Youngblood Truck Lines, Inc. v. United States

• Decision Date: 16 September 1963
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 2091.
• Citation: 221 F. Supp. 809
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina
• Parties: YOUNGBLOOD TRUCK LINES, INC., and Common Carrier Conference— Irregular Route, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America and Interstate Commerce Commission, Defendants.

221 F. Supp. 809

YOUNGBLOOD TRUCK LINES, INC., and Common Carrier Conference— Irregular Route, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America and Interstate Commerce Commission, Defendants.

Civ. No. 2091.

United States District Court W. D. North Carolina, Asheville Division.

Heard July 29, 1963.

Decided September 16, 1963.

H. Charles Ephraim and James E. Wilson, Washington, D. C. and Robert R. Williams, Jr., Asheville, N. C., for plaintiffs.

Lee Loevinger, Asst. Atty. Gen., and John H. D. Wigger, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., and William Medford, U. S. Atty., Asheville, N. C., for defendant the United States.

Robert W. Ginnane, Gen. Counsel, Interstate Commerce Commission and Robert S. Burk, Atty., Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D. C., for defendant Interstate Commerce Commission.

Before J. SPENCER BELL, Circuit Judge and CRAVEN, and WARLICK. District Judges.

CRAVEN, Chief Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 2325, a three-judge court was convened in accordance with 28 U.S.C.A. § 2284 to hear and determine this action to permanently enjoin, set aside, or annul certain orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Youngblood Truck Lines, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Youngblood") is a common carrier by motor vehicle of property in interstate commerce pursuant to duly issued certificates of operating authority. Common Carrier Conference— Irregular Route, Inc., is a non-profit organization of which Youngblood is a member.

Involved in this proceeding are three separate and distinct grants of authority held by Youngblood which allow it to operate over irregular routes between the following points respectively:

I. Between points in Georgia on and north of a line beginning at the Alabama-Georgia state line and extending along Georgia Highway 20 to U. S. Highway 41, thence along U. S. Highway 41 to Atlanta, Georgia, thence along U. S. Highway 29 to Athens, Georgia, and thence along U. S. Highway 78 to the Georgia-South Carolina state line (hereinafter referred to as "North Georgia"), on the one hand; and, on the other, points in Buncombe, Graham, Haywood, and Henderson Counties in North Carolina.

II. Between points in North Caroline on and west of U. S. Highway 1, on the one hand; and, on the other, all points in South Carolina.

III. Between Tryon, North Carolina, and points in North Carolina within ten miles of Tryon (which includes part of Henderson County), on the one hand; and, on the other, points in North Carolina on and west of U. S. Highway 1.

By "tacking" (combining) these separate grants of authority, Youngblood is permitted to perform the following services: (1) by "tacking" authorities numbered I and II at a point in Henderson County, North Carolina, Youngblood can operate (through a commonly contiguous "gateway" point) between North Georgia, on the one hand; and, on the other, all points in South Carolina; (2) by "tacking" the authorities numbered I and III at a point in Henderson County within ten miles of Tryon, North Carolina, Youngblood can operate between North Georgia, on the one hand; and, on the other, points in North Carolina on and west of U. S. Highway 1.

Under the above grants of authority, Youngblood cannot provide direct line service between North Georgia, on the one hand, and, on the other, points in North Carolina on and west of U. S. Highway 1 and points in South Carolina, but must follow a circuitous route through a "gateway" in Henderson County, North Carolina.

By application filed July 20, 1960, with the Interstate Commerce Commission, Youngblood sought a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing direct line operations between North Georgia, on the one hand, and, on the other, fifteen specified counties in northwestern South Carolina.¹ The purpose of Youngblood's application was two-fold: (1) elimination of the Henderson County "gateway" requirement relative to service between North Georgia and the designated fifteen counties in South Carolina; and, (2) elimination of the observation of a "gateway" at a point in Henderson County within ten miles of Tryon, North Carolina, in operations between North Georgia and that part of North Carolina on and west of U. S. Highway 1, this latter gateway elimination to be achieved by tacking the authority that would be derived from (1). Were Youngblood's application granted, the following mileage savings, among others, would result:

                                                         MILEAGE
                BETWEEN               AND                SAVINGS
                Greer, S. C.          Atlanta, Ga.      21 to 23%
                Charlotte, N. C.      Rabun Gap, Ga.          16%
                Charlotte, N. C.      Dahlonega, Ga.    19 to 20%
                Kernersville, N. C.   Elberton, Ga.           15%
                Atlanta, Ga.          Anderson, S. C.         44%
                Athens, Ga.           Anderson, S. C.         70%
                Gainesville, Ga.      Anderson, S. C.         55%
                Atlanta, Ga.          Newberry, S. C.         29%
                Athens, Ga.           Newberry, S. C.         50%
                Gainesville, Ga.      Newberry, S. C.         32%
                Atlanta, Ga.          Rock Hill, S. C.        21%
                Athens, Ga.           Rock Hill, S. C.        29%
                Gainesville, Ga.      Rock Hill, S. C.        22%
                Atlanta, Ga.          Seneca, S. C.           50%
                Athens, Ga.           Walhalla, S. C.         40%
                Gainesville, Ga.      Seneca, S. C.           30%
                Atlanta, Ga.          Abbeville, S. C.        71%
                Gainesville, Ga.      Abbeville, S. C.        55%
                

Youngblood calculates that its average cost of operating an over-the-road tractor-trailer unit is 26.964 cents per mile; that under the new route authority sought by this application, it would save approximately 1,400 miles a week in its movements; that its annual dollar savings in operating expenses would exceed $20,000.00.

Since the authority sought involved less than three states, it was mandatory that the matter be referred to a Joint Board consisting of representatives of the states involved. 49 U.S.C.A. § 305 (a). Five competing motor carriers protested the application and appeared before the Board at its hearing.² Youngblood's only witness at the hearing was its President and General Manager, Mr. J. C. Youngblood.

An exhaustive statement of facts is included in the Joint Board's Report. The Commission adopted the same facts as its own. Since Youngblood makes no contention that the facts are otherwise, this court likewise adopts them as the evidence upon which this case must turn. The scope of judicial review of an Interstate Commerce Commission order includes consideration of whether the ultimate conclusions of the Commission are supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, are free from errors of law, and are not so arbitrary or capricious as to constitute an abuse of discretion. Administrative Procedure Act, Section 10 (e) (5 U.S.C.A. § 1009(e)); Universal Camera Corp. v. N. L. R. B., 340 U.S. 474, 71 S.Ct. 456, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1950); State of North Carolina v. United States, D.C., 210 F.Supp. 675 (1962). If the court is affirmatively satisfied that the Commission's order does not depart from these standards, then the court must sustain the order, notwithstanding that we might have adopted a different point of view upon the same facts and law. United States v. Pierce Auto Freight Lines, Inc., 327 U.S. 515, 66 S.Ct. 687, 90 L.Ed. 821 (1946).

Youngblood seeks, by this application, a grant of territorial authority covering a part of Georgia and a part of South Carolina that will enable it to directly traverse that territory and will, at the same time, permit it to utilize that part of South Carolina involved (fifteen northwestern counties) as a gateway between North Georgia and authorized points in North Carolina, eliminating the Henderson County, North Carolina, gateway.

Exhibits tendered by Youngblood at the Joint Board hearing indicate that it conducted the following operating activity between North Georgia and South Carolina via the gateway in North Carolina during the period from January 1, 1958, through June 30, 1960:

                                              TOTAL           TOTAL
                                              WEIGHT          NUMBER
                                                OF              OF
                                              FREIGHT        SHIPMENTS
                                               MOVED            MOVED
                South Carolina to Georgia   8,750,244 lbs.    18,814
                Georgia to South Carolina   4,844,253 lbs.     4,883
                

During the same period of time, Youngblood handled freight traffic between North Georgia and North Carolina as is indicated by the following chart. (Note: "S" refers to points in the four North Carolina counties of Buncombe, Graham, Haywood, and Henderson, the North Carolina points authorized in the grant of authority numbered I; "NS" refers to other points in North Carolina covered by other certificates of authority.)

                                                           Total
                                              Total        Number
                North Carolina to Georgia     Weight      Shipments
                "NS"                         42,180,290     17,064
                "S"                          13,774,030      7,707
                Georgia to North Carolina
                "NS"                         42,855,247     19,445
                "S"                          19,932,253      7,713
                

Relative to shipments between North Georgia and South Carolina through the gateway, shipments were transported from or to all of the fifteen northwestern South Carolina counties involved in Youngblood's application. As to movements from the fifteen-county area to North Georgia, the largest volume was shipped from Greer and substantial volumes were shipped from such points as Carlisle, Catawba, Clinton, Flint Hill, Gaffney, Grace, Greenville, Landrum, Laurens, Lyman, Mohawk, Pickens, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, Startex, Taylors, Union, Whitney, and Winnsboro. Traffic from North Georgia to South Carolina points originated in Atlanta, Chamblee, Dahlonega, Decatur, East Point, Gainesville, and Rabun Gap with the greatest volume moving from Atlanta, Chamblee, and East Point.

Movemen...