Oakley v. Armstrong Transfer & Storage Co.

378 S.W.2d 912, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2192
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 7, 1964
DocketNo. 4228
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 378 S.W.2d 912 (Oakley v. Armstrong Transfer & Storage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oakley v. Armstrong Transfer & Storage Co., 378 S.W.2d 912, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2192 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

Opinion

TIREY, Justice.

Appellee grounded its action on two-written contracts executed by it and appellant. These contracts were executed, contemporaneously on the 28th day of December, 1957; one was designated as “Tractor Lease Agreement,” and, among other things, it provided that appellee had leased One-International 1957 Truck Tractor to-appellant for a term of 27 months, beginning the 1st day of December, 1958, and! [914]*914ending the 1st day of’April, 1961. This instrument bound the'appellant to pay the-sum of $7,984.46 payable in installments beginning February 1, 1958, the first 26 being for $300.00 each, and the last, the 27th, being for $184.46. This contract also provided that title to the property shall remain in the lessor until all payments stipulated have been paid. It further provided that lessee agreed .to pay, or have it charged to his account, all maintenance, identification, insurance, licenses, taxes, fees, permits and other operating expense. It also provided for cancellation of each of the contracts by lessor or by lessee. The other contract was designated as “Van Operator-Driver Contract,” and in this contract Oakley, appellant; was designated as the contractor. Pertinent to this discussion the contract had the.following provisions :

“HAULING 3
“The CONTRACTOR will devote said tractor exclusively to the service of the COMPANY in the transportation of goods, wares and. merchandise, loading and unloading the same and delivering to destination in the fulfillment and in compliance with the duties, responsibilities and obligations of the COMPANY as an agent- of ALLIED VAN LINES, INC. and in accordance with shipping contracts or bills of lading of ALLIED VAN LINES,-INC. with the consignors o'r.consignees, and in connection therewith comply with all of the By-Laws, Rules and Regulations, Drivers’ Manual and instructions of ALLIED VAN LINES, INC. - all- the .rules' and -regulations and instructions of the COMPANY.
í{í íjí. 2f£ ijt s}s
“CHARGES 19
“The COMPANY may charge to the CONTRACTOR’S ACCOUNT ■any and all expense incurred by the COMPANY for the express benefits of the CONTRACTOR.”

These contracts further provided in effect that Oakley would become an independent contractor, and in these contracts Oakley contracted to do certain work for appellant at stipulated prices.

Trial was had without the aid of a jury and in the decree the court found that plaintiff was entitled to recover from the defendant the sum of $5,591.22, and also the title and possession of the truck and decreed accordingly and fixed interest charges at 6% per annum from the date of the judgment.

The judgment is assailed on what defendant designates as three points. They are to the effect that the Court erred: (1) In admitting parol evidence. showing a modification of a written contract, in that it allowed parol evidence of a ■ new contract between the parties; (2) In awarding title to the truck to Armstrong Transfer & Storage Company, because the truck was a part of the exempt property of Oakley, the purchaser, and was not subject to forced sale for -the payment of debts; (3) In awarding the trucking company judgment against Oakley, because the evidence introduced was insufficient to show that Oakley was indebted to the trucking company in the sum of $9,091.22. We overrule each of the foregoing points for reasons hereinafter briefly stated. '

First of all, appellant did not request any findings of fact and conclusions of law, and none were. filed. ,. Under this state of the record it is our duty to affirm the judgment of the trial court -if it can.be upheld, on any legal theory, that finds.support in the evidence. Bishop v. Bishop, 359 S.W.2d 869, (Sup.Ct.), point 3. See Rule. 296, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and cases there cited. In Munn v. Riggs, Tex. Civ.App., 257 S.W.2d 714, we find this state-, ment: _ . '

“The rule is well established -that unless findings are filed by the trial court, the appellate court must presume ’that- the trial c.ourt correctly found all fact is-: [915]*915sues having support in the evidence in favor of its judgment rendered.”

Under the contract evidencing the lease of the truck to Oakley he was obligated to make truck payments and other operating expenses from January 1, 1958, and evidence was tendered to the effect that Oakley defaulted in payments on the truck and some of the other payments relating to expense money advanced to him by the trucking company, and under the written lease contract the trucking company had a right to sequester the truck. Evidence was tendered to the effect that after the trucking company converted the truck, it sued for the full debt under the tractor and van operator contract. On the evidence tendered the court awarded judgment for the full amount of the debt, including all payments owing on the tractor and the van operator charges, totaling $9,091.22, but credited the market value of the truck to Oakley as damages for conversion for the sum of $3500.00, that sum being the highest value placed on the truck by any witness at the time it was converted, and rendered judgment in favor of Armstrong for the balance of $5,591.22. We think there are two separate theories supporting the admission of the testimony complained of in appellant’s point 1. The general nature of the challenged evidence was proof that either at the time of the contract, or thereafter, the parties agreed that title to the truck would not pass until all sums due under the truck lease contract and the van operator contract were paid in full. We think the evidence was admissible apart from any consideration of the parol evidence rule or any agreement by Oakley, because the van operator contract (which was a written contract between the parties) and the tractor lease agreement are both silent concerning the application of payments to be made thereunder. There was no requirement in either contract for separate accounts for the two items, and, this being true, Armstrong was justified in establishing a single account for expenses advanced and payments due under the contracts between the parties. According to Turpén, the auditor for the trucking company, the account was handled under one accounting system. Under the foregoing conditions Oakley never specified that income turned .over by him to the trucking company was to be credited to the tractor contract, and the trucking company was free to make any application of the payments by Oakley that it chose. The rule is:

“When the debtor makes a payment without exercising his right to direct its application, the creditor may appropriate it to any debts due from the debtor he chooses, provided he does not make an application that is inequitable and unjust to the debtor”.

(This rule has never been changed). See 44 Tex.Jur.2d, Payment, Sec. 40, and cases there cited. See also Bitter v. Bexar County, 11 S.W.2d 163, (Tex.Com.App.) pt. 6; Munn v. Riggs, Tex.Civ.App., 257 S.W.2d 714, points (5, 7) ; also Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co. v. Southwestern Contracting Corporation, Tex.Civ.App., 165 S.W.2d 221

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378 S.W.2d 912, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oakley-v-armstrong-transfer-storage-co-texapp-1964.