Wyatt v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc.

Louisiana Court of Appeal
Wyatt v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 343 So. 2d 325 (1977)
1977 La. App. LEXIS 3601
Assigns, Bolin, Hall, Marvin, Reasons

Wyatt v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc.

Opinion of the Court

MARVIN, Judge.

This case presents similar facts and is against the same defendant as in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 343 So.2d 319 (La.App.2d Cir. 1977), rendered this date.

Red Ball received the crated goods and signed a clean bill of lading in Dallas, Texas. From Dallas, the goods were delivered to Monroe, Louisiana, and eventually to the plaintiff consignee in Jonesboro, Louisiana. Subsequent to delivery and uncrating, damage to the goods and minor damage to the carton were discovered. The driver’s testimony was essentially the same as in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., supra. For reasons there assigned, and at appellant’s cost, judgment is

AFFIRMED.

HALL, J., dissents and assigns written reasons.

Dissenting Opinion

HALL, Judge,

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent for the reasons stated in my dissent in Home Furniture and Appliance v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 343 So.2d 319 (La.App.2d Cir. 1977), decided the same day as this case.

It should be noted that in this case there was absolutely no evidence of damage to the container at the time of delivery by the carrier to the consignee.

Further, the shipment in this case was an interstate shipment and is governed by federal law. The rule consistently applied in federal cases is that a clean bill of lading issued on goods in a container is prima facie evidence only as to the condition of the container, not the contents. See, for example, Blue Bird Food Products Co. v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, 492 F.2d 1329 (3d Cir. 1974) and Armour Research Foundation of Illinois Institute of Technology v. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, 311 F.2d 493 (7th Cir. 1963).

Reference

Full Case Name
George W. WYATT, d/b/a Wyatt's Firestone Store v. RED BALL MOTOR FREIGHT, INC.
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published