Henry Pratt Co. v. Stor Dor Freight Systems, Inc.
| Decision Date | 19 September 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 75C544.,75C544. |
| Parties | HENRY PRATT COMPANY, a corporation, Plaintiff, v. STOR DOR FREIGHT SYSTEMS, INC., a corporation, Defendant. STOR DOR FREIGHT SYSTEMS, INC., a corporation, Third-Party Plaintiff, v. BURLINGTON NORTHERN INC., a Foreign Corporation, Third-Party Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
Dale C. Gordon, Hopkins, Sutter, Mulroy, Davis & Cromartie, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.
Adolph L. Haas, Gary E. Dienstag, and Louis L. Vishny, Chicago, Ill., for defendant-third-party plaintiff.
Barry N. Gutterman, Chicago, Ill., for third-party defendant.
DECISION
This case comes on to be heard on the motion of the defendant for summary judgment. The motion is based on defendant's affirmative defense that the bill of lading between the parties required all claims for loss or damage to be made within nine months of shipment and that the claim filed herein was filed more than one year after shipment. The defendant's motion is supported by an affidavit of its Director of Claims which attaches (1) the bill of lading by which the plaintiff delivered the goods in question to the defendant on or about December 1, 1972 and (2) the claim submitted by the plaintiff to the defendant dated December 15, 1973.
Plaintiff resists the motion by filing certain answers to interrogatories of the third party defendant Burlington Northern Inc. on whose line the goods were destroyed by an accident which occurred on or about December 11, 1972. Also attached is an answer to interrogatories filed by the defendant Stor Dor Freight Systems Inc. stating that, if it had received a timely claim from the plaintiff, it would have forwarded it to Burlington Northern Inc., as it had done with other claims.
On the basis of these affidavits, we find and conclude that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that summary judgment should be granted for the defendant Stor Dor Freight Systems, Inc. The plaintiff did not comply with the time limitation in the bill of lading which was executed in accordance with the Carmarck Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. § 20(11). The plaintiff likewise failed to comply with the regulation of the Interstate Commerce Commission which requires a communication in writing from a claimant filed with the carrier within the time limits specified in the bill of lading. 49 C.F.R. § 1005.2(b). Although neither the statute nor the regulation contains the nine-months' limitation, the parties do not contest its reasonableness or effectiveness.
The court had no jurisdiction to change the contract between the parties or the law established by Congress and by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Periods of limitations are intended to afford the carrier an opportunity to investigate claims within a reasonable time before they become stale and are no different than statutes of limitations...
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