Reese v. Midland Empire Packing Co

Montana Supreme Court·Decided May 20, 1981·No. 80-443·Published

Opinion

No. 80-443 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 1981

ADD REESE, Plaintiff and Respondent, vs. MIDLAND EMPIRE PACKING CO., INC., a Corporation, Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District, In and for the County of Yellowstone. Honorable Robert Wilson, Judge presiding. Counsel of Record: For Appellant: Berger, Anderson, Sinclair, Murphy, Nelson, Edwards, and Molloy, Billings, Montana For Respondent: Ralph Herriott, Billings, Montana

Submitted on briefs: April 2, 1981 Decided: May 20, 1981 Filed : 1R.r 2 0 19fl

Clerk Mr. J u s t i c e Frank B . M o r r i s o n , J r . , d e l i v e r e d t h e O p i n i o n of t h e Court.

Midland Foods, I n c . , ( s h i p p e r ) a p p e a l s from a judgment

of $ 1 4 , 9 6 0 . 1 1 i n f a v o r of Add Reese ( c a r r i e r ) e n t e r e d Septem-

b e r 11, 1 9 8 0 , i n t h e T h i r t e e n t h J u d i c i a l D i s t r i c t , Y e l l o w s t o n e

County, H o n o r a b l e R o b e r t H . Wilson p r e s i d i n g , f o l l o w i n g a

t r i a l o f t h e c o u r t h e l d o n August 1 2 , 1980. W affirm the e

t r i a l c o u r t ' s judgment i n f a v o r o f t h e c a r r i e r .

T h i s d i s p u t e i n v o l v e s l i a b i l i t y f o r damage t o 1 5 2

boxes of boned b u l l m e a t w e i g h i n g 9,120 pounds. The m e a t

was p a r t of a s h i p m e n t t a k e n by t h e c a r r i e r from t h e s h i p p e r ' s

dock i.n B i l l i n g s , Montana, and d e l i v e r e d t o Lucky S t o r e s ,

Buena P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a , i n March o f 1974. The d i s p u t e d 1 5 2

boxes o f b u l l m e a t w e r e r e f u s e d by Lucky S t o r e s when d e l i v -

e r e d by t h e c a r r i e r . The s h i p p e r d e d u c t e d t h e v a l u e o f t h e

r e j e c t e d m e a t from a n open a c c o u n t m a i n t a i n e d w i t h t h e c a r -

rier. The c a r r i e r t h e n b r o u g h t t h i s a c t i o n .

The i s s u e s on a p p e a l a r e :

1. Whether u n d e r t h e Carmack Amendment, 49 U. S C.. , § 20 / / 5'cj 7 ( l l ) , (49 U.S.C., r;2&W3j, t h e s h i p p e r i s e n t i t l e d t o judgment

a s a m a t t e r of law.

2. Whether t h e r e a r e s u f f i c i e n t f a c t s i n t h e r e c o r d t o

s u p p o r t t h e f i n d i n g s made by t h e t r i a l c o u r t .

The t r i a l c o u r t f o u n d t h a t on March 1 2 , 1974, t h e s h i p -

p e r ' s employees l o a d e d 30,000 pounds o f f r e s h m e a t i n t o t h e

carrier 's refrigerated truck-trailer u n i t for transport to

Lucky S t o r e s i n Los A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i a . The l o a d e d m e a t

came from c a t t l e k i l l e d by t h e s h i p p e r i n i t s p r o c e s s i n g

p l a n t a t B i l l i n g s , Montana, and from c a r c a s s e s d e l i v e r e d t o

t h e s h i p p e r by C a v i n e s s P a c k i n g Company o f Texas. The c o u r t

f u r t h e r found t h a t t h e s h i p p e r ' s employees e x e r c i - s e d ex-

c l u s i v e c o n t r o l of t h e m e a t d u r i n g b o t h t h e b u t c h e r i n g and loading process. C a r r i e r ' s d r i v e r s p i c k e d up t h e r e f r i g -

e r a t e d t r a i l e r u n i t af t e r loading.

The r e f r i g e r a t e d t r a i l e r u n i t was d e s i g n e d t o h o l d t h e

t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e meat c a r g o a t t h e same t e m p e r a t u r e t h e

meat was when l o a d e d . The t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e t r a i l e r u n i t

was s e t a t 20' F. The c o o l i n g u n i t would n o t lower t h e

t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e c a r g o below t h a t a t which i t was l o a d e d .

The c o u r t found t h a t t h e r e f r i g e r a t e d u n i t f u n c t i o n e d p r o p e r l y

on t h e h a u l t o Los Angeles.

A t t h e time of d e l i v e r y t o Lucky S t o r e s on March 1 4 ,

1974, t h e l o a d was i n s p e c t e d by one W h i s l e r , an employee

i n s p e c t o r of Lucky S t o r e s . Whisler endorsed upon t h e f r e i g h t

b i l l s and b i l l s of l a d i n g , t h e t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e meat, 34O F

--50' F , w i t h o u t s p e c i f y i n g t h e p a r t i c u l a r t e m p e r a t u r e of

any box i n t h e l o a d . Contrary t o ordinary business p r a c t i c e ,

Whisler d i d n o t e n d o r s e upon t h e f r e i g h t b i l l s o r b i l l s o f

l a d i n g t h e r e a s o n f o r r e j e c t i o n of t h e c a r g o . The c a r r i e r ' s

d r i v e r t e s t i f i e d t h a t Whisler r e j e c t e d t h e meat b e c a u s e "he

t h o u g h t t h e meat had been loaded f r o z e n and i t was i n a

thawing p r o c e s s when I d e l i v e r e d i t . " The f r o s t e d meat was

i n boxes on t h e f l o o r of t h e t r a i l e r u n i t . After learning

of t h e r e j e c t i o n , t h e s h i p p e r d i r e c t e d t h a t t h e meat be t a k e n

t o P a c i f i c Cold S t o r a g e , where' i t was - f r o z e n .

The s h i p p e r ' s meat b r o k e r l a t e r checked t h e l o a d i n

s t o r a g e and a d v i s e d t h e s h i p p e r t h a t t h e l o a d was r e j e c t e d

b e c a u s e i t was " o f f o d o r " . The s h i p p e r c o n t e n d s t h r o u g h o u t

t h e c a s e t h a t " o f f o d o r " was t h e b a s i s f o r r e j e c t i o n . The

t r i a l c o u r t d i d n o t make a f i n d i n g r e s p e c t i n g t h e r e a s o n f o r

Lucky S t o r e s r e j e c t i n g t h e l o a d .

P u r s u a n t t o d i r e c t i o n from t h e s h i p p e r , t h e c a r r i e r

r e t u r n e d t h e meat t o t h e s h i p p e r i n a t r a i l e r u n i t c a r r y i n g vegetables. The t e m p e r a t u r e of t h e t r a i l e r u n i t , w h i l e

h a u l i n g v e g e t a b l e s , was h e l d a t 38O F , which would n o t

p r e v e n t t h e f r o z e n meat from thawing. T h i s f a c t was known

t o the shipper. When t h e meat a r r i v e d i n B i l l i n g s , i t was

"soggy", and blood was r u n n i n g o u t of t h e boxes. The meat

was e v e n t u a l l y s u b m i t t e d t o a r e n d e r i n g p r o c e s s by t h e

s h i p p e r and s o l d f o r animal consumption.

The t r i a l c o u r t found t h a t t h e c a r r i e r ' s r e f r i g e r a t e d

t r a i l e r u n i t functioned properly a t a l l times. This finding

w a s premised upon t h e f a c t t h a t t h e equipment was new and

upon t h e d r i v e r ' s t e s t i m o n y t h a t p e r i o d i c c h e c k s of t h e l o a d

were made d u r i n g t r a n s p o r t .

L i a b i l i t y f o r damage t o i n t e r s t a t e shipments i s governed

by t h e Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S . C . , , 5 2 0 (1) r e e n a c t e d a s

4 9 U.S.C., 811707, w i t h o u t s u b s t a n t i v e change. This s t a t u t e

c o d i f i e s t h e common-law r u l e t h a t a c a r r i e r , though n o t a n

a b s o l u t e i n s u r e r , i s l i a b l e f o r damage u n l e s s t h e damage i s

c a u s e d by: (1) a n a c t of God, ( 2 ) t h e p u b l i c enemy, (3) the

a c t of t h e s h i p p e r , ( 4 ) a public authority, o r , (5) the

i n h e r e n t v i c e o r n a t u r e of t h e goods. Missouri P a c i f i c

R a i l r o a d v . Elmore & S t a h l ( 1 9 6 4 ) , 377 U.S. 134, 1 3 8 , 84 S.Ct.

1142, 1145, 1 2 L.Ed.2d 194.

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