Great Northern Ry Co v. Delmar Co

• Decision Date: 25 May 1931
• Docket Number: No. 563,563
• Citation: 75 L.Ed. 1349,51 S.Ct. 579,283 U.S. 686
• Parties: GREAT NORTHERN RY. CO. v. DELMAR CO
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

283 U.S. 686

51 S.Ct. 579

75 L.Ed. 1349

GREAT NORTHERN RY. CO.

v DELMAR CO.

No. 563.

Argued April 30, May 1, 1931.

Decided May 25, 1931.

Messrs. R. J. Hagman and F. G. Dorety, both the St. Paul, Minn., for petitioner.

Mr. Fred W. Putnam, of Minneapolis, Minn., for respondent.

Mr. Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Interstate Commerce Commission awarded Delmar Company reparation against the Great Northern Railway Company for certain charges made on shipments of grain.¹ Suit was brought on the award and judgment rendered against the railway by the District Court, 34 F.(2d) 221. On appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals, that judgment was affirmed.² This Court granted certiorari. ³

The pertinent facts are that numerous shipments of grain originated at points on the line of the railway in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. They were originally billed to Minneapolis. After arrival there, they were reconsigned by the Delmar Company, in the same cars, to Superior, Wis. where delivery was made. The entire movement from the points of origin to Supe- rior was over the rails of the Great Northern. The shorter route from the places of shipment to Superior is via Willmar. The longer, which the cars in question traveled, via Minneapolis, involvespass age through the congested railroad terminals in that city, with incident traffic difficulties and delays not encountered on the more direct one. The difference between the two in mileage from the shipping points to Superior varies by from 12 to 23 per cent. The carrier collected its local rates from origin points to Minneapolis, plus a proportional rate of 6.5 cents beyond. The combinations of rates so exacted were higher than the through rates specified in the tariffs for the transportation of grain from these points to Superior.

The Commission found that it had previously been the custom to apply the through rate only upon shipments via the direct route, and to apply the proportional rate beyond Minneapolis to such as were reconsigned at that point. The advantage to the Delmar Company of originally consigning to that city and reconsigning to Superior is that the former is a grain market, and the grain may be sold en route and delivered at Minneapolis pursuant to such sale, or reconsigned if not sold on its arrival.

It is conceded that the shipper had the right of reconsignment without additional charge for that priviledge, and that the situation is the same as if the shipments had originally been billed to Superior via Minneapolis.

The Commission sustained the contention of the Delmar Company that the quoted through rates from points of origin to Superior applied to shipments routed via Minneapolis, since the tariff did not expressly restrict their application to the shorter and more direct route via Willmar. This finding was the basis of the award of reparation.

The railway maintains that in the circumstances here presented the tariff may not be so construed as to render the specified through rate applicable to shipments by way of Minneapolis. This would be contrary to established custom, and would occasion violation of the long and short haul clause of the Interstate Commerce Act.

The Commission has repeatedly decided that, where two or more routes are 'open,' which means that in the judgment of the Commission none of them is unreasonably circuitous, the shipper has the option as to route, at the quoted rate, in the absence of a contrary statement in the tariff. Van Dusen Harrington Co. v. C., M. & St. P. Ry. Co., 47 I. C. C. 59; Meeds L. Co. v. Director General, 59 I. C. C. 243; Freeman Grain Co. v. Director General 68 I. C. C. 559; Baker-Reid L. Co. v. B. & O. R. R. Co., 74 I. C. C. 489; Steinhardt & Kelly v. Erie R. R. Co., 96 I. C. C. 229; Scott County Farm Bureau v. A. & V. Ry. Co., 101 I. C. C. 357; Browne-Hinton Wholesale Grocery Co. v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 102 I. C. C. 237; Northwestern Fruit Exchange v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 128 I. C. C. 538; Atwood Davis Sand Co. v. C. & N. W. Ry. Co., 136 I. C. C. 471. Here the difference is, in no instance, more than 23 per cent. It is claimed that the longer route is more burdensome, due to congestion at Minneapolis, but there is no definite evidence and no finding on this point. We cannot say that there was error in the Commission's conclusion that the longer route was not unreasonably circuitous.

It is undisputed that there are destinations on the railway's line between Minneapolis and Superior as to which the rate from the points of origin, consisting of...