Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/351/321/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 16:50:12+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 351 › Denver & R.G.W. R. Co. v. Union Pacific R. Co.
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Co. v.
1. After hearings upon complaint of the Rio Grande Railroad, the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered the Union Pacific to establish through routes with the Rio Grande for certain commodities such as fruits, perishable foods, and livestock in a limited geographical area, and to establish joint rates the same as applied on its own and other connecting lines. The Rio Grande, considering itself aggrieved both because of the geographical limitations of the order and because joint rates were not established for all commodities, challenged the order in the Federal District Court in Colorado. The court set aside the order on the ground that there was no substantial evidence to support the Commission's finding that through routes were not in existence.
Held: the Commission's conclusion that the through routes claimed were not in existence was supported by substantial evidence, and it was error for the Colorado District Court to set aside the Commission's finding and to remand the case to the Commission. Pp. 351 U. S. 323-330.
2. The Union Pacific, considering itself aggrieved because the Commission's order required establishment of some through routes and joint rates, challenged the order in the Federal District Court in Nebraska. That court sustained the order of the Commission with reference to shipments which required certain transit services on the Rio Grande, but refused to sustain the order with reference to shipments not requiring such transit services.
affirmed the order of the Commission, and is reversed insofar as it refused to enforce the Commission's order. Pp. 351 U. S. 330-335.
(a) The Commission cannot be deemed to have acted in excess of its authority in concluding, on the evidence before it, that through routes and joint rates on the specified commodities were needed to provide adequate and more economic transportation, and were necessary in the public interest. Pp. 351 U. S. 330-333.
(b) The Nebraska District Court erred in cutting down the scope of the Commission's order insofar as it established through routes and joint rates on shipments that did not require certain transit services on the Rio Grande. Pp. 351 U. S. 333-334.
(c) A shipper's privilege to have his goods reconsigned at joint rates should be considered on the same basis as transit services in determining the adequacy and economy of existing transportation. P. 351 U. S. 334.
(d) The Commission's order was justified under §§ 15(1), 15(3), and 15(4) of the Interstate Commerce Act, and the Nebraska District Court should have sustained the order in full. Pp. 351 U. S. 334-335.
132 F.Supp. 72, affirmed in part and reversed in part.
"without its consent, to embrace in such route substantially less than the entire length of its railroad and of any intermediate railroad operated in conjunction and under a common management or control therewith, which lies between the termini of such proposed through route. . . . [Footnote 2]"
This provision is generally referred to as a prohibition against making a railroad "short-haul" itself. Among other findings the Commission must make under § 15(4) before establishing a through route which requires a railroad to short-haul itself is that the new route "is needed in order to provide adequate, and more efficient or more economic, transportation. . . ."
perishable foods, and livestock in a limited geographical area. The Commission found, in accordance with § 15(4), that these new routes were needed "to provide adequate and more economic transportation. . . ." It also found, as required by § 15(3), that through routes and joint rates for the specified commodities were "necessary and desirable in the public interest." 287 I.C.C. 611, 659.
the Northwest to initial destination points on the Rio Grande for "in-transit privileges incident to reshipment to points east of Denver. . . ." 132 F.Supp. 72, 82. The Nebraska court declined, however, to sustain the Commission's action with reference to shipments not requiring such transit services. Both District Court decrees are now before us on direct appeal under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1253 and 2101(b). They were consolidated for oral argument, and we treat them together here. It is convenient to take up first the Colorado court's holding.
"In short, the test of the existence of a 'through route' is whether the participating carriers hold themselves out as offering through transportation service."
existence of through routes both by formal tariffs and by long railroad practices. Whether the evidence could have justified the Commission in finding the existence of through routes we need not determine. We are satisfied, however, that the evidence before the Commission did not compel it to make such a finding, and that its conclusion that the through routes claimed were not in existence is supported by substantial evidence.
of the routes is only a circumstance to be considered along with other circumstances in determining whether through routes now exist. The Colorado court relied on railroad practices as other circumstances which, considered with the failure expressly to abandon through routes, were sufficient to compel the Commission to hold that through routes did exist. We turn to that.
At best for the Rio Grande, the evidence of railroad practices with reference to the continued existence of through routes showed the following. Despite the high combination rates, a small number of shipments continue to trickle through the Ogden Gateway to and from the closed northwest territory. In 1948, which the Commission considered a representative year, a number of carload shipments moved on through bills of lading along the alleged through routes. But none of them coming from the Northwest went further than points on the Rio Grande in Colorado also served by the Union Pacific and connecting lines. There were a few shipments of various commodities from east and south of Denver which went by way of the Rio Grande through the Ogden Gateway. The total shipments over the alleged through routes, however, were no more than a fractional part of one percent of the traffic carried to and from the Northwest by way of the Union Pacific routes. It is also undisputed that through routes and joint rates exist for eastbound shipments of sheep and goats. During World War II, some Army troop and supply trains moved over the Rio Grande on through bills of lading. In addition to the foregoing, some traffic moved over the Rio Grande in 1949 when snow storms blocked the Union Pacific route through Wyoming. These movements were made under service orders of the Commission, which did not exercise its authority under § 15(4) to establish emergency through routes.
"There is no indication that any of the defendants has ever solicited any traffic from and to the areas here concerned for routing over a Rio Grande route by which a higher combination rate applied, or has ever used such a Rio Grande route except where called upon to do so by routing specified by the shipper or by a prior connecting carrier. In other words, so far as this record shows, 'the carriers' course of business' has been and is to use the Union Pacific routes except where called upon to use the Rio Grande routes by force of shippers' or connecting carriers' routing. The whole course of conduct of the Union Pacific, so far as revealed, has been for many years and is now to guard jealously its long haul, and not open commercially the Rio Grande routes on this traffic."
We adhere to the "holding out" test of the Thompson case. The evidence before the Commission was not such as to compel it to find that the Union Pacific held itself out as offering through service over the Rio Grande lines. It was error for the Colorado District Court to set aside the Commission's finding and to remand the case to the Commission. This brings us to a consideration of the Nebraska District Court's action.
eggs. [Footnote 4] The order rested on the Commission's conclusion that such through routes and joint rates were "necessary and desirable in the public interest, in order to provide adequate and more economic transportation. . . ." 287 I.C.C. at 659. This conclusion was based on findings from a vast amount of evidence both oral and written. The pertinent language of § 15(4) allows the Commission to establish through routes where "needed in order to provide adequate, and more efficient or more economic, transportation." The dispute in the Nebraska court and here relates principally to the adequacy of the existing transportation services. The efficiency of Union Pacific services was established beyond dispute.
Section 15(4) empowers the Commission to consider the interests of shippers and the kind of services they get and need, as well as the interests of carriers in determining whether additional routes should be established to provide "adequate" and "more economic" transportation service.
"Because of their generally perishable nature, food articles . . . must be moved to market with expedition and care, and over as many routes as possible. This requires that many routes be open in order that unnecessary interruptions of the free flow of such commodities may be avoided, and that as much flexibility as possible in the distribution process be permitted. A number of services, not only at origin and destination, but en route, which are not usually required in the movement of ordinary traffic must be provided for these perishable and semi-perishable commodities."
competing with those on the Union Pacific. For the specified commodities, the Commission found the Union Pacific routes to be "inadequate and less economical than are the Rio Grande routes." [Footnote 6] The Nebraska District Court sustained the Commission's order with reference to shipments which required transit services on the Rio Grande. We agree with this portion of the holding. We cannot say that the Commission acted in excess of its authority in concluding, on the mass of evidence before it, that through routes and joint rates on the specified commodities were needed to provide adequate and more economic transportation and were necessary in the public interest.
"Idaho producers are in competition with shippers in other producing areas, and find it difficult to compete on shipments routed over the Rio Grande via Ogden or Salt Lake City. One Idaho shipper has made few sales of potatoes in the Southwest in the last several years, because of pocket markets there."
287 I.C.C. at 643. Pocket markets, of course, exist because reconsignment is possible only at high combination rates. We see no reason why a shipper's privilege to have his goods reconsigned at joint rates should not be considered on the same basis as transit services in determining the adequacy and economy of existing transportation. We think it was error for the Nebraska court to narrow the scope of the Commission's order by excluding shipments of commodities which so urgently need the advantage of reconsignment privileges at joint rates.
Many other arguments are made against the Commission's order. It is pointed out, for example, that the Rio Grande road has more curves than the Union Pacific. Its grades are steeper. Consequently, its traffic is sometimes slower. It is contended that the evidence as a whole is insufficient to justify the holding that the establishment of through routes will be of such great advantage to shippers and the public that the Union Pacific should be compelled to short-haul itself. We are not unmindful of the force of the arguments made by the Union Pacific and by those who have intervened on its side. It is entirely possible that the Commission could have made findings contrary to those it did make. But, on the whole, we are unable to say that the Commission did not strike a fair balance in finding that the evidence required the establishment of these through routes and joint rates.
After consideration of all the contentions made, we hold that the Nebraska court should have sustained the Commission's order in full. [Footnote 7] Since the Commission's order is justified under §§ 15(1), 15(3) and 15(4), we have no occasion to consider contentions raised under §§ 3(1) and 3(4).
The judgment of the District Court of Colorado is reversed with directions to dismiss the bill. The judgment of the Nebraska District Court is affirmed insofar as it affirmed the order of the Commission, and is reversed insofar as the court refused to enforce the Commission's order.
* Together with No. 118, Union Pacific Railroad Co. et al. v. United States et al., and No. 119, United States et al. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. et al., on appeals from the same court; and No. 332, Washington Public Service Commission et al. v. Denver & R. G. W. R. Co., No. 333, Union Pacific Railroad Co. et al. v. Denver & R. G. W. R. Co., and No. 334, United States et al. v. Denver & R. G. W. R. Co., on appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
24 Stat. 379, 380, 384, as amended, 49 U.S.C. §§ 1(4), 3, 15(1), 15(3). Section 1(4) makes it the duty of common carriers "to establish reasonable through routes with other such carriers, and just and reasonable rates. . . ." And § 3(4) enjoins carriers to "afford all reasonable, proper, and equal facilities for the interchange of traffic" without discrimination or undue prejudice.
24 Stat. 384, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 15(4).
Five Commissioners thought that through routes were in existence; five were of the opinion that they were not. Under ICC practice, this meant that the Rio Grande had failed to prove its allegation that through routes existed.
"to maintain through routes, via Ogden or Salt Lake City, Utah, in connection with the line of the complainant, for the interstate transportation, in carloads, of granite and marble monuments from origins in Vermont and Georgia to destinations in the excluded territory in the northwest area, as described in the report, and of ordinary livestock, fresh fruits and vegetables, dried beans, frozen poultry, frozen foods, butter, and eggs, in carloads, from origins in the described excluded territory to destinations in the United States south and east of a line drawn along the southern boundary of Kansas, thence the eastern boundary of Kansas to but not including Kansas City, thence immediately west of points on the Missouri River from Kansas City, Kans., to Omaha, Nebr., thence immediately north of points on the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and the Chicago and North Western Railway Company from Omaha to Chicago, Ill., including destinations in the lower peninsula of Michigan and in Oklahoma and Texas; and to apply on such traffic, over such through routes, joint rates the same as those maintained and applied on like traffic from and to the same points over routes embracing the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad Company through Wyoming."
54 Stat. 899. See also New England Divisions Case, 261 U. S. 184; United States v. Great Northern R. Co., 343 U. S. 562, 343 U. S. 575-576.
"an urgent need for the establishment of joint through rates on this traffic to destinations in the excluded territory, with stop-off privileges at intermediate points on the Rio Grande."
In reaching our conclusion, we have not overlooked attacks on the breadth of the order with respect to marble, granite, and livestock shipments, nor challenges to that part of the order correcting discrimination in favor of the Bamberger Railroad.
such inclusion of lines would make the through route unreasonably long as compared with another practicable through route which could otherwise be established, or (b) unless the Commission finds that the through route proposed to be established is needed in order to provide adequate, and more efficient or more economic, transportation: Provided, however, That, in prescribing through routes, the Commission shall, so far as is consistent with the public interest, and subject to the foregoing limitations in clauses (a) and (b), give reasonable preference to the carrier by railroad which originates the traffic. . . ."
be given to disregard of that policy, even if such disregard occurs through inadequate observance attributable to an unconscious desire to restrict the scope of the statute. In short, when an order of the Commission is brought under judicial scrutiny, and challenge is made that the safeguards of § 15(4) have not been observed, it is the duty of this Court to apply the policy expressed by that section. If the requisite findings or conclusions are ambiguous or unclear, or the policy of the section is slighted, our duty demands remand to the Commission to dispel ambiguity or to secure clarity and obedience to the policy.
It is my view that, even though evidence may be found in the record to support a portion of the order, the Commission did not support the portion on that basis but, on the contrary, appears to have justified the whole order on considerations that collide with congressional policy. The proceedings should therefore be returned to the Commission and the order ought not to be sustained in whole or in part. I will summarize the reasons for this conclusion.
The Commission ordered the establishment of through routes and joint rates by the Union Pacific with the Rio Grande for shipments of livestock and certain perishable agricultural products originating in the northwest (excluded) territory and destined for that part of the United States which the Nebraska District Court roughly described as "East of Denver."* 132 F.Supp. 72, 75, n. 1.
orderly a distribution of food commodities as possible. Adequate transportation facilities and services are required for the proper functioning of the system. Because of their generally perishable nature, [the enumerated] food articles . . . must be moved to market with expedition and care, and over as many routes as possible. This requires that many routes be open in order that unnecessary interruptions of the free flow of such commodities may be avoided and that as much flexibility as possible in the distribution process be permitted. A number of services, not only at origin and destination, but en route, which are not usually required in the movement of ordinary traffic, must be provided for these perishable and semi-perishable commodities."
287 I.C.C. at 655-656. The Commission also found support for its conclusion that shippers of these products are debarred from participation in the widespread marketing system in the fact that "in-transit" privileges on the Rio Grande, such as stop-off for partial unloading or processing, or for grazing of cattle, are not available to shippers of these commodities from the northwest territory, except at the higher combination rates.
require through routes and joint rates only for those carloads originating in the northwest territory and consigned to initial destination points on the Rio Grande west of Denver, Pueblo, and Trinidad, Colorado, which require "in-transit" privileges incident to reshipment to points east of those places.
The Court, rejecting the narrowed construction by the Nebraska District Court, affirms the Commission's order as written. In doing so, however, it does not rely on the reasons given by the Commission in support of its conclusion, but rather it affirms on a different basis. How can we know whether and to what extent the Court's reasons influenced the Commission, or would influence it, in making its decision? The report certainly indicates that the Commission thought its own reasoning sufficient to support the whole order. Once the Commission's reasoning for a conclusion is found wanting, the conclusion is necessarily impaired. While the judgment of a lower court may be sustained by this Court on a ground other than that on which it was rested below, see Langnes v. Green, 282 U. S. 531, 282 U. S. 534-539; Helvering v. Gowran, 302 U. S. 238, 302 U. S. 245-247, the legal relation between the Commission and the courts is of a very different order from that of a lower court and a reviewing court. A Commission, having defined and limited delegated power, must justify the exercise of that power by findings that support it and by evidence that supports the findings. When regard is had for the complicated technical nature of the problems and the voluminousness of the records in the important cases that come before the Commission, a fair discharge of its functions precludes casting upon a reviewing court the task of quarrying through a record to find for itself adequate evidence to permit the effectuation of orders of the Commission.
Commission has kept within the bounds legislatively defined. To be sure, the Commission's findings are not binding in the sense that attack cannot be made on them for lack of evidence. Interstate Commerce Commission v. Louisville & Nashville R. Co., 227 U. S. 88, 227 U. S. 91-94. The Commission cannot -- it has not purported to do so here -- pass on to the Court an unanalyzed summary of a long proceeding and call it findings. While findings need not be formulated in an enumerated sequence, helpful as that would be, they must at least appear in a Commission's decision with unambiguous clarity, and they must be logically related to its conclusion . The justification the Commission has given cannot be rejected and a new justification found by the Court to satisfy the requirement of a foundation for judicial review. SEC v. Chenery Corp., 318 U. S. 80, 318 U. S. 92-95. After all, it is the Commission which Congress has established as the expert in this field.
transportation already in existence is inadequate. To make available to shippers as many routes to market as possible is a policy which the Commission has long urged, but which the Congress has resolutely rejected. To find inadequacy of service on a short-hauled carrier in that other routes are not made available would virtually nullify § 15(4).
It may well be that what are somewhat misleadingly called "in-transit" privileges justify joint through rates to shipments stopped at intermediate points on the Rio Grande for those privileges, and, on similar reasoning, joint through rates might be justified for shipments initially consigned to intermediate points on the Rio Grande and thereafter reconsigned to points "east of Denver" if the sale is lost, subject to findings being made concerning reconsignment privileges on the Rio Grande. In both situations, it is a fiction to speak of a single shipment on which the Union Pacific would be short-hauled should the proposed through route go into effect. The situation involves two separate shipments for which, under normal railroad practice, only the rate of a single continuous shipment over the whole route is charged. On neither of these shipments is Union Pacific being short-hauled, because it is capable of performing neither. In this sense, Union Pacific service is, of course, not "adequate" -- it is nonexistent. But the Commission did not found its order on such an analysis, and I cannot confidently surmise that it would have ordered the establishment of through routes and joint rates on this basis. Such a determination should be left for the Commission.
"the same as those maintained and applied on like traffic from and to the same points over routes embracing the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad Company through Wyoming."
From all that appears on the record before us, this could not affect the "pocket markets" complained of, because, at those points, there are no joint through rates over the Union Pacific. Since the establishment of through routes and joint rates for shipments destined initially to points "east of Denver" appears to have no effect on "pocket markets," it is difficult to understand how the "pocket market" situation can be used to justify the establishment of such routes and rates.
a different basis from that of the Commission, and, with respect to a major portion of the order, it does so on a ground which appears to have no support in the Commission's findings. I do not say that no through routes or joint rates can be established through the Ogden Gateway. But I do believe that it is neither for the District Court nor for this Court to speculate what the Commission would have done if it were required to disregard some of its important views on policy, as this Court has disregarded them. I also believe that it is not our duty to find reasons to support the Commission's order which the Commission, on full consideration, did not summon to its support. This is a striking instance of a case requiring remand to the Commission for clarification and reconsideration of the basis for decision. See United States v. Chicago, M., St. P. & P. R. Co., 294 U. S. 499, 294 U. S. 510-511.
"destinations in the United States south and east of a line drawn along the southern boundary of Kansas, thence the eastern boundary of Kansas to but not including Kansas City, thence immediately west of points on the Missouri River from Kansas City, Kans., to Omaha, Nebr., thence immediately north of points on the lines of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and the Chicago and North Western Railway Company from Omaha to Chicago, Ill., including destinations in the lower peninsula of Michigan and in Oklahoma and Texas. . . ."
I agree with the opinion of MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, except that I would consider an order of the Commission limited to establishing through routes and joint rates on shipments destined initially to intermediate points on the Rio Grande to be supported by the present findings. Accordingly, I would affirm the judgment of the Nebraska District Court, which remanded the case to the Commission to allow it to determine whether such a limited order would be in the public interest and for any further proceedings not inconsistent with its opinion.

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