Defendant obtains about 750 tons of straw per year from his own farm. He bales and transports yearly between 2,500 and 10,000 tons of straw grown on other farms. Defendant did not have any authority from the Commission to transport commodities as a private or common carrier during the subject time period. He used the public highways to make the transportation movements. Some of the shipping documents for the hauls list the commodity owner as Feed Star.
Staff argues that the check shows the hauls to have been made in behalf of Feed Star.
On their face, the documents supporting the check could easily cause an investigator to believe that common carriage was involved. However, defendant naturally understood his operations more completely, and explained how the documents represented reimbursements for overpayments. Defendant's testimony was credible and is accepted. In conducting its investigation of defendant's activities, Commission staff members requested that Mr. Eichler produce a variety of documents. He produced the records that he used in his business, such as certain invoices and expense and income information.