California Trucking Ass'n v. Interstate Commerce Commission

900 F.2d 208, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 25889
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 13, 1990
DocketNos. 87-7439, 88-7041
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 900 F.2d 208 (California Trucking Ass'n v. Interstate Commerce Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
California Trucking Ass'n v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 900 F.2d 208, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 25889 (9th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

ORDER

The motion for publication in this case is granted. The opinion filed concurrently with this order replaces the memorandum disposition filed December 14, 1989, 893 F.2d 1338, as the disposition in this case.

OPINION

RYMER, Circuit Judge:

California Trucking Association and others petition for review of an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission declaring that shipments of Quaker Oat products within the states of Texas and California are subject to interstate rates because they are a continuation of a previous interstate shipment. Texas intervened in the ICC proceedings, where it unsuccessfully sought a stay pending determination of a state court action. Petitioners challenge the ICC’s jurisdiction to determine the nature of the shipments and the sufficiency of the procedures the ICC adopted in considering the matter. They also assert that the ICC’s decision deviated without explanation from prior standards and is therefore arbitrary and capricious. We deny the petition to review and set aside.

I.

Quaker, a grocery and food product producer, has manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and uses distribution centers to facilitate movement of its products to retail customers. The centers involved in this dispute are in Fullerton, California and Dallas, Texas. Quaker’s computerized inventory system allows [211]*211it to track each product through the distribution center to the customer. While the shipments at issue in this proceeding are not pursuant to specific orders, Quaker’s customers are mainly chain stores with predictable demands. Less than one percent of its shipments end up in the hands of an unexpected customer or outlet.

Quaker previously transported goods under “storage in transit” provisions of an ICC tariff. Presently its products are shipped to the center on bills of lading which state that the goods are for storage in transit, to be held for reshipment to customers. Some also note: “This is a continuation of an interstate shipment.”

In August 1987, the ICC declared that the movements involved are part of continuous interstate transportation. The Quaker Oats Company, No. MC-C-30006, slip op. (I.C.C. Aug. 10, 1987). After petitions to reopen were filed, the ICC affirmed its prior decision.

II.

The court may set aside an agency’s order only if its findings or conclusions are arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law, in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right or unsupported by substantial evidence. 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A); Gray Lines Tour Co. v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 824 F.2d 811, 813 (9th Cir.1987); Funbus Sys. v. California Pub. Util. Comm’n, 801 F.2d 1120, 1125 (9th Cir.1986); Lodi Truck Serv. v. United States, 706 F.2d 898, 900 (9th Cir.1983).

III.

Petitioners contend that the ICC lacked jurisdiction to issue the declaratory order Quaker sought, because the transportation in this case was facially intrastate. However, the ICC has primary authority to interpret the certificates it issues to interstate shippers. Service Storage & Transfer Co. v. Virginia, 359 U.S. 171, 177-78, 79 S.Ct. 714, 718-19, 3 L.Ed.2d 717 (1959); see, e.g., Middlewest Motor Freight Bureau v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 867 F.2d 458, 460 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 234, 107 L.Ed.2d 185 (1989); Texas v. United States, 866 F.2d 1546, 1552 (5th Cir.1989). If the ICC mistakenly treats an intrastate matter as interstate commerce, the defect is substantive rather than jurisdictional. See Texas v. United States, 866 F.2d at 1553; Gray Lines Tour, 824 F.2d at 815; Southern Pac. Trans. Co. v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 565 F.2d 615 (9th Cir.1977); see also Pennsylvania Pub. Util. Comm’n v. United States, 812 F.2d 8, 11 (D.C.Cir.1987). Clearly, to exercise its statutory authority over interstate commerce, the ICC must have, in the first instance, the authority to determine what is interstate commerce. It correctly exercised jurisdiction in this proceeding.

IV.

Texas also argues that the ICC erred by not affording it the opportunity for discovery and an oral hearing. The procedures followed by the ICC permitted all interested parties to file comments and participate in the fact-finding process. Under these circumstances the ICC was not required to hold a full oral hearing and give the participants the opportunity to conduct discovery. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 543, 98 S.Ct. 1197, 1211, 55 L.Ed.2d 460 (1978); Pacific Gas & Elec. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 746 F.2d 1383, 1386 (9th Cir.1984); American Transfer and Storage v. Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 719 F.2d 1283, 1301 (5th Cir.1983).

V.

The heart of petitioners’ disagreement with the ICC order lies in their contention that the ICC’s opinion is not consistent with controlling precedent. They contend that in cases involving out-of-state shipper warehousing and distribution operations, the ICC and the courts have employed a three-part test to determine the essential nature of the commerce. Ex Parte No. MC-48, Determination of Juris[212]*212diction Over Transportation of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Within a Single State, 71 M.C.C. 17 (1957) (major manifestations of shipper’s intent found in: (1) absence of specific order being filled for specific quantity at the time of shipment; (2) the terminal storage is a distribution point or local marketing facility; and (3) the further transportation is arranged only after sale or allocation from storage). See also Baird v. Wagoner Trans. Co., 425 F.2d 407 (6th Cir.1970), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 829, 91 S.Ct. 58, 27 L.Ed.2d 59 (1970); Wirtz v. Lunsford, 404 F.2d 693 (6th Cir.1968); Galbreath v. Gulf Oil Corporation, 413 F.2d 941 (5th Cir.1969). Petitioners urge that abandoning this standard was unreasonable as a matter of law, but that in any event, failing to apply or explain it in this case was arbitrary and capricious. The ICC argues that its decisions are entitled to considerable deference, and that it did apply established standards for determining whether transportation is interstate.

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Nos. 87-7439, 88-7041
900 F.2d 208 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
900 F.2d 208, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 25889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/california-trucking-assn-v-interstate-commerce-commission-ca9-1990.