Southern Railway Co. v. Champion Papers, Inc.

315 F. Supp. 881, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13817
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedAugust 7, 1969
DocketCiv. No. 2643
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 315 F. Supp. 881 (Southern Railway Co. v. Champion Papers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Southern Railway Co. v. Champion Papers, Inc., 315 F. Supp. 881, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13817 (W.D.N.C. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

WOODROW WILSON JONES, Chief Judge.

This is an action to recover the sum of $52,015.27 alleged to be due the plaintiff, Southern Railway Company, by reason of the defendant, Champion Papers, Inc., paying freight charges at less than the proper rate as shown in the tariff effective during the period of from November 24, 1964, to March 28, 1966. The matter was heard by the Court without a jury on October 14, 1968, and thereafter briefs and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law were filed by the attorneys. The Court now makes its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law as follows:

Southern Railway Company is a Virginia corporation and is a common carrier by railroad, subject to the Interstate Commerce Act, and was, during the period from November 24, 1964, to March 28, 1966, engaged in transporting coal in carload lots from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, to Canton, North Carolina, and other places.

The defendant, Champion Papers, Inc. was at the time of the institution of this action, an Ohio corporation with a plant and a main office in Canton, North Carolina, and is engaged in the manufacture of paper and paper products. On March 1, 1967, the defendant corporation was merged into a corporation by the name of U. S. Plywood-Champion Papers, Inc., which was organized under the laws of [882]*882the State of New York with a plant and a main office in Canton, North Carolina.

The defendant’s plant is located adjacent to one of the main lines of the plaintiff Railway Company and the defendant maintains a separate railroad yard adjacent to the yard of the plaintiff at Canton, North Carolina.

During the period from November 24, 1964, to March 28, 1966, the plaintiff Railway Company had on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission a tariff which provided two different rates applicable to transportation of coal in carload lots from points of origin in Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky, to the defendant’s plant in Canton, North Carolina, as shown on “Appendix A” to the plaintiff’s complaint. One rate is known and referred to as the “Single Car Rate”, and the other, which is a lower rate, is known and referred to as the “Annual Volume Rate”.

The defendant concedes, and the Court finds, that the shipments of coal in cars as shown in “Appendix A” of the complaint were actually made to the defendant, as consignee. The Court further finds that the dates of constructive placement of cars, actual placement of cars and the release of empty cars to the plaintiff are as shown on “Appendix B” to the Request for Admissions filed by the plaintiff.

The tariff in effect during the time in question provided for use in connection with the annual volume rate, a detention rule as shown in Item 215-a of Supplement 42 to Tariff 865-C, which provided that twenty-four (24) hours free time would be allowed at Canton, North Carolina, for unloading each car and returning it empty to the Railroad Company, the time to be computed from the hour of placement of each car in the plant or on the tracks of the consignee, the defendant herein. The tariff further provided that the regular demurrage rules as set out in Tariff 4-G-, a copy of which is attached to the Request for Admissions filed by the plaintiff and designated as Exhibit “2”, should be used in connection with shipments moving under the Single Car Rate. Cars subject to the Annual Volume Rate were not subject to the regular demurrage rules, which allowed the consignee forty-eight (48) hours from 7:00 A. M. after placement of the car as free time to unload with demurrage charges to be computed thereafter, and which allowed cars to be held on constructive placement.

In transporting coal from the various points of origin in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee to the defendant at its plant in Canton, North Carolina, the plaintiff Railway Company provided placement service without extra charge therefor as a part of the line-haul rate —that the destination of such shipments was the plant of the defendant, consignee of said shipments, and no terminal or switching charges were imposed upon the defendant.

Tariff 4-G, the Single Car Rate, was the only rate applicable to shipments of coal over plaintiff’s Railroad to the defendant’s plant at Canton which provided for constructive placement of cars. Page 62 of said Tariff provides as follows:

“Section A
1. When delivery of a car consigned or ordered to an industrial interchange track or to other than-a-public-delivery track can not be made on account of the inability of the consignee to receive it, or because of any other condition attributable to consignee, such car will be held at destination, or, if it can not reasonably be accommodated there, at an available hold point, notice shall be given the consignee in writing, or, in lieu thereof, if otherwise agreed to in writing, that the ear is held and that this railroad is unable to make delivery. This will be considered constructive placement. (See Rule 3, Section D. and E. page 59).”

The defendant notified the plaintiff by letter dated October 23, 1964, that effective at 12:00 A. M. on October 26, 1964, no cars of coal, rock salt, or chips [883]*883were to be placed in its yard except as defendant called for their placement by car number and said, “Please notify us of the arrival time and time of constructive placement of all cars of the above three commodities.”

Shortly thereafter, the defendant notified the plaintiff by letter dated October 28, 1964, as follows: “Effective immediately remove Chips from the constructive placement list and have them go into Champion’s Yard upon arrival until further notice. This leaves only coal and rock salt to be put on constructive placement.”

The defendant then notified the plaintiff by letter dated December 4, 1964, that: “Effective immediately have rock salt go directly into Champion’s Yard upon arrival until further notice. We will continue to order coal in by car number.”

And, finally, the defendant advised the plaintiff by letter dated April 7, 1966, that: “Due to the Service Order 979 issued by the ICC on April 1, 1966 expiring December 1, 1966, we will accept all cars of coal upon arrival until further notice. They are to be put upon our interchange track immediately upon arrival. Please block all Southern coal arriving on one train before placing on our interchange track.”

That during the period of time in question, that is, from November 24, 1964, to March 28, 1966, the plaintiff Railway Company held on constructive placement cars of coal consigned to the defendant, for varying periods of time ranging from twenty-four (24) hours up to thirteen (13) days, and placed them in defendant’s yard only upon request of the defendant in accordance with the instructions contained in the letters referred to above. This operation involved extra switching movements by the plaintiff and in some instances required the holding of cars of coal in its Asheville yards because of lack of space on its Canton yard. “Appendix B” to plaintiff’s Request for Admissions, prepared by plaintiff’s tariff expert, shows the actual dates of arrival, constructive placement, actual placement, and release of the coal ears.

The defendant paid the plaintiff in accordance with the Annual Volume Rates as shown on “Appendix A” to the complaint, without paying detention charges as provided by the Annual Volume Rate for the periods of time cars of coal were held by the plaintiff in its yards in Canton or Asheville.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
315 F. Supp. 881, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/southern-railway-co-v-champion-papers-inc-ncwd-1969.