Cite as: 507 U. S. 258 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
without prejudice. See Carnation Co. v. Pacific Westbound Conference, 383 U. S. 213, 222-223 (1966); Mitchell Coal & Coke Co. v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 230 U. S. 247, 266-267 (1913); Jaffe, Primary Jurisdiction, 77 Harv. L. Rev. 1037, 1055 (1964).
The result that respondents seek would be produced, not by the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, but by the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies. Where relief is available from an administrative agency, the plaintiff is ordinarily required to pursue that avenue of redress before proceeding to the courts; and until that recourse is exhausted, suit is premature and must be dismissed. See Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 303 U. S. 41, 50-51 (1938); Heckler v. Ringer, 466 U. S. 602, 617, 619, and n. 12 (1984). That doctrine is inapplicable to petitioners' reparations claims, however, because the ICC has long interpreted its statute as giving it no power to decree reparations relief. Shortly after enactment of the provision now codified at § 11705(b)(3), the ICC said that the law did not "grant the Commission any initial jurisdiction . . . with respect to the award of reparations"; rather, "shippers' recourse must be to the courts," which would "refer" the issue of rate reasonableness to the Commission. Informal Procedure for Determining Motor Carrier and Freight Forwarder Reparation, 335 I. C. C. 403, 413 (1969). The ICC continues to adhere to that view. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 9, n. 6; NITL—Petition to Institute Rulemaking on Negotiated Motor Common Carrier Rates, 3 I. C. C. 2d, at 106- 107; NITL—Petition to Institute Rulemaking on Negotiated Motor Common Carrier Rates, 5 I. C. C. 2d, at 625, 630-631. We find that to be at least a reasonable interpretation of the statute, and hence a binding one. Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837 (1984).
Nor can we discern within the ICA an intent that, even though the ICC cannot decree relief, ICC determination of
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