Aspen Limousine Service, Inc. v. Colorado Mountain Express, Inc.

891 F. Supp. 1450, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8759, 1995 WL 375592
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJune 21, 1995
DocketCiv. A. No. 95-K-1345
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 891 F. Supp. 1450 (Aspen Limousine Service, Inc. v. Colorado Mountain Express, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aspen Limousine Service, Inc. v. Colorado Mountain Express, Inc., 891 F. Supp. 1450, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8759, 1995 WL 375592 (D. Colo. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KANE, Senior District Judge.

On May 26, 1995, Plaintiff Aspen Limousine Service, Inc. d/b/a Vans to Vail, Inc. (“ALS”)1 filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction under the so-called self-help provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. § 11708, alleging violations of various provisions of 49 U.S.C. § 10922 by Colorado Mountain Express, Inc. (“CME”). A certificate of compliance under D.C. Colo. LR 7.1 was filed.

On June 1, 1995, I ordered Colorado Mountain Express, Inc. to appear on June 15, 1995, to show cause why I should not issue a preliminary injunction restraining the performance of any scheduled passenger service under Docket No. MC-169174, issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC”).

On June IS, 1995, ALS filed a motion in limine regarding the preliminary injunction hearing and, on June 14,1995, filed a supplement to the memo in support of the motion in limine. On June 14, 1995, CME filed a brief in opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction.

On June 15, 1995, the parties submitted a stipulation in lieu of the testimony and documentary evidence which would otherwise have been presented at the evidentiary hearing scheduled for that day. According to the stipulation, ALS’ motion in limine was withdrawn and the matters raised therein considered as additional legal argument directed to the motion for preliminary injunction. Certain exhibits tendered by the parties were admitted into evidence.

For the reasons which follow, I deny the motion for preliminary injunction.

I. Parties’ Contentions.

This action is brought pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 11708, entitled “Private enforcement: motor carrier and household goods freight forwarder licensing.” That section provides in pertinent part:

(a) If a person provides transportation by motor vehicle ... in clear violation of section [10922] of this title, a person injured by the transportation ... may bring a civil action to enforce any such section. In a civil action under this subsection, trial is in the judicial district in which the person who violated that section operates.

49 U.S.C. § 11708(a).

Section 10922(c)(2)(A)-(I) authorizes the ICC to award a common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle a certificate or certificates of public convenience and necessity authorizing the transportation of passengers, both in interstate and intrastate commerce, over regular routes. Section 10922(c)(2)(J) enacted in 1987 provides:

LIMITATION ON INTRASTATE CERTIFICATES: Each certificate issued under this paragraph to provide intrastate transportation of passengers on any route shall be subject to a condition which limits the authority of the carrier to provide intrastate transportation service under the certificate only if the carrier provides the regularly scheduled interstate transportation service on the route.

ALS contends that its competitor CME, which holds such ICC certificates is currently not operating them in accordance with applicable legal requirements, which ALS asserts [1453]*1453is a “clear” violation of 49 U.S.C. § 10922. ALS holds Colorado Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”) authority duplicating the intrastate schedule operated by CME.

ALS further contends CME is engaged or about to engage in the expansion of its already unlawful service between points in Pit-kin County, Colorado and other points in the state, as a consequence of which ALS, a debtor in possession in the United States Bankruptcy Court will allegedly be irreparably harmed absent the requested injunctive relief. ALS requests also that if the preliminary injunction is granted, it be relieved from having to obtain the bond otherwise required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65.

In its complaint, incorporated into its motion for preliminary injunction, ALS seeks to enjoin the unlawful practices CME is allegedly engaged in or about to begin under its ICC certificates and further requests a declaration CME has abandoned its certificates and that its certificates are void and invalid. (Compl. at 5.)

The motion for preliminary injunction seeks an order prohibiting CME from conducting scheduled passenger transportation service within the State of Colorado under its ICC certificates, alternatively, prohibiting CME from conducting any scheduled passenger service between Denver International Airport (“DIA”), on the one hand, and, on the other hand, points in Summit, Garfield, and Pitkin Counties, pending the trial of the complaint on the merits.

CME asserts the requested relief should be denied because (1) CME is in compliance with all requirements of its certificates, more particularly including transporting a “substantial” number of interstate passengers over its routes; (2) this court lacks jurisdiction under 49 U.S.C. § 11708 to enjoin all of CME’s operations, to make a finding of abandonment, or to revoke the operating authorities issued to CME by the ICC; And (3) any violation alleged is less than “clear,” a finding of which is a jurisdictional prerequisite to granting injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 11708.

II. Background.

CME operates under three certificates of public convenience and necessity issued by the ICC, which authorize CME to transport passengers over regular routes pertinently between Denver International Airport (“DIA”) in Denver, Colorado, and points in Eagle and Pitkin Counties. Each of these certificates authorizes the regular route transportation of passengers, both in interstate and intrastate commerce, subject to the requirement imposed by Congress in 1987 that such operations include “regularly scheduled interstate transportation service on the route.”

CME has for some time operated a regular, scheduled passenger transportation service between Stapleton International Airport, and, since February 1995, between DIA and authorized intermediate points in Eagle County, concerning which CME and ALS have been longstanding competitors. CME has been authorized, since 1993, by joining or “tacking” its certificate authorizing transportation between the Eagle, Colorado airport (in Eagle County) and points in Pitkin County at a common point of service within its pre-existing authority to serve points in Eagle County, a practice CME maintains is specifically contemplated under the terms of CME’s certificate issued in 1993. As a result of this “tacking,” CME maintains, it is authorized to render a “through” regular route service between DIA and points in Pitkin County.

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Bluebook (online)
891 F. Supp. 1450, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8759, 1995 WL 375592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aspen-limousine-service-inc-v-colorado-mountain-express-inc-cod-1995.