Lumberman's Co. v. Seaboard Airline Railway Co.
Lumberman's Co. v. Seaboard Airline Railway Co.
Opinion of the Court
(After stating the foregoing facts.) It appears from the record that at the time the shipments in question moved, there were three customary units of shipment rates prescribed by the Georgia public-service commission, to wit, “per 100 pounds,” “per ton,” and “per carload.” These units of rates were also prescribed by the interstate commerce commission, and each unit is distinct and different from the other units. It also appears that in connection with its standard tariff the Georgia public-service commission has classified _ various articles subject to shipment, the classes ranging from 1 to 6 and from A to R. The commission has prescribed rates “per hundred pounds” on carload shipments of articles placed in classes 1 to 6, and in classes A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, K, and R, and rates “per ton” on articles in classes L and M; but on articles in classes N, O, and P the commission has prescribed rates “per carload,” and not “carload rates per hundred pounds.” Lumber is listed by the commission in class P as follows: “Lumber, dressed or rough, C. L.
Several other freight rules of the Georgia commission are relied on by the defendant, but none of them has any application to the instant ease.
We think it is clearly apparent that under a rate “per car,” or “per carload,” the freight charges are based upon the use of the car, and not upon the weight of the commodities loaded in the car. As was said by counsel for the plaintiff in error in their brief: “Per car rates are customary. The reason is that it costs the carriers very little more to move a ear loaded with say 60,000 pounds of lumber than to move a car of 24,000 pounds. From its inception the interstate commerce commission has recognized the right of carriers to prescribe rates per car. In Leonard v. C. & A. R. Co., 2 I. C. C. 599, the first headnote reads in part: ‘A practice had existed on the part of certain carriers of live cattle to make a carload rate irrespective of weight, leaving the shipper to load into the car as many cattle as he pleased and was able to put into it.5 In Georgia Peach Growers Association v. A. C. L. R. Co., 10 I. C. C. 255, the commission said, at page 263: ‘The loadings are determined by weights estimated per crate and no extra charge is made for loading in excess of the prescribed minimum.5 And at page 278: ‘It should be borne in mind that all weight above the minimum is carried free by the roads.5 55 The “per car” rate has been established as the basis for freight charges on lumber by the Georgia commission, and it can be changed by that body only, and by it only after notice and a hearing. Until the “per car” rate on lumber is changed by the commission, the shipper can load any amount of lumber in a car, and the carrier
In our opinion, under the facts of the case and the law relating thereto, a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $185.81 (the amount of the overcharges collected, plus $185.81 (the amount of the penalty prescribed bj section 2770 of the Civil Code of 1910), was demanded, and the judge of the superior court erred in overruling the certiorari, and erred in not rendering final judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the full amount sued for.
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.