Interstate Commerce Commission v. KSI Farm Lines Co-Op, Inc.

407 F. Supp. 145, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17398
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedFebruary 13, 1976
DocketNo. 74-C-503
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 407 F. Supp. 145 (Interstate Commerce Commission v. KSI Farm Lines Co-Op, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Interstate Commerce Commission v. KSI Farm Lines Co-Op, Inc., 407 F. Supp. 145, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17398 (E.D. Wis. 1976).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

WARREN, District Judge.

This action was commenced by the filing of a complaint on October 30, 1974, charging that defendant KSI Farm Lines Co-op, Inc. (hereinafter “KSI”), acting under the direction of, aided and abetted by, and participated in by the remaining defendants, conducted a for-hire transportation operation in interstate commerce without authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission (hereinafter the “Commission”), in violation of sections 203(c), 206(a), or 209(a) of Part II of the Interstate Commerce Act (hereinafter the “Act”), 49 U.S.C. §§ 303(c), 306(a) and 309(a), respectively. The complaint further charges that defendant KSI, in concert with the remaining defendants, failed'1 to submit its records pertaining to motor vehicle transportation to Commission representatives in violation of sections 220(d) and (g) of the Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 320(d) and 320(g). Inasmuch as the complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief with regard to both of the above charges pursuant to section 222(b)(1) of the Act, 49 U.S.C. § 322(b)(1), a hearing on the Commission’s motion for preliminary injunction, likewise filed herein on October 30, 1974, was consolidated with an advanced trial on the merits, as authorized by Rule 65(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which hearing transpired on April 10, April 16, and June 24, 1975. Thereafter, briefs were filed by all parties.1 The instant decision enumerates [147]*147this Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on the matters tried, in accord with Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

FACTUAL FINDINGS

It is undisputed that defendant KSI is a Wisconsin corporation, formed under the Agricultural Cooperative Act of the State of Wisconsin and chartered on July 9, 1973. It claims to be an agricultural cooperative association and has a mailing address of Rural Route 2, Box 659, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Defendant KSI was formed at the instance of defendant Jerry Seidman whose immediate concern was maintenance of the productive operation of some 25 pieces of motor vehicle equipment following Commission denial of an application for temporary operating authority. KSI does not deal in farm products or farm supplies but performs transportation as a for-hire carrier by motor vehicle in interstate commerce. Although the incorporation of the cooperative was finally accomplished on July 9, 1973, a Form BOp 102 (Notice to Commission of Intent to Perform Interstate Transportation for Certain Nonmembers Under Section 203(b)(5) of the Interstate Commerce Act) was filed with the Commission on July 1, 1973, upon which, as defendant Jerry Seidman had been forewarned, the Commission initiated the investigation which precipitated this action. KSI thereafter commenced actual operation in October, 1973.

At the time of incorporation, the officers of the defendant KSI Farm Lines consisted of defendants Jerry Seidman, Ralph Welter, Harry A. Seidman and George Haworth, who occupied the offices of president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, respectively. These men occupied the same positions at the time of trial with the exception of George Haworth, who was no longer associated with the corporation. The other incorporators and directors of KSI, each of whom is a named defendant in this action, consisted of Dennis F. Bell, Russell L. Ryndners, and Ray Wade.

Defendant Jerry Seidman, president of KSI, resides at 12400 Wilmot Road, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is possessed of an extensive background in motor freight transportation. His full-time occupation consists of the management of the daily operations of defendant KSI. Dennis F. Bell resides at 9461 River Road, Kenosha, Wisconsin. He owns 13 acres of land upon which he raises cattle but is employed in a full-time capacity as a pipefitter for Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois. He has used the cooperative only once to transport a few head of livestock to Union Grove, Wisconsin, for slaughter.

Russell L. Ryndners resides at 9009 River Road, Kenosha, Wisconsin. He owns three acres of land on which he raises corn but is likewise employed elsewhere on a full-time basis and in that capacity works as a plasterer for the Don T. Vain Co., Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr. Ryndners has not used the cooperative for transportation of any of his farm products. Defendant Ray Wade resides in Iron River, Wisconsin. In June of 1973, Wade sold 44 acres of farm land in Union Grove, Wisconsin to Harry and Annette Seidman, after which he maintained no involvement with defendant KSI.

Defendant George Haworth, at the time the cooperative was formed, became its employee and performed general office work. He was never engaged in any farming activity. Defendant Harry A. Seidman is the son of Jerry Seidman and resides at 1558 30th Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin. He possesses a joint interest in the 44 acre plot of land in Union Grove purchased from defendant Ray Wade. The crops on the land at the time of purchase remained the property of Ray Wade, and since that time, Harry Seidman has used the transportation services of the cooperative on only two occasions, neither of which amounted to a truck-load shipment. He is presently employed as one of the three dispatchers for KSI and is no longer a farmer.

In August, 1973, Harry and his mother, Annette Seidman, with whom he jointly owns the 44 acre plot purchased from Ray Wade, leased 40 of their acres [148]*148to defendant Ralph Welter, who now resides thereon. Mr. Welter sharecrops corn and winter wheat but raised no crops in 1973 and has not used the facilities of KSI to ship any of his produce.

Defendant KSI Farm Lines Co-op, Inc. owns no motor vehicle equipment but leases such equipment on a long-term basis from Koral Sales, Inc., a corporation whose stock is wholly apportioned among the members of the Seidman family as follows: Jerry Seidman, 51 percent; Annette Seidman, his wife, 44 percent; and Harry A. Seidman, their son, 5 percent. The motor vehicle equipment owned by Koral Sales, Inc. in 1973 consisted of 12 units. At the time of trial, however, Koral Sales, Inc. owned 47 truck-tractors and 53 specially-equipped refrigerator trailers, for the lease of which to defendant KSI it receives approximately 60 percent of the revenues paid to KSI.

As a corporate entity, KSI is governed by certain by-laws of which the second enumerates the qualifications for membership in the corporation, the acceptance of members, and the termination of members.

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Bluebook (online)
407 F. Supp. 145, 1976 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/interstate-commerce-commission-v-ksi-farm-lines-co-op-inc-wied-1976.