. 9514, § 228.
Ill. Rev. Stat., 1953, с. 95½, § 229b. This section provides for a 90-day suspension upon a finding of 10 or more violations. If thereafter the same carrier is found to have been guilty of 10 or more later violations the suspension is for one year.
Smith Bros., Revocation of Certificate,
33 M. C. C. 465, 472. See
United States
v.
Seatrain Lines,
49 CFR, 1954 Cum. Supp., § 192.3. “Every motor vehicle shall be driven in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and regulations of the jurisdiction in which it is being operated, unless such laws, ordinances and regulations are at variance with specific regulations of this Commission which impose a greater affirmative obligation or restraint.”
49 Stat. 555, 49 U. S. C. § 312.
49 Stat. 555, 49 U. S. C. § 312. For eases in which the Commission has considered violations of state law in passing on the fitness and ability of applicants to operate as carriers in interstate commerce see Southwest Freight Lines, Inc., Extension — Glass Products, 54 M. C. C. 205, 219; Hayes Freight Lines, Inc., Extension — Alternate Routes, 54 M. C. C. 643, 659.