Baggett Transportation Company v. United States
| Decision Date | 12 July 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 335-59.,335-59. |
| Citation | 162 Ct. Cl. 570,319 F.2d 864 |
| Parties | BAGGETT TRANSPORTATION COMPANY v. The UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Claims Court |
Allen D. Rushton, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff. James A. Simpson, Birmingham, Ala., was on the briefs.
John Charles Ranney, Washington, D. C., with whom was Asst. Atty. Gen. John W. Douglas, for defendant.
Before JONES, Chief Judge, and LARAMORE, DURFEE and DAVIS, Judges.
During the years 1949-1952 plaintiff transported some 2400 truckloads of ammunition and explosives for the Navy Department between points in Indiana and Virginia. The Navy promptly paid for this transportation, including freight charges attributable to dunnage used in shoring and supporting the loads. Upon auditing the Government bills of lading, the General Accounting Office determined that dunnage should have traveled free on many of the shipments. Plaintiff voluntarily refunded some of these "overcharges," and the GAO recovered the balance by making deductions from money due plaintiff under other transportation contracts. This recoupment was made within six years of the filing of the petition in this action.
Plaintiff now sues for the money recouped by the GAO. It also sues for additional freight on the ground that it erroneously underbilled the Navy for many of the shipments.
The facts giving rise to these claims are as follow. In 1948 plaintiff learned that the Navy Department expected to be shipping a large volume of ammunition and explosives between the Navy Ammunition Depot at Crane, Indiana and the depot at St. Juliens Creek, Virginia. Plaintiff obtained permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to submit a Section 22 Quotation (a special type of tariff) to the Navy's Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. 49 U.S.C. § 22. This Quotation, No. 47, was in effect from September 17, 1948 to March 15, 1949. There is no dispute with respect to ammunition carried under this Quotation.
After Quotation No. 47 expired, the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts sent a telegram to plaintiff asking for a new quotation and assurances that in the event plaintiff submitted the lowest quotation, it would guarantee adequate safety practices. In response to this telegram, plaintiff sent a letter on March 23. 1949, expressing interest in trucking more ammunition. Most of the two-page letter dealt with proposed safety precautions. However, the first paragraph stated that we "herewith submit our bid of $1.60 cwt., truckload minimum 20,000 pounds, and/or $1.38 cwt., volume minimum 50,000 pounds."1 Emphasis added. Subsequent to this letter, the parties orally discussed new rates. The subject of dunnage, however, was not mentioned. Then, in early April 1949 plaintiff submitted Quotation No. 52, as follows:
"COMMODITY DESCRIPTION
Ammunition and Explosives
TRUCK RATES
LOAD IN CENTS
MINIMUM PER 100
BETWEEN WEIGHT POUNDS
St. Juliens Creek, Virginia and within 15
miles thereof
Portsmouth, Virginia, and within 15
miles thereof
AND
Crane, Indiana 20,000 lbs. 160
50,000 lbs. 138
ROUTE: Baggett Transportation Company
EFFECTIVE: April 15, 1949
EXPIRES: October 11, 1949"
In October 1949 plaintiff extended the expiration date of Quotation No. 52 to April 11, 1950.
During the period Quotation No. 52 was effective, other motor carriers began offering the Government Section 22 Quotations phrased in terms of the going first-class rates. Plaintiff and the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts held oral discussions regarding this new style quotation. Again, dunnage was not mentioned in these discussions, leading to Quotation No. 69, effective November 4, 1949. Two features of Quotation No. 69 are relevant here. First, the proviso for alternative application with the rates in Quotation No. 52:
Dunnage is clearly dealt with in Quotation No. 69, although this requires us to navigate the labyrinth of its cross-references. Item No. 1000 of Eastern-Central Motor Carriers Association Tariff No. 10-A (incorporated by reference into Quotation No. 69), provides:
And Rule No. 10 of the National Motor Freight Classification No. 9 states:
"Unless otherwise provided, charges shall be computed on gross weights, excluding the weight of temporary flooring, blocking, racks, standards, stakes, or similar bracing, dunnage or supports." Emphasis added.
Plaintiff terminated Quotation No. 69 on July 1, 1952.
This Quotation, in form similar to No. 52, was issued after the rates were agreed upon in oral discussions in which dunnage was not mentioned. It became effective May 24, 1951 and expired May 24, 1952.
Following oral discussions — which again omitted the subject of dunnage — plaintiff issued Tender No. 109, effective May 25, 1952. Accessorial Services were "as provided in E.C.M.C.A. Tariff No. 10-A and 11-A supplements thereto and reissues thereof." Tender No. 109 was in existence at least until November 14, 1952.
Obviously there was some overlapping of these four quotations during the period relevant here, namely, April 15, 1949, when Quotation No. 52 became effective and November 14, 1952, the date of the last shipment involved. But whenever more than one quotation was available at the time of a shipment of ammunition, the parties computed the charges under each and used the quotation and rate giving the lowest cost. By this method, the Navy received the lowest applicable rate for each shipment.
Although No. 52, itself, expired April 11, 1950, the parties continued to consider it an alternative quotation by reason of its incorporation into Quotation No. 69, which was effective until July 1, 1952. Quotation No. 52 offered rates of $1.60 and $1.38 cwt., based on a "truckload minimum weight" of 20,000 and 50,000 lbs., respectively. However, when the parties were determining the lowest available rate, they computed charges as though Quotation No. 52 offered the alternative rates of $1.60 cwt., based on a truckload minimum of 20,000 lbs., but $1.38 cwt., based on a volume minimum of 50,000 lbs. And for many of the shipments the charges billed by plaintiff and paid by the Navy were computed at this rate of $1.38 cwt., based on a volume minimum of 50,000 lbs.
On all of the shipments between April 15, 1949 and November 14, 1952, the weight of dunnaging material was added to and included in the gross weights on which the charges were billed and paid — just as though dunnage were "cargo." Upon audit — as already mentioned — the GAO determined that dunnage was not cargo and recouped the charges attributable to dunnage. Defendant concedes that plaintiff is entitled to charge for dunnage under Quotation No. 52, but not under Quotations Nos. 69, 85 and 109.
Plaintiff is also suing for additional freight on the ground that it underbilled for many of the shipments made under Quotation No. 52. Plaintiff's argument is that it should not have billed any shipments at $1.38 cwt. based on a volume minimum of 50,000 lbs., but should have computed the rate, where applicable, based on a truckload minimum of 50,000 lbs.
Defendant maintains that Quotation No. 52 is ambiguous and that plaintiff's letter of March 23, 1949 and the conduct of the parties after the quotation was issued shows that the $1.38 rate was based on a volume minimum, rather than a truckload minimum of 50,000 lbs. But in any event, argues defendant, the claim for additional freight is barred by the statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501 (1958), since the transportation services were rendered more than six years before plaintiff's petition was filed.
The question of whether the rate of $1.38 cwt. in Quotation No. 52 applies in connection with a truckload minimum or volume minimum is one of contract interpretation to be decided under Federal law. United States v. County of Allegheny, 322 U.S. 174, 183, 64 S.Ct. 908, 88 L.Ed. 1209 (1944); The Padbloc Co. v. United States, Ct.Cl. No. 523-57 (Apr. 5, 1963), and cases cited therein.
A question of tariff interpretation "does not differ in character from that presented when the construction of any other document is in dispute." United States v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. R. et al., 194 F.2d 777 (5th Cir. 1952). The parol evidence rule governs here, and if the state and Federal cases are not at odds "federal law" may include relevant state cases. See D'Oench, Duhme & Co. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 315 U.S. 447, 465-475, 62 S.Ct. 676, 86 L.Ed. 956 (1942), (concurring opinion).
Defendant puts great reliance on the letter of March 23, 1949, where plaintiff offered the alternative rate of $1.38 cwt. based on a ...
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