Continental Baking Co v. Woodring

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Citation76 L.Ed. 1155,52 S.Ct. 595,286 U.S. 352,81 A.L.R. 1402
Docket NumberNo. 677,677
PartiesCONTINENTAL BAKING CO. et al. v. WOODRING, Governor of Kansas, et al
Decision Date23 May 1932

[Syllabus from pages 352-354 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Charles R. Wilke, of Lincoln, Neb., and John C. Grover, of Kansas City, Mo., for appellants.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 354-356 intentionally omitted] Mr. Walter T. Griffin, of Topeka, Kan., for appellees.

Mr. Chief Justice HUGHES delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is an appeal from a final decree of the District Court, composed of three judges, as required by statute, which dismissed, on motion, the bill of complaint in a suit brought to restrain the enforcement of the Motor Vehicle Act of Kansas. Laws of 1931, c. 236; Continental Baking Company v. Woodring, Governor (D. C.) 55 F.(2d) 347.

Plaintiffs are 'private motor carriers of property,' operating bakeries in Kansas and other states and making deliveries to their customers by their own trucks. They contend that the statute, by reason of the obligations it imposes, and of its classifications, violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, the provision as to the privileges and immunities of citizens (article 4, § 2), and the commerce clause (article 1, § 8, cl. 3), of the Federal Constitution.

The statute relates to motor vehicles, comprehensively defined, when used upon any public highway of the state for the purpose of transporting persons or property. It applies to those who are engaged in such transportation as 'public motor carriers' of property and passengers, 'contract motor carriers' of property and passengers, and 'private motor carriers of property.' 'Public motor carrier' means one transporting 'for hire as a common carrier having a fixed termini or route.' 'Contract motor carrier' of property means one who is not a 'public motor carrier' and is engaged in transportation 'for hire as a business.' 'Private motor carrier of property' means one transporting 'property sold or to be sold by him in furtherance of any private commercial enterprise.' Section 1.1 The act does not apply to (1) motor carriers operating wholly within any city or village of the state, (2) private motor carriers operating within a radius of twenty-five miles beyond the corporate limits of such city or village, (3) the transportation of live stock and farm products to market 'by the owner thereof or supplies for his own use in his own motor vehicle,' and (4) the transportation of children to and from school. Section 2.2 Public motor carriers are declared to be common carriers within the meaning of the public utility laws of the state and subject to regulation accord- ingly, including that of rates and charges. Section 3.3 Public motor carriers, contract motor carriers, and private motor carriers of property are forbidden to operate motor vehicles for compensation on any public highway except in accordance with the provisions of the act. Section 4.4 The public service commission is vested with supervision of these carriers in all matters affecting their relationship 'with the traveling and shipping public' and, specifically, to prescribe regulations in certain particulars hereinafter mentioned. Section 5.5 All transportation charges made by public motor carriers must be just and reasonable. Section 6. Public motor carriers in intrastate commerce must obtain certificates of convenience and necessity. Section 7. Contract motor carriers and private motor carriers of property, 'either in intrastate commerce or in interstate commerce,' must obtain licenses. Application therefor must give information as to ownership, financial condition and equipment, and such further facts as the public service commission may request. The commission is required, upon receipt of this information and on compliance with the regulations and payment of fees, to issue a license. Section 8.6 In addition to license fees, public motor carriers, contract motor carriers, and private motor carriers of property must pay a tax of 'five-tenths mill per gross ton mile,' computed in the manner described, for the administra- tion of the act and for the maintenance and reconstruction of the public highways. Section 13.7 Every motor carrier covered by the act must keep daily records, upon prescribed forms, of all vehicles used, and must certify under oath summaries showing the ton miles traveled monthly and such other information as the commission may require. Section 15.8 The commission is empowered to enforce the provisions of the act and to inspect the books and documents of all carriers to which the act applies. Section 16.9

Of the moneys received under the provisions of the act, 20 per cent. is to be applied to administration and enforcement, and the remainder is to be placed to the credit of the state's highway fund. Section 18.10 No certificate or license is to be issued by the commission to any of the described motor carriers until a liability insurance policy approved by the commission has been filed 'in such reasonable sum as the commission may deem necessary to adequately protect the interests of the public with due regard to the number of persons and amount of property involved, which liability insurance shall bind the obligors thereunder to pay compensation for injuries to persons and loss of or damage to property resulting from the negligent operation of such carrier.' No other or additional bonds or licenses than those prescribed in the act are to be required by any city or town or other agency of the state. Section 21.11 The commission may promul- gate rules relating to the maintenance of vehicle units in a safe and sanitary condition, and making provision as to qualifications and hours of service of operators and for the reporting of accidents. Section 22.12 Violation of the act or of any order of the commission is made a misdemeanor. Section 23. 13

The general situation to which the statute is addressed is thus described by the District Court (55 F.(2d) at pages 350, 351): 'The state of Kansas has constructed at great expense a system of improved highways. These have been built in part by special benefit districts and in part by a tax on gasoline sold in the state and by license fees exacted of all resident owners of automobiles. These public highways have become the roadbeds of great transportation companies, which are actively and seriously competing with railroads which provide their own roadbeds; they are being used by concerns such as the plaintiffs for the daily delivery of their products to every hamlet and village in the state. The highways are being pounded to pieces by these great trucks which, combining weight with speed, are making the problem of maintenance well-nigh insoluble. The Legislature but voiced the sentiment of the entire state in deciding that those who daily use the highways for commercial purposes should pay an additional tax. Moreover, these powerful and speedy trucks are the menace of the highways.'

It is apparent that Kansas, in framing its legislation to meet these conditions, did not attempt to compel private carriers to become public carriers. The Legislature did not purport to put both classes of carriers upon an identical footing and subject them to the same obligations. See Smith v. Cahoon, 283 U. S. 553, 563, 51 S. Ct. 582, 75 L. Ed. 1264; Michigan Public Utilities Commission v. Duke, 266 U. S. 570, 576-578, 45 S. Ct. 191, 69 L. Ed. 445, 36 A. L. R. 1105; Frost & Frost Trucking Co. v. Railroad Commission, 271 U. S. 583, 592, 46 S. Ct. 605, 70 L. Ed. 1101, 47 A. L. R. 457. It recognized and applied distinctions. 'Public' or common carriers, and not private carriers, are required to obtain certificates of public convenience and necessity. The former, and not the latter, are put under regulations as to fares and charges. While, with respect to certain matters, both are placed under the general authority given to the public service commission to prescribe regulations, it does not appear from the bill of complaint that any regulation has been prescribed, or that the commission has made any order, of which private carriers may properly complain. The statute itself, however, does impose certain obligations upon private motor carriers of property, and the first question is whether these provisions violate the constitutional restrictions invoked.

First. 'Private motor carriers of property' must obtain a license, pay a tax, and file a liability insurance policy. The public service commission has no authority to refuse a license if the described information is given with the application, the liability insurance policy is filed, and there is compliance with the regulations and payment of the license fee. Section 8.14 It is not shown that either regulations or license fees are unreasonable. The tax and the license fees, over the expenses of administration, go to the highway fund of the state for the maintenance and reconstruction of the highways the carrier is licensed to use. The insurance policy is to protect the interests of the public by securing compensation for injuries to persons and property from negligent operations of the carriers. Section 21.15 The District Court approved an earlier decision, also by a District Court of three judges, that this provision was not intended to require 'security for passengers or cargoes carried, but only to protect third persons from injuries to their persons or property.' 55 F.(2d) at page 357; Louis v. Boynton (D. C.) 53 F. (2d) 471, 473. This is an admissible construction, and no different application of the provision appears to have been made by either the state court or the commission.

Requirements of this sort are clearly within the authority of the state which may demand compensation for the special facilities it has provided and regulate the use of its highways to promote the public safety. Reasonable regulations to that end are...

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