Association, Inc. v. New Prime,Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-1420,98-3143,98-3478,98-2942,98-1420 |
| Citation | 192 F.3d 778 |
| Parties | (8th Cir. 1999) Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., et al., individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs - Appellants v. New Prime, Inc., et al., Defendants - Appellees New Prime, Inc., et al., Petitioners, v. United States of America, Federal Highway Administration, et al., Respondents, Arctic Express, Inc., et al., Petitioners, v. Federal Highway Administration, et al., Respondents. Submitted: |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Petitions for Review of Order of the Federal Highway Administration
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before WOLLMAN and LOKEN*, Circuit Judges, and JACKSON**, District Judge.
The ICC Termination Act of 1995 1 transferred the motor carrier regulatory functions of the Interstate Commerce Commission to the Department of Transportation and the Surface Transportation Board. See 49 U.S.C. 13501. Within DOT, the. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administers and enforces regulations that impose restrictions on lease agreements between motor carriers and owner-operators of truck tractors, commonly known as the "Truth-in-Leasing" regulations. See 49 C.F.R. Part 376. A class of owner-operators has sued two motor carriers alleging that certain of their lease provisions violate the regulations. The Western District of Missouri dismissed one suit, deferring to the primary jurisdiction of FHWA. The agency then declined to exercise that jurisdiction. The result is four consolidated appeals in this court raising complex issues of statutory construction. The motor carriers and the American Trucking Association argue that the agency's statutory remedy is exclusive, while the owner-operators and FHWA argue that these private disputes should be resolved in federal court. Rejecting the motor carriers' contention, we reverse the district court's dismissal of the owner-operator claims.
Independent owner-operators lease truck equipment and provide driving services to federally registered motor carriers. In Case No. 98-1420, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and individual owner-operators (the "Owner-Operators") filed a class action complaint against New Prime, Inc., a registered motor carrier, and its affiliate, Success Leasing, Inc. (collectively, "Prime"), alleging that provisions in Prime's standard lease agreements and equipment rental-purchase contracts violate FWHA leasing regulations and are unconscionable under Missouri law. Briefly stated, the Owner-Operators challenge contract terms governing reserve funds and security deposits as violating 49 C.F.R. 376.12(i) & (k).
The district court dismissed the complaint, concluding that FHWA has primary jurisdiction because the claims involve matters within the agency's expertise. The Owner-Operators then filed the first of our four consolidated appeals, arguing the district court improperly applied the primary jurisdiction doctrine. With that appeal pending, the Owner-Operators filed an ex parte Petition for Declaratory Order with. FHWA, asking the agency to issue a declaratory order either construing the relevant regulations in their favor, or declaring that the agency does not have primary jurisdiction over their dispute with Prime. FHWA responded with a Notice of Denial, declining to exercise primary jurisdiction because the Truth-in-Leasing regulations and the issues raised by the Owner-Operators "are fairly straightforward matters clearly within the competence of a court to resolve," and because the ICC had addressed similar issues in OPA Information Bulletin No. 93-103, No. MC-C-30192, Dart Transit Co.-Petition for Declaratory Order, 9 I.C.C.2d 701 (June 28, 1993). In Case No. 98- 2942 and Case No. 98-3143, Prime appeals FHWA's refusal to exercise its administrative jurisdiction.
The Owner-Operators also commenced an action in the Southern District of Ohio, alleging that the lease agreements used by Arctic Express, Inc., and its affiliate, D & A Associates, Ltd. (collectively, "Arctic Express"), violate the same provisions of the Truth-in-Leasing regulations. Arctic Express appealed FHWA's Notice of Denial to the Sixth Circuit, which transferred the appeal to this court. That is Case No. 98-3478. The American Trucking Association has filed amicus briefs in support of the Prime and Arctic Express appeals, urging us to reverse the agency's refusal to exercise jurisdiction over the carriers' disputes with the Owner-Operators. The Ohio district court has stayed its proceedings pending our resolution of these appeals.
Prior to the ICC Termination Act, the ICC comprehensively regulated licensed motor carriers. Congress intended that the Termination Act substantially deregulate rail and motor carrier transportation. One area of regulation expressly addressed in the Act was dispute resolution. The Report of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee explained:
In addition to overseeing the background commercial rules of the motor carrier industry, the ICC currently resolves disputes that arise in such areas. There is no explicit statutory requirement to do so. . . . The ICC dispute resolution programs include household goods and auto driveaway carriers, brokers, owner-operator leasing, loss and damage claims, duplicate payments and overcharges, and lumping.
The bill transfers responsibility for all the areas in which the ICC resolves disputes to the Secretary (except passenger intercarrier disputes). The Committee does not believe that DOT should allocate scarce resources to resolving these essentially private disputes, and specifically directs that DOT should not continue the dispute resolution functions in these areas. The bill provides that private parties may bring actions in court to enforce the provisions of the Motor Carrier Act. This change will permit these private, commercial disputes to be resolved the way that all other commercial disputes are resolved -- by the parties.
H.R. Rep. No. 104-311, at 87-88 (1995), reprinted in 1995-2 U.S.C.C.A.N. 793, 799- 800 (emphasis added). Consistent with this explanation, the Committee described 14704 of the House Bill as Id. at 120-121, 1995- 2 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 832-33. The Conference Committee ultimately adopted 14704 of the House Bill. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 104-422, at 221-22 (1995), reprinted in 1995- 2 U.S.C.C.A.N. 850, 906-07.
In these cases, the Owner-Operators seek to enforce the Truth-in-Leasing regulations in court, while the motor carriers seek to preserve the prior regime of exclusive administrative remedies. FWHA has declined to exercise jurisdiction over these private disputes, which is not surprising given the above-quoted congressional "directive." Before this court, the Owner-Operators and FHWA rely heavily on the Termination Act's legislative history. Prime, Arctic Express, and the American Trucking Association urge us to ignore this history because, "[w]hen the words of a. statute are unambiguous . . . judicial inquiry is complete." Connecticut Nat'l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, 254 (1992) (internal quotation omitted). That is very true, and in all events our principal focus must be on the language of the relevant statutes. But we cannot ignore the broader perspective. The motor carriers argue that the dispute resolution provisions of the Termination Act unambiguously give FWHA not just primary but exclusive jurisdiction to resolve private disputes over the Truth-in-Leasing regulations. That interpretation is at odds with the overall congressional objective of partial deregulation and with the relevant committees' explanations of the specific provisions in question. To decide whether the motor carriers' plain language arguments surmount these obstacles, we begin by quoting the relevant Termination Act provisions:
49 U.S.C. 14701. General authority
(a) INVESTIGATIONS. . . . If the Secretary or Board, as applicable, finds that a carrier . . . is violating this part, the Secretary or Board, as applicable, shall take appropriate action to compel compliance with this part. . . .
(b) COMPLAINTS. A person, including a governmental authority, may file with the Secretary or Board, as applicable, a complaint about a violation of this part by a carrier . . . .
14702. Enforcement by the regulatory authority
(a) IN GENERAL. The Secretary or the Board, as applicable, may bring a civil action --
(2) to enforce this part, or a regulation or order of the Secretary or Board, as applicable, when violated by a carrier . . . .
The Attorney General may, and on request of either the Secretary or the Board shall, bring court proceedings --
(1) to enforce this part or a regulation or order of the Secretary or Board or terms of registration under this part . . . .
14704. Rights and remedies of persons injured by carriers . . .
(a) IN GENERAL. (1) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDER. A person injured because a carrier . . . does not obey an order of the Secretary or the Board, as applicable, under this part, except an order for the payment of money, may bring a civil action to enforce that order under this subsection. A person may bring a civil action for injunctive relief for violations of sections 14102 [] and 14103.
(2) DAMAGES FOR VIOLATIONS. A carrier . . . is liable...
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