Miller v. Ideal Cement Co.

214 F. Supp. 717, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10405, 1963 WL 110870
CourtDistrict Court, D. Wyoming
DecidedMarch 15, 1963
DocketCiv. No. 4647
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 214 F. Supp. 717 (Miller v. Ideal Cement Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Wyoming primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Ideal Cement Co., 214 F. Supp. 717, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10405, 1963 WL 110870 (D. Wyo. 1963).

Opinion

KERR, District Judge.

In this action the carrier seeks to recover undercharges in the amount of |39,728.00 plus interest and costs, allegedly due from the shipper because the cairier failed to charge and collect the tariff under which the shipments were made. This court has original jurisdiction of this proceeding arising under the Acts of Congress regulating commerce, namely, 49 U.S.C. §§ 316, 317 and 304(a). Title 28 U.S.C. § 1337; Bernstein Bros. Pipe and Machinery Co. v. Denver R. G. W. R. Co., 10 Cir., 193 F.2d 441 (1951).

Each party has moved for summary judgment relying on affidavits and exhibits attached to their motions and the record on file herein. Defendant has admitted the substantive allegations of the complaint and both parties served and answered interrogatories. The parties agree that there is no genuine issue of any material fact. There remains only the question of law to be decided, namely, the construction of the published tariff to determine the proper charges to be made by the carrier and to be paid by the shipper. United States v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. et al., 5 Cir., 194 F.2d 777 (1952).

At all times herein material, plaintiff was a common carrier engaged in the trucking business out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, under the trade name of Vernon L. Miller Trucking. Defendant was a manufacturer and distributor of bulk cement which it shipped from its plant located in Boettcher, Colorado. Plaintiff conducted his operations pursuant to a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, Docket No. MC 107369 and related Subs issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Plaintiff’s tariff, Motor Freight Tariff No. 3, MF ICC No. 4, [719]*719was duly published and issued. Various supplements to this tariff were approved and issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission, including the controversial Supplement No. 4, which was issued September 16, 1959, and in effect from October 21, 1959 to April 15, 1960.

Between October 21, 1959 and April 15, 1960, plaintiff hauled 764 separate truckloads of bulk cement from Boett-cher, Colorado, to the Fremont Canyon Power Plant, located approximately forty miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming. The route on which the shipments were made was entirely west of U. S. Highway No. 87, which is admittedly mountain territory as designated in Item 130 of the tariff.

Defendant prepaid the freight on these shipments at the rate of 42 cents per hundred weight, which was charged and accepted by plaintiff without objection. Subsequently plaintiff took the position, which he maintains in this action, that he erroneously charged and collected only the rate of 42 cents per hundred weight and that he should have added the additional charge of 10 cents per mile for each shipment over mountain territory as required by his tariff. Plaintiff’s failure to make the charge for transporting defendant’s cement over mountain territory resulted in an undercharge of $52.00 for each trip.

It is the contention of the carrier that he is required by 49 U.S.C. § 317(b) to collect from the shipper the ten cent charge provided in Item 130 in addition to the rate of 42 cents per hundred weight listed in Item 480.

It is the position of the shipper that the correct rate was charged and that plaintiff is not entitled to collect the alleged undercharge. Defendant contends that the applicable distance rate in Item 480 established the tariff for the shipments and that Item 130 is not included in every distance rate and was not applicable to the shipments because it was not referred to in Item 480.

Item 130 unequivocally requires the carrier to add ten cents to the mileage or distance rates for shipments to all points and places in Colorado and Wyoming west of U. S. Highway No. 87. Its provisions are clear and unambiguous:

“ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR OPERATION IN MOUNTAIN TERRITORY.
“To all points and places in Colorado and Wyoming designated as mountain territory, which territory includes all points and places west of U. S. Highway No. 87, an additional charge of 10 cents per mile for round trip distance in mountain territory will be added to the mileage or distance rates named herein.”

Manifestly, Item 130 contains no qualifications such as “when reference is made hereto”, “unless otherwise provided herein”, or “unless the parties agree to the contrary”. Under the tariff, which binds the carrier and shipper with the force of law, the carrier is not authorized to waive the requirements of Item 130. Its application is mandatory not discretionary.

Defendant stresses the fact that the words “Add Arbitrary for operation in Mountain Territory as shown and described in Item No. 130” appear in Item 460 and in Item 460A on page 5 in the Supplement No. 4. The item applicable to defendant’s shipments, Item 480, appears on page 6 of the Supplement and does not contain those words. Defendant concludes, erroneously I believe, that a pattern is thus created to show that the mountain rates were to be applied only when Item 130 was expressly referred to. The words which defendant is emphasizing appear only in Item 460 and in its amendment in Item 460A in Supplement No. 4. It does not appear in the schedules under which defendant’s shipments were made. These words, therefore, are immaterial and irrelevant in the determination of this case.

The tariff as a whole governs the operations of the carrier and shipper. All its pertinent parts and provisions must be considered together and given their reasonable effect. Burrus Mill and [720]*720Elevator Co. of Oklahoma v. Chicago, R. I. and P. R. Co., 10 Cir., 131 F.2d 532 (1942), cert. den. 318 U.S. 773, 63 S.Ct. 770, 87 L.Ed. 1143 (1943). The Supplements to the tariff are additions to or alterations of the tariff as originally published. They are ingrafted upon it and are to be read as a part of it. Item 480 in Supplement No. 4 may not be isolated from Item 130 in the basic tariff. “The four corners of the instrument must be visualized and all the pertinent provisions considered together * * United States v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. et al., 5 Cir., 194 F.2d 777 (1952). Item 130 in the tariff applies to mileage rates. Item 480, also in the tariff, is a schedule of mileage rates. Item 130 therefore, must apply to Item 480.

Defendant argues that Item 480 indicates that a reduction was made therein, and therefore Item 130 cannot be applied to it because an increase in rates would result. This reasoning is untenable. A reduction in rates does appear in Item 480 and this reduced rate was applied by the plaintiff to the defendant’s shipments. The ten cent additional charge in Item 130 is not a basic rate.

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Bluebook (online)
214 F. Supp. 717, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10405, 1963 WL 110870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-ideal-cement-co-wyd-1963.