New York, Philadelphia Norfolk Railroad Company v. Peninsula Produce Exchange of Maryland

• Decision Date: 24 January 1916
• Docket Number: No. 137,137
• Citation: 36 S.Ct. 230,240 U.S. 34,60 L.Ed. 511
• Parties: NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, & NORFOLK RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. PENINSULA PRODUCE EXCHANGE OF MARYLAND
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

240 U.S. 34

36 S.Ct. 230

60 L.Ed. 511

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, & NORFOLK RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v PENINSULA PRODUCE EXCHANGE OF MARYLAND.

No. 137.

Argued December 15 and 16, 1915.

Decided January 24, 1916.

Messrs. Henry Wolf Bikle and Frederic D. McKenney for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 34-36 intentionally omitted] Mr. James E. Ellegood for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the court:

On May 26, 1910, the Peninsula Produce Exchange of Maryland delivered to the New York, Philadelphia, & Norfolk Railroad Company at Marion, Maryland, a carload of strawberries for transportation to New York city. The conditions of the transportation were set forth in the bill of lading issued by the railroad company. The property was delivered at destination some hours later than the customary time of arrival, and this action was brought to recover damages for the failure to transport and deliver with reasonable despatch. Judgment in favor of the shipper was affirmed by the court of appeals of Maryland. 122 Md. 215, 89 Atl. 433.

The plaintiff in error, in its brief, states that 'the questions involved are two——'

'1: Does the Carmack amendment [34 Stat. at L. 593, chap. 3591, Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8592] impose on the 'initial carrier' liability for delay occurring on the line of its connection without physical damage to the property?

'2. Was the plaintiff entitled to recover because its shipment failed to arrive in time for the market of May 28th, when the regulations under which the shipment moved were published in tariffs duly on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission, and specifically provided: 'No carrier is bound to transport said property by any particular train or vessel, or in time for any particular market, or otherwise than with reasonable despatch, unless by specific agreement indorsed hereon'?'

The first question, arising from the fact that it did not appear that the delay occurred on the line of the initial carrier (the defendant) was raised by an unsuccessful demurrer to the declaration, and both questions were presented by prayers for instructions which were denied.

The amendment of § 20 of the interstate commerce act, known as the Carmack amendment (act of June 29, 1906, chap. 3591, § 7, 34 Stat. at L. 584, 595, Comp. Stat. 1913, § 8592), provides 'that any common carrier . . . receiving property for transportation from a point in one state to a point in another state shall issue a receipt or bill of lading therefor and shall be liable to the lawful holder thereof for any loss, damage, or injury to such property caused by it or by any common carrier . . . to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass, and no contract, receipt, rule, or regulation shall exempt such common carrier . . . from the liability hereby imposed.'

We need not review at length the considerations which led to the adoption of this amendment. These were stated in Atlantic Coast Line R. Co. v. Riverside Mills, 219 U. S. 186, 199-203, 55 L. ed. 167, 179-181, 31 L.R.A.(N.S.) 7, 31 Sup. Ct. Rep. 164. It was there pointed out that along with singleness of rate and continuity of carriage in through shipments there had grown up the practice of requiring specific stipulations limiting the liability of each separate company to its own part of the through route, and, as a result, the shipper could look to the initial carrier for recompense only 'for loss, damage, or delay' occurring on its own line. This 'burdensome situation' was 'the matter which Congress undertook to regulate.' And it was concluded that the requirement that interstate carriers holding themselves out as receiving packages for destinations beyond their own terminal should be compelled 'as a condition of continuing in that traffic to obligate themselves to carry to the point of destination, using the lines of connecting carriers as their own agencies,' was within the power of Congress. The rule, said the court in defining the purpose of the Carmack amendment, 'is adapted to secure the rights of the shipper by securing unity of transportation with unity of responsibility.' And, again, we said in Adams Exp. Co. v. Croninger, 226 U. S. 491, 57 L. ed. 314, 44 L.R.A.(N.S.) 257, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 148, that this legislation embraces 'the subject of the liability of the carrier under a bill of lading which he must issue.' 'The duty to issue a bill of lading and the liability thereby assumed are covered in full, and though there is no reference to the effect upon state regulation, it is evident that Congress intended to adopt a uniform rule and relieve such contracts from the diverse regulation to which they had been theretofore subject.' Id. p. 506.

It is now insisted that Congress failed to accomplish this paramount object; that while unity of responsibility was secured if the goods were injured in the course of transportation or were not delivered, the statute did not reach the case of a failure to transport with reasonable despatch. In such case it is said that, although there is a through shipment, the shipper must still look to the particular carrier whose neglect caused the delay. We do not think that the language of the amendment has the inadequacy attributed to it. The words 'any loss, damage, or injury to such property,' caused by the initial carrier or by any connecting carrier, are comprehensive enough to embrace all damages resulting from any failure to discharge a carrier's duty with respect to any part of the transportation to the agreed destination. It is not necessary, nor is it natural, in view of the general purpose of the statute, to take the words 'to the property' as limiting the word 'damage' as well as the word 'injury,' jury,' and thus as rendering the former wholly superfluous. It is said that there is a different responsibility on the part of the carrier with respect to delay from that which exists where there is a failure to carry safely. But the difference is with respect to the measure of the carrier's obligation; the duty to transport with reasonable despatch is none the less an integral part of the normal undertaking of the carrier. And we can gather no intent to unify only a portion of the carrier's responsibility. Further, it is urged that the amendment provides that the initial carrier may recover from the connecting carrier 'on whose line the loss, damage, or injury shall have been sustained the amount of such loss, damage, or injury as it may be required to pay to the owners of such property;' and this, it is said, shows that the 'loss, damage, or injury' described is that which may be localized as having occurred on the line of one of the carriers, and therefore should be limited to physical loss or injury. But we find no difficulty in this, as the damages required to be paid by the initial carrier are manifestly regarded as resulting from some...