Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Red Comb Pioneer Mills, Inc.
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. Red Comb Pioneer Mills, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
By this action, jurisdiction of which is invoked under Title 28, U.S.C. § 1337, the plaintiff Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company seeks to recover additional charges in the amount of $1,879.31
The original shipment in question was corn purchased by the defendant at Colfax, Illinois, which was transported therefrom to Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Illinois Central Railroad from Colfax to Chicago, and thence to Cincinnati by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. It was then brought by the plaintiff from Cincinnati to Lexington, where the corn was milled and thereby converted into poultry feed. The poultry feed was then transported by the defendant from Lexington to Jasper, Georgia.
Even though the shipment with which we are concerned arrived at Lexington as corn, and by milling was converted into and shipped from Lexington as poultry feed, under the milling-in-transit privileges to which defendant is entitled, it is to be considered as a continuous shipment of poultry feed from the point at which such privileges are accorded under the L. & N. Transit Tariff to its final destination at Jasper, Georgia. Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Commodity Credit Corp., D.C., 77 F.Supp. 780, 787. The question to be determined is whether the tariff accords the milling-in-transit privilege from the point of origin of the shipment at Colfax, Illinois, or only from Cincinnati, Ohio.
The facts are not in dispute and it is stipulated that the only issue presented is the proper construction and application of transit privileges under Item 5240, set out on page 90 of the Tariff G.F.O. No. 12-K, which, so far as here pertinent, is as follows:
Item 95, set out on page 8 of the tariff in question, is a general rule governing the milling-in-transit privilege, and provides as follows:
“Item 95. Transit from or to Points not Specifically Provided for.
Origin — On shipments from origins from which transit is not authorized herein, transit may be granted on basis of the applicable rate on the inbound commodity from point of origin to a transit origin, plus rate authorized herein from such transit origin to final destination.”
While Item 5240, as above set out, contains a specific provision for milling-in-transit privilege from Cincinnati, Ohio, “Proper”, no milling-in-transit privilege is specifically authorized on shipments from Colfax, Illinois, or any other origin beyond Cincinnati. Thus Item 95 throws sufficient light upon Item 5240 to remove any ambiguity which might otherwise exist, with the result that Item 5240, considered in the light of Item 95, authorizes the railroad to apply the milling-in-transit privilege here involved on the basis of the applicable rate on corn, the inbound commodity, from the point of origin, Colfax, Illinois, to Cincinnati, Ohio, the transit origin, indicated in Item 5240, plus the applicable rate on poultry feed from Cincinnati to Jasper, Georgia, the point of destination.
Let judgment be entered in conformity herewith.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY v. RED COMB PIONEER MILLS, Inc.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published