Northwest Terminal Elevator Ass'n v. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
Northwest Terminal Elevator Ass'n v. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
Opinion of the Court
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and its members appeal from a judgment of the district court
According to the stipulation of facts, more than 98% of the grain received at the river and lake terminals to which the “detention charge” applies is shipped from those terminals to points outside Minnesota. Citing this fact, and applying the relevant case law, the district court in a thorough opinion concluded that the truck shipments of grain from the country elevators to the terminals “constitute the first leg of a large and constantly recurring course of interstate commerce,” at 25, and as such fall beyond the scope of the state’s regulatory power. The court rejected the contention of the Minnesota commission that the truck shipments were intrastate commerce because the initial shipper — the country elevator — intended no destination other than the terminal elevator located in Minnesota.
On the stipulated record, no error of law or fact appears on the part of the district court. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court and adopt the rationale of its opinion.
. The Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota. See Northwest Terminal Elevator Association v. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, 576 F.Supp. 22 (D.Minn. 1983).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.