Anuchick v. Transamerican Freight Lines
| Citation | 46 F. Supp. 861 |
| Decision Date | 13 August 1942 |
| Docket Number | 2834.,No. 2830,2830 |
| Parties | ANUCHICK et al. v. TRANSAMERICAN FREIGHT LINES, Inc. WILSON et al. v. SAME. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Alfred Lindbloom and Fred W. Lindbloom, both of Detroit, Mich., for plaintiffs.
Thomas F. Chawke, of Detroit, Mich., for defendant.
The questions involved in the above matters relate to whether certain employees of defendant are subject to jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission or provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In the first suit No. 2830, the following are employed in these capacities:
Walter J. Anuchick ... Tarpaulin Worker
Liston Tatom ......... Porter
Archie Patterson ..... Pick-up Driver
Julius Sebastian ..... Welder
Jay Holser ........... Stockroom Boy
Henry Schmidt ........ Night Watchman
William Galka ........ Body Worker and
Welder
with the remaining plaintiffs working in the "body shop" and claiming to be carpenters.
In the second suit plaintiffs are employed in the garage as mechanics but claiming that their main work is to manufacture or assemble new equipment.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, Section 13(b) (1), 29 U.S.C.A. § 213(b) (1), states: "The provisions of Section 7 section 207 shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee with respect to whom the Interstate Commerce Commission has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section 304 of Title 49" — to-wit the Motor Carrier Act, 1935.
Defendant is a common carrier operating in 12 states with 21 terminals having approximately 760 pieces of equipment consisting of 300 tractors, 310 semi-trailers, pick-up trucks and four-wheel trailers. The principal garage is in Detroit where defendant maintains a crew of about 30 men.
The Motor Carrier Act, Section 204(a) (1) of Part II, 49 U.S.C.A. § 304(a) (1) reads as follows: "It shall be the duty of the Interstate Commerce Commission — (1) To regulate common carriers by motor vehicle as provided in this part chapter, and to that end the Commission may establish reasonable requirements with respect to continuous and adequate service, transportation of baggage and express, uniform systems of accounts, records, and reports, preservation of records, qualifications and maximum hours of service of employees, and safety of operation and equipment."
The Fair Labor Standards Act was approved June 25th, 1938, and realizing that it must determine the employees for whom it had "power" to establish "qualifications and maximum hours of service" the Interstate Commerce Commission on May 9th, 1939, concluded that such "power" was limited to drivers of vehicles. Included in its report, however, was a provision that interested parties believing that activities of other employees affected the "safety of operation of motor vehicles engaged in interstate and foreign commerce" might ask for a hearing for determination of the question.
December 4th, 1939, the United States Court for the District of Columbia on petition of the American Trucking Associations, Inc., of which defendant is a member, and others, issued a mandatory injunction compelling the Interstate Commerce Commission to assume jurisdiction over all employees of common and contract carriers. American Trucking Ass'ns, Inc., v. United States, D.C., 31 F.Supp. 35. (Italics ours.)
Appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States which rendered its decision May 27th, 1940 — United States v. American Trucking Associations, Inc., 310 U.S. 534, 60 S.Ct. 1059, 1069, 84 L.Ed. 1345, reversing the District Court of Columbia and stating that jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission was limited to .
Following this decision American Trucking Associations, Inc., asked the Interstate Commerce Commission to determine which employees, if any, other than drivers, were subject to Interstate Commerce Commission jurisdiction. Hearings were concluded January 30th, 1941, and decision made by the Commission March 4th, 1941. It is well to note that in its final conclusion the Interstate Commerce Commission (sheet 13 defendant's Exhibit 3) limits its interpretation of jurisdiction over those employees who perform work affecting "safety of operation directly" (Italics ours). The word "directly" does not appear in the Supreme Court's decision and in the Interstate Commerce Commission holding examples are given of those employees whom it believes do not perform work affecting the "safety of operation directly". Carpenters, tarpaulin tailors are among those mentioned and page 13 of defendant's Exhibit 3 states:
are employed in work that does not directly affect the "safety of operation" and therefore do not come under the Interstate Commerce Commission. The other parties plaintiff in No. 2830, with the exception of Archie Patterson, whom I will mention later, work on bodies in the "body shop".
Examining the nature of their work we find that they manufacture or build bodies for trucks and semi-trailers — some of them absolutely new. They recondition semi-trailers and where the floor of the old trailer is saved they build a new body. They also build bodies for new pick-up trailers, recondition pick-up trucks and four wheel trailers. They make tail gates and repair old equipment in case of wrecks. Very often a wreck is of such a nature that to put it back in use practically includes a new job. Their work also includes making signs, repairing docks and other miscellaneous carpentry work. Lumber and metal are the materials plaintiffs use, which latter calls for welding.
If you view the testimony from plaintiffs' angle 70 to 80 percent of their time is engaged in "new work" because plaintiffs consider a repair job that requires the building of a new, or practically new, body, as new work.
Viewed from the angle of defendant, however, the only "new jobs" come when there is no repair work to do and if any part of the old body is saved defendant considers it repair work regardless of how extensive the job may become.
It is the claim of defendant that the work of plaintiffs in case No. 2830 "affect the safety of operation" and gives as an example that a damaged floor in a trailer might cause a serious accident; that workers in sheet metal are not carpenters and that when the Interstate Commerce Commission excepted carpenters they meant maintenance men about the building.
From the evidence which is before us we cannot agree with this position of defendant. First, a carpenter is not limited to one who uses lumber alone, and second, the Interstate Commerce Commission did not limit their exception to carpenters. The importance attached to the kind of work — not the name. But we wouldn't call these plaintiffs "carpenters" — we'd class them as "body builders". We believe that all plaintiffs in No. 2830 whether engaged in manufacturing or building new bodies or only repairing used or damaged trucks, trailers or semi-trailers are primarily not engaged in the safety of operation of trucks as trucks; their main job is the safety of the merchandise as merchandise. Theirs is the difference that exists between a trailer and a stake body; or to bring it home to the ordinary autoist — the difference between a coupe and a sedan. They make it possible for defendant to properly carry the load. As for example building in refrigeration units. Certainly whether a truck can carry butter, beef and eggs without spoiling doesn't "affect the safety of operation". Technically there isn't any employee of a transportation company that isn't indirectly doing work affecting the safety of operation but we believe the Interstate Commerce Commission had a definite thought in mind in rendering its decision. That is one reason it used the word "directly". Nor do we see the great need for determining that plaintiffs are engaged "in manufacturing", but if that should become important we hold that they are manufacturing — within the meaning of the word. City of Louisville v. Louisville Tin & Stove Co., 170 Ky. 557, 186 S.W. 124; 38 C.J. 977; United States v. Armature Exchange, Inc., 9 Cir., 116 F.2d 969.
In our interpretation of the theory and reasoning of the Interstate Commerce Commission as set forth in its decision of March, 1941 — and in fact if there is to be a division in category of defendant's employees —it is evident that all plaintiffs here (2830) are concerned with the safety and size of cargo and that any activity affecting "safety of operation" is incidental. We therefore hold that these plaintiffs are not subject to the rules and regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission affecting their qualifications and maximum hours of service. Such we believe to be the interpretation of their own powers by the men who know.
We then come to Civil Action No. 2834. These men are admittedly mechanics but plaintiffs claim they are engaged in manufacturing or assembling new equipment and give six examples or items of their labors to prove that they are manufacturing:
(a) The installation of the mechanical equipment below the chassis on new semi-trailers or completely rebuilt semi-trailers (Italics ours).
(b) Transforming a Ford chassis into a tractor, including installation of a fifth wheel,...
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