Florida Motor Lines Corp. v. Douglass

• Decision Date: 09 December 1941
• Parties: FLORIDA MOTOR LINES CORPORATION v. DOUGLASS et al.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

7 So.2d 843

150 Fla. 1

FLORIDA MOTOR LINES CORPORATION v. DOUGLASS et al.

Florida Supreme Court

December 9, 1941

On Rehearing April 29, 1942.

Milam, McIlvaine & Milam, of Jacksonville, for petitioner.

Theo. T Turnbull, of Tallahassee, for respondents.

A. Pickens Coles, of Tampa, and W. H. Wilson, Jr., of Lake City, as amicus curiae.

BUFORD, Justice.

Florida Motor Lines Corporation, a Florida corporation, presented its petition here for writ of certiorari to be directed to the Railroad Commission of the State of Florida and prays this Court in due and regular course to give consideration to the matters and things alleged and upon consideration of same to enter its order quashing that certain order of the Railroad Commission entered on April 30, 1941, a copy of which is attached to the petition for certiorari identified as Order No. 1452 Docket No. 769, wherein it was ordered:

'Wherefore, it is considered ordered and adjudged by the Railroad Commission of the State of Florida that the application of Georgia-Florida Coaches, Inc., for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity authorizing it to transport passengers, baggage, newspapers and light express between the Georgia-Florida state line and Williston via Lake City, Lake Butler, Gainesville and Archer over State Highways Nos. 82, 2, 1, 28, 49, 99, 13 and 5, be and the same is hereby granted.

'It is further ordered that the applicant and Florida Motor Lines Corporation and Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc., be and they are hereby required to interchange passengers at Williston; and that the applicant and Florida Motor Lines Corporation be and they are required to interchange passengers at Gainesville and that the applicant, and Florida Motor Lines Corporation Union Bus Company and Southeastern Greyhound Lines be and they are hereby required to interchange passengers at Lake City, Florida.

'Done and ordered by the Railroad Commission of the State of Florida, in session at its office in the City of Tallahassee, Florida, this 30th day of April, 1941.'

The order of the Railroad Commission, supra, recited:

'1. This matter, pursuant to Notice No. 773 came on for formal hearing before the Railroad Commission of the State of Florida at its Hearing Room, Supreme Court Building, Tallahassee, Florida, on Wednesday, April 23, 1941. The following appearances were entered:

'A Pickens Coles, Tampa Theatre Building, Tampa, Florida; W. H. Wilson, Jr., Lake City, Florida; and Sam T. Dell of Gainesville, Florida, for applicant.

'A. Y. Milam, Jacksonville, Florida, for protestants, Florida Motor Lines Corporation and Gator Motor Lines, Inc.

'Ben. A. Meginniss of Tallahassee, Florida, for Southeastern Greyhound Lines.

'2. Upon the calling of the application for hearing, Florida Motor Lines Corporation, through its counsel, offered a motion to dismiss the application on the grounds that there was no financial statement attached to the application; that there was no description of equipment proposed to be operated, and that no schedules were submitted with the application. It was contended that the failure on the part of the applicant to set out these matters was jurisdictional, and that the Commission, therefore, had no jurisdiction to hear the application at this time. This Motion was denied.

'3. The applicant, Georgia-Florida Coaches, Inc., holds franchise rights between Augusta, Georgia, and Lake City, Florida. It obtained these franchise rights through the consolidation of Service Coach Lines, Inc., which operates between Augusta, Georgia, and McRae, Georgia, and Atlantic Stages, which operates intrastate from McRae to the Georgia-Florida line, and interstate within Florida from the Georgia-Florida line, to Lake City. This merger has been approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission and through this approval the applicant now has intrastate rights in Georgia. Application has also been filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission for approval of this consolidation but no order has been rendered by the Interstate Commerce Commission. When, and if, the Interstate Commerce Commission approves this consolidation and merger, the applicant, Georgia-Florida Coaches, Inc., will have interstate rights between Augusta, Georgia, and Lake City, Florida, and will also have intrastate rights within Georgia. This application has been filed with the Florida Railroad Commission to obtain a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity authorizing this company to operate in intrastate commerce, between the Georgia-Florida State Line and Williston, Florida, serving Lake City, Lake Butler, LaCrosse, Gainesville and Archer.

'George T. Morris of Dublin, Georgia, who is President of the applicant corporation, is also President of Service Coach Lines, Inc., and J. A. Booker of Savannah, Georgia, is Secretary and Treasurer of the applicant corporation, and is the owner of Atlantic Stages. W. H. Wilson, Jr., of Lake City, Florida, is Vice President of the applicant corporation.

'4. The applicant, at the hearing, offered its Financial Statement as its Exhibit 2, and also testified that the applicant now owns two busses, a twenty-five passenger yellow coach and a twenty-five passenger Flexible Clipper. The President of the corporation testified that the company was financially able to purchase the requisite number of busses necessary for this operation, and to carry on the operation, if this application is granted. The applicant also filed schedules showing its proposed service over this route.

'It was also shown that over the route between Georgia-Florida state line and Lake City Atlantic Stages now operates, in interstate commerce, and over a short portion of said route north of Lake City Union Bus Company or Southeastern Greyhound Lines operate. Between Lake City and Lake Butler Gator Motor Lines, whose certificate is now owned by Florida Motor Lines Corporation, and the Union Bus Company, now operate. Between Lake Butler and the junction of Road No. 99 and state road No. 2, just north of Gainesville, no common carrier bus line operates but Florida Motor Lines Corporation operates between the junction of roads 99 and 2 into Gainesville. Between Gainesville and Archer and Williston Florida Motor Lines Corporation now operates.

'5. The applicant produced a number of witnesses from the various communities to be served by this operation, many of them the most prominent citizens of their respective communities, who testified that in their opinion public convenience and necessity required this service, and that such service would be of great benefit to the territory involved.

'Certified copies of Resolutions adopted by the Boards of County Commissioners of several of the counties through which this operation would be conducted, and by the City Commissioners of the various cities to be served, were presented and filed in evidence. Resolutions were also presented by numerous Civic Clubs of the cities through which this line runs which were filed with the Commission and put in its correspondence file. Testimony was also produced to show the advantage of this line as a through route.

'The applicant filed its Exhibit No. 3, which showed the schedule for this through route. It proposes two round trips--one leaving Augusta at 6:30 A. M. arriving Williston 4:40 P. M. The other leaving Augusta 10:30 A. M. arriving Williston 8:40 P. M., and returning, one leaves Williston 10:00 A. M. and arrives Augusta 8:00 P. M., the other leaving Williston 7:25 P. M. arriving Augusta 5:25 A. M. It also proposes certain local schedules between Gainesville and Williston and between Lake City and Gainesville, as follows:

Southbound read Northbound read

down up

PM PM AM PM

8:00 4:00 Gainesville 10:40 8:05

8:25 4:25 Archer 10:15 7:40

8:40 4:40 Williston 10:00 7:25

PM PM AM PM

-----------

PM PM AM PM PM PM

6:10 2:10 8:00 Lake City 12:30 4:55 9:55

6:55 2:55 8:45 Lake Butler 11:45 4:10 9:10

8:00 4:00 9:55 Gainesville 10:40 3:00 8:05

'6. Florida Motor Lines Corporation, protestant, objected to the granting of this application on the ground that it serves several of the specific routes sought, and also serves the general territory involved. It also made a tender of service over such portions of the route as it did not serve in the event that the Commission found that public convenience and necessity required the service. The evidence, however, shows that the service rendered by the Florida Motor Lines between Williston and Lake City via Newberry and High Springs is operated with closed doors. It also proposed certain schedules by which it could serve this particular territory.

'7. The Commission has carefully considered the record in this case, and the needs of the various communities involved, and finds:

'(a) That the through service from Augusta, Georgia, through Lake City to Williston, Florida, if proper interchanges are made at Williston, Gainesville and Lake City, will be of great benefit not only to this particular territory but to the traveling public of the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando territory who desire to make use of the service.

'(b) That there is at present no service directly between Lake Butler and Gainesville by which the communities of Worthington Springs and La Crosse can be served and public convenience and Necessity require this service.

'(c) That, the applicant and Florida Motor Lines Corporation and Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc., be directed to interchange passengers at Williston; and the applicant and Florida Motor Lines Corporation be directed to interchange passengers at Gainesville; and that the applicant and Florida Motor Lines Corporation, Union Bus Company and Southeastern Greyhound Lines be required to interchange passengers at Lake City.'

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