Vance Trucking Company v. Canal Insurance Company
| Decision Date | 06 January 1966 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 4364. |
| Citation | 249 F. Supp. 33 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
| Parties | VANCE TRUCKING COMPANY, Inc., and Allstate Insurance Company, Plaintiffs, v. CANAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Forrester Trucking Company, Inc., Herbert Francis Carson, Scott Carson, Susan Carson, David Carson, Christopher Carson, and Robert H. Carson, Administrator of the Estate of Annie Barbara Carson, Deceased, Defendants. |
W. Francis Marion, and O.G. Calhoun, of Haynsworth, Perry, Bryant, Marion & Johnstone, Greenville, S. C., for plaintiffs.
Wesley M. Walker, and O. Doyle Martin, of Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann, Greenville, S. C., for defendants Canal Ins. Co. and Forrester Trucking Co., Inc.
David L. Freeman and C. T. Wyche, of Wyche, Burgess, Freeman & Parham, Greenville, S. C., for defendants Herbert Francis Carson, Scott Carson, Susan Carson, David Carson, Christopher Carson, and Robert H. Carson, Admr. of Estate of Annie Barbara Carson.
Declaratory Judgment action arising out of the collision in October, 1962, in Sumter County, South Carolina, when a large tractor-trailer unit crossed into the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with an approaching passenger vehicle causing the death of one of the passengers and serious injuries to other occupants of such vehicle. The tractor and the trailer were owned by Forrester Trucking Company, Inc., sometimes hereinafter referred to as Forrester, a South Carolina corporation, and the tractor was driven at the time by its employee Sammie Burgess. Both the tractor and the trailer were used on the day of the accident in the delivery of tobacco by Vance Trucking Lines, Inc., sometimes hereinafter referred to as Vance, the use of the tractor being pursuant to a written lease between Vance as lessee and Forrester as lessor.
The principal point for determination in this action is the agency of Sammie Burgess, the driver. Each of the trucking companies contends that he was the agent of the other at the time of the collision. Counsel for the plaintiff in the wrongful death action and the other parties sustaining injuries contend that Sammie Burgess was the agent, or servant, of both.
A determination of the question of agency in this action will not only resolve questions of coverage but will be res judicata as to the same question in the death action now pending against both trucking companies and in other suits that may follow by the other persons injured in the collision, all of whom are made parties to this action. For this reason, the death action has been continued until this action is decided. It appears to be conceded that the liability for the wrongful death and personal injuries to third persons is clear. The question of damages, however, remains to be determined, and this should follow the determination in this action.
Depending upon the resolution of the question of agency, the interpretation of the respective contractual liabilities of Vance's insurer, Allstate Insurance Company, and Forrester's insurer, Canal Insurance Company, must be made.
Forrester has limits of liability of $100/300,000, and Vance has liability limits of $300/500,000.1 There is a possibility that one or more of these claims may exceed one of these policy limits.
Vance and Forrester each disclaim legal liability for the actions of Sammie Burgess and seek to place the responsibility on the other. Each emphatically denies that it had control or dominion over Sammie Burgess. Taking the testimony and contentions of each at face value, the Court would have to conclude that Sammie Burgess was without any principal.
The resolution of the factual determination must be made not merely from the written agreement between the parties, but also from the facts and circumstances surrounding their continuing relationship, as well as the facts and circumstances at the time of the traffic accident. Tate v. Claussen-Lawrence Construction Co., 168 S.C. 481, 167 S.E. 826. See also Hutson v. Herndon, 243 S.C. 257, 133 S.E.2d 753, 756.
Vance is a licensed carrier operating under Interstate Commerce Commission authority. Forrester is an intrastate carrier licensed under the authority of the South Carolina Public Service Commission.
During the tobacco hauling season, it appears that Vance would enter into agreements with Forrester pursuant to which Forrester would make available to Vance tractor-trailer units with drivers. A written agreement dated July 15, 1962 is in evidence under which Forrester undertook to lease to Vance "vehicles listed in this agreement." The agreement does not list or describe any equipment, but the parties are in accord that the tractor involved in the accident was one of the units subject to the lease agreement. The trailer appears to have occupied a somewhat different status as will be discussed below.
While the drivers furnished by Forrester were engaged in hauling tobacco, they would clearly be under the control of Vance and subject to the direction of Vance. At the end of a particular day's hauling, the driver of a Forrester truck could call Forrester for instructions or could return to the Vance terminal or could return to the Forrester terminal at Sumter. If a leased unit were returned to the Forrester terminal at Sumter, such unit and the driver could be used by Forrester in its own private business. The tractor involved in the collision was described as a "base unit" by a witness for Forrester who also said that Vance had priority as to this tractor since Forrester's hauling was slow during this period. On the other hand, it appears that any particular tractor-trailer unit and driver could be recalled by Forrester and another one substituted and, in fact, Sammie Burgess on October 3, 1962, the day preceding the accident, went on a trip with a load of cotton for Forrester.
Under the written lease, Vance and Forrester divided the gross revenues received by Vance for the hauling of tobacco on a 80/20 ratio, with Forrester receiving 80 per cent of the revenue and paying for gasoline and other expenses incident to the carrying of commodities.
It was frankly admitted and appears obvious that it was to the mutual interest of both Vance and Forrester to utilize the driver and tractor-trailer to a maximum as this would result in a maximum revenue to each of them. In other words, the lease arrangement between the parties was not one whereby the lessee was given exclusive custody of the leased property but rather was one whereby either the lessor or the lessee could use the property with both parties benefiting economically from the maximum use by the lessee.
It is also clear that the written lease did not cover the full arrangement between Vance and Forrester. There is no evidence that the trailer involved in the collision was subject to the lease. On the contrary, it appears to have been an extra trailer which Vance had been furnished by Forrester. Forrester likewise also furnished an extra tractor for use as a yard tractor and sent a man to Lake City just to load. The record is silent as to the agreement between Forrester and Vance respecting these matters. The officer who testified for Forrester knew of no agreement for compensation for either the tractor or the trailer. The inference is clear that both parties cooperated fully toward the end that Vance would be able to handle and transport a maximum amount of tobacco with the resulting joint benefit to each company. The joint or common relationship between the parties is further demonstrated by the manner in which payments were handled. Although Forrester was liable under the lease agreement for payment of gas, as the matter was handled in actuality, gas purchases were made by Forrester and charged to Vance and paid by Vance. These payments were deducted by Vance from Forrester's share of the revenue. Furthermore, Vance collected for its transportation only upon receipt from Forrester of a bill of lading bearing the receipt of the consignee. This was handled procedurally as follows:
When a Forrester truck and driver made a delivery for Vance to a Vance customer, this customer would sign a receipted bill of lading and deliver it to the Forrester employee. He, in turn, would deliver this receipted bill of lading to Forrester who, in turn, would mail it to Vance. This was Forrester's only method of keeping an account of the revenues derived by its units. On some occasions, this receipted bill of lading would be returned to Vance directly, but would not be delivered to Vance until another receipt showing substantially the same information as the bill of lading was delivered by Vance to the Forrester driver.
Drivers' logs kept in compliance with the requirements of the Interstate Commerce Commission were likewise delivered by the drivers first to Forrester who relied upon the same for information for its records and who then transmitted the logs to Vance in accordance with its lease agreement.
When a Forrester driver would return to the Vance terminal at Lake City, he could be requested by Vance to make another delivery. If there was no further load available, the driver would be on his own to return to Sumter or would be free for the rest of the day. On some occasions, the drivers would leave their tractor-trailer in Lake City and go without it to Sumter. The yard tractor was available for use and was used with the consent of Forrester for this purpose from time to time.
On the day of the fatal accident, Sammie Burgess had returned in the afternoon around 5 or 5:30 to the Vance terminal in Lake City, South Carolina. He had made a delivery of tobacco to Fairmont, North Carolina, and had in his possession the receipted bill of lading. This was toward the end of the tobacco season, and the dispatcher for Vance advised him that he did not have any further business for him. According to the dispatcher, Burgess was told that he could go in and that the dispatcher would...
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