Bowles v. Chicago Cartage Co.

71 F. Supp. 92, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1764
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 16, 1946
DocketNo. 44 C 422
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 71 F. Supp. 92 (Bowles v. Chicago Cartage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowles v. Chicago Cartage Co., 71 F. Supp. 92, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1764 (N.D. Ill. 1946).

Opinion

SULLIVAN, District Judge.

This is an action against the Chicago' Cartage Company by the Administrator under Section 205(a) (c) and (e) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, 50 U.S.C. A. Appendix, § 925(a) (c) and (e).

The case comes up now upon the complaint, answer and stipulation of facts, in which stipulation it is agreed, among other things, that the court shall be asked to determine first the question of whether defendant’s operations, in whole or in part, are subject to the Emergency Price Control Act, as amended, and its applicable regulations, especially 7 F. R. 3153; the amount of damages which plaintiff might recover to be deferred until this first question has been determined.

Count 1 of the complaint sets out that in plaintiff’s judgment the defendant has engaged in acts and practices which constitute violations of Section 4(a) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 904 in that it has violated the General Maximum Price Regulation 7 F. R. 3153, as amended and supplemented. That jurisdiction is conferred upon this court by Section 205(c) of the Act. That defendant is an Illinois corporation having its principal office and place of business at 2100 South Throop Street, Chicago, Illinois. That on March 1, 1942, and at all times subsequent thereto defendant has been engaged in the cartage business in and about Chicago, Illinois, and has hauled merchandise for divers persons, firms and corporations at rates not subject to regulation by any state or other regulatory body or officer other than plaintiff, which rates are fixed, without reference to any generally ap[93]*93plicable schedule, by individual contract with persons, firms and corporations for which hauling and cartage services have been performed. The complaint alleges that defendant’s business is subject to the control of General Maximum Price Regulation No. 7 F. R. 3153, issued by the Administrator pursuant to the provisions of the Emergency Price Control Act, and that since July 1, 1943, defendant has charged and received for its transportation services prices in excess of the maximum price permitted under the same. That defendant was so notified, but that notwithstanding said notice it continued to charge such rates for its services.

Count II reasserts the allegations of Count I and seeks treble damages under Section 205(c) and (e) of the Act, for the violation of Section 4(a), and an injunction to restrain defendant from continuing to charge rates in excess of the established maximum rate.

Defendant answers that it has been engaged in the transportation of commodities for the general public both in interstate and Intrastate commerce as a common carrier by motor vehicle at rates which are subject to state and federal regulation other than regulation by plaintiff, and as such it comes within the exemption of Section 302(c) (2) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, and revised Supplementary Regulations 11 to the General Maximum Price Regulation, Amendment 60. The exemption provisions of Sec. 302(c) (2), 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 942 (c) (2) are as follows : “Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the regulation of (1) * * *, or (2) rates charged by any common carrier or other public utility.” The answer denies that plaintiff has the right to bring an action for treble damages under Section 205(e) of the Emergency Price Control Act, 50 IXS.C.A.Appendix, § 925 (e), or that plaintiff is entitled to judgment in any amount.

From the stipulation of facts, it appears that defendant is in the business of transporting goods and merchandise for hire. That its equipment consists of trucks, tractors and trailers, and that it maintains services known as pick-up and delivery of merchandise for railroads, consisting of picking up for railroads coming into Chicago merchandise routed over such railroads, and delivering merchandise coming into Chicago over such railroads to the ultimate consumer; steady house service, consisting of furnishing necessary labor and' vehicles to perform a prescribed part of shippers transportation service; and general hauling, consisting of the delivery of general commodities for shippers to andi from railroad, and from one establishment to another establishment. That defendant holds a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity as a common carrier by motor vehicle of general commodities in interstate commerce, issued on September 20, 1943, by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and has a tariff on file with the Commission for transportation service. Defendant also holds a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity as a “local carrier” under the provisions of the Illinois Truck Act, issued June 16, 1941; and it is also licensed by the City of Chicago to “engage in the business of a public carrier.”

Plaintiff agrees that as to its general hauling business defendant is a common carrier and not subject to regulations under the Emergency Price Control Act, but urges that while it may be a common carrier with respect to that phase of its business, it is-not a common carrier with regard to the other phases. That its- steady house service and pick-up and delivery of merchandise for railroads are not common carrier operations, and consequently as to such operations defendant is subject to control under the Emergency Price Control Act. That as a basis for the steady house service, defendant has entered into contracts with shippers to serve them for a definite period of time at a rate which is agreed upon by bargaining between them, and therefore this type of business is clearly that of a private carrier, because it lacks the one element requisite to making it a common carrier operation, that is the holding out by the carrier that it will serve the public generally.

Defendant urges that the stipulation, shows that it has solicited business by advertisement, by listings in the classified telephone directory, by personal contacts and other avenues of solicitation, including-[94]*94published tariffs of the Cartage Exchange, which it insists is a holding out that it, will serve the public generally.

Every undertaking to transport merchandise for hire is under some form of contract, usually a bill of lading, and the mere existence of contracts between the Cartage Company and the shippers does not exclude the common carrier status if the transportation services are offered to the public generally. Nothing has been called to my attention to prove that defendant has at any time refused to perform transportation services for any one who has applied for it.

Plaintiff urges that defendant performs a specialized transportation service for its contract customers only, which it does not hold out to the public generally.

In Alton Railroad Co. v. United States, 315 U.S. 15, 62 S.Ct. 432, 434, 86 L.Ed. 586, one Fleming was granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity as a common carrier under the so-called “grandfather clause” of the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. He performed only the highly specialized “driveaway service of new automotive vehicles * * * from the factories * * * to dealers” in several states: i. e., he contracted to haul for automobile manufacturers, who alone needed a specialized service.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 F. Supp. 92, 1946 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1764, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bowles-v-chicago-cartage-co-ilnd-1946.