United States v. Dixie Grain Co.

246 F. Supp. 705, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10078
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 27, 1965
DocketNo. 1365
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 246 F. Supp. 705 (United States v. Dixie Grain Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dixie Grain Co., 246 F. Supp. 705, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10078 (E.D. Tenn. 1965).

Opinion

NEESE, District Judge.

This is a criminal action in which the information1 filed on January 16, 1965 charges the defendant corporation in eight counts with permitting ■ or requiring its drivers to remain on duty in excess of 70 hours during a period of eight consecutive days, in alleged violation of 49 C.F.R. 195.3(b). The penalty for each such violation, these constituting first offenses, is a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500. 49 U.S.C. § 322(a). The defendant pleaded not guilty to each said offense.

[706]*706The prosecution and defense attorneys approved an agreed order of April 21, 1965, wherein the defendant specifically waived trial by jury and stipulated that this Court might decide the action on a stipulation of facts filed on April 28, 1965.

The stipulated facts are:

STIPULATION OP PACT

-I-

Dixie Grain Company, Inc., is a Tennessee corporation with principal offices situated at 403 Depot Street, Shelbyville, Tennessee. It has been charged by an Information, consisting of eight counts, with violations of Part 2 of the Interstate Commerce Act in that it permitted or required drivers to remain on duty in excess of seventy hours during a period of eight consecutive days, in violation of 49 CFR 195.3(b).

-11-

Counts 3 and 4 of the Information cover an overlapping period with respect the same driver, James H. Whitmore. Count 3 charges a violation of the above mentioned regulation of the Interstate Commerce Commission for a period of eight consecutive days beginning at 12:01 A.M. on April 24, 1964, and Count 4 of the Information covers the same driver for a period of eight consecutive days beginning at 12:01 April 28, 1964.

— Ill -

The same situation applies to Counts 5 and 7 in that they cover to some extent an overlapping period on the same driver Sammie Dugan. Count 5 charges a violation of the above mentioned regulation covering this driver over a period of eight consecutive days beginning at 12:01 A.M. on June 2, 1964, and Count 7 charges the same violation for the same driver for a period of eight consecutive days beginning at 12:01 A.M. on June 5, 1964.

-IV-

The defendant corporation is engaged primarily in the production of broilers for sale. It manufactures and processes its own feeds, owns and manages its on laying flocks, owns and operates its own hatchery for laying hens and broiler chicks, and contracts with various farmers essentially in the Middle Tennessee and North Alabama area for raising the broilers grown for production from baby chicks to the marketing period of the broilers.

As an incidental matter, Dixie Grain Company sells some of its feeds for resale at retail.

-V-

The drivers involved in this Information are all employees of the division of the corporation which operates its hatchery.

-VI-

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations published by Interstate Commerce Commission, including amendments as of December 31, 1957, provided in Section 195.3, Maximum on-duty time, as follows:

“ § 195.3 Maximum on-duty time. No carrier subject to these regulations shall permit or require any driver employed or used by it to remain on duty, as defined in § 195.2 (a), for a total of more than 60 hours in any week, as defined in § 195.2(c): Provided, however, That carriers operating vehicles on every day of the week may permit drivers to remain on duty for a total of not more than 70 hours in any period of 192 consecutive hours: Provided further, however, That this section shall not apply with respect to drivers of motor vehicles controlled and operated by any farmer and used in the transportation of his agricultural commodities and products thereof, or in the transportation of supplies to his farm; nor shall it apply with respect to driver-salesmen employed by private carriers of property who devote more than 50 percent of their time to selling and less than 50 percent to such work as driving, loading, unloading, and the like: Provided further, however, That this section shall not apply with respect [707]*707to drivers of motor vehicles engaged solely in making deliveries for retail stores during the period from December 10 to December 25, both inclusive, of each year.”

-VII-

The revised regulations eliminated the proviso underscored in the preceding section, and the present regulation with which the defendant is charged of having violated reads as follows:

“(b) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, no motor carrier shall permit or require any driver used by it to be on-duty, nor shall any such driver be on-duty more than 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days as defined in § 195.2 (c), regardless of the number of motor carriers using the driver’s services; Provided, however, That carriers operating vehicles every day in the week may permit drivers to remain on duty for a total of not more than 70 hours in any period of 8 consecutive days.”

-VIII-

The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty to all counts in this information and respectfully insists that it is not guilty of violating the revised regulation referred to in the Information, and that said regulations are inapplicable to the drivers in question.

-IX-

Part 195 — Hours of Service of Drivers, beginning with Section 195.1 through 195.3(b), reads as follows:

“§ 195.1 Compliance with and knowledge of regulations required. Every motor carrier and its officers, drivers, agents, employees, and representatives shall comply with the following regulations, and every motor carrier shall require that its officers, drivers, agents, employees, and representatives be conversant with this part.
“§ 195.2 Definitions — As used in this part, the following words and terms are construed to mean:
(а) On-duty time. All time from the time a driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time he is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work. The term ‘On-duty time’ shall include:
(1) All time at a carrier or shipper plant, terminal, facility, or other property, or on any public property, waiting to be dispatched, unless the driver has been relieved from duty by the motor carrier;
(2) All time inspecting equipment as required by sections 192.7 and 192.8 or otherwise inspecting, servicing, or conditioning any motor vehicle at any time;
(3) All driving time as defined in subparagraph (b) of this section;
(4) All time, other than driving time, in or upon any motor vehicle except time spent resting in a sleeper berth as defined in section 195.2(g);
(5) All time loading or unloading a vehicle, supervising, or assisting in the loading or unloading, attending a vehicle being loaded or unloaded, remaining in readiness to operate the vehicle, or in giving or receiving receipts for shipments loaded or unloaded ;

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Bluebook (online)
246 F. Supp. 705, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dixie-grain-co-tned-1965.