Case Name: SEABOARD AIR LINE R. CO. v. HENRY CHANIN CORP.
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1951-06-22
Citations: 84 Ga. App. 442
Docket Number: 33324
Parties: SEABOARD AIR LINE R. CO. v. HENRY CHANIN CORP.
Judges: Sutton, C.J., and Felton, J., concur.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 84
Pages: 442–450

Head Matter:
33324.
SEABOARD AIR LINE R. CO. v. HENRY CHANIN CORP.
Decided June 22, 1951.
Adhered to on Rehearing July 18, 1951.
MacDougald, Troutman, Sams & Schroder, Gilmer A. MacDougald, for plaintiff in error.
McLennan & Cook, contra.

Opinion:
Worrill, J.
Henry Chanin Corporation brought suit against Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company in the Civil Court of Fulton County, Georgia, for damages alleged to have resulted from fire in a shipment of 65 bales of No. 1 white picker textile waste, weighing 40,487 pounds. The carload of this waste was shipped on a through bill of lading from East Point, Georgia, to Eng-lander Company Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the bill of lading having been issued on December 28, 1949, by Central of Georgia Railway Company, routed by Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company and other lines, in car Erie No. 90911. The goods were partly damaged and destroyed by fire at Whitmire, South Carolina, on the morning of December 31, 1949. The defendant carrier defended on the ground that the fire was caused by a "fire packed" bale in the shipment and introduced evidence to that effect and also in support of its contention that it was free from negligence.
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount sued for. The defendant filed a motion for new trial on the usual general grounds, and by amendment added two special grounds. The court overruled the motion for new trial, and the exception here is to that judgment.
The first special ground of the motion for' new trial complains because the court charged substantially the provisions of the Code, § 18-102, as follows: "Common carriers now, the Seaboard Railroad Company is a common carrier—as such are bound to use extraordinary diligence, and in case of loss the presumption of law is against them and no excuse avails the railroad company unless the loss was occasioned by the act of God or the public enemies of the State." One of the several grounds urged is that the charge was contrary to the contract of carriage, to wit, the bill of lading, and was inapplicable and erroneous for the reason that the duties of the carrier in interstate commerce are regulated and determined by the acts of Congress and orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission in pursuance thereof and not by State law. The Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U. S. C. A. § 20 (11), provides in part: "Any common carrier, railroad, or transportation company subject to the provisions of this chapter 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, railroad, or transportation company to which such property may be delivered or over whose line or lines such property may pass within the United States . . when transported on a through bill of lading, and no contract, receipt, rule, regulation of any character whatsoever shall exempt such common carrier, railroad, or transportation company from the liability hereby imposed." Pursuant to the authority contained in this act the Interstate Commerce Commission has prescribed uniform bills of lading. The construction, interpretation and enforcement of the terms of such bills of lading present Federal 'questions, and the rights of shippers and the duties of and defenses available to carriers depend upon applicable Federal law and conflicting State laws have no application. Illinois Steel Co. v. B. & O. R. Co., 320 U. S. 508, 510 (64 Sup. Ct. 322, 88 L. ed. 259). See also Missouri Pac. R. Co. v. Porter, 273 U. S. 341, 345, 346 (47 Sup. Ct. 383, 71 L. ed. 672); Crump v. Thompson, 171 F. 2d, 442, 445, 446; Central of Georgia Railway Co. v. Yesbik, 146 Ga. 769 (2) (92 S. E. 527); American Railway Express Co. v. Estroff, 159 Ga. 58 (1) (125 S. E. 40); Fleshnar & Adar v. Southern Ry. Co., 160 Ga. 205 (127 S. E. 768). Section 1 (b) of the conditions of the bill of lading covering the shipment here involved, and which is in the form prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission, provides in part that "Except in case of negligence of the carrier or party in possession (and the burden to prove freedom from such negligence shall be on the carrier or party in possession), the carrier or party in possession shall not be liable for loss, damage, or delay . . resulting from a defect or vice in the property, or for country damage to cotton, or from riots or strikes."
Under a proper construction of this applicable contractual provision, where property has been delivered to a carrier for interstate shipment, the carrier would, in case of negligence on its part in connection with the handling of such shipment, be liable for loss or damage to such property resulting from a vice therein. In case of loss or damage a presumption arises that the carrier has been negligent, but this presumption is rebuttable by the carrier.
Under the provisions of the Code, § 18-102, a codification of the common law, no question of negligence is involved. The law fixes upon the carrier an absolute liability as an insurer, from which it may free itself only by showing that the loss or damage was occasioned by "the act of God or the public enemies of the State." Fish v. Chapman, 2 Ga. 349 (4) (46 Am. D. 393); Southern Express Co. v. Purcell, 37 Ga. 103 (1) (92 Am. D. 53); Central of Ga. Ry. Co. v. Lippman, 110 Ga. 665 (1) (36 S. E. 202); Cooper v. Raleigh & Gaston R. Co., 110 Ga. 659 (36 S. E. 240). Thus it will be seen that in applying this Code section a distinction must be made between shipments intrastate and those interstate, in which latter case the Federal law supersedes the State law and fixes the provisions of the uniform bill of lading as the contract. In the present case the defendant did not contend that the damage was caused by an act of God or the public enemies, and under the charge here complained of was deprived of the right to have the jury determine whether or not it had disproved negligence on its part in connection with the transportation of the goods, whereas under the controlling Federal law it was entitled to have this question decided. Under the Federal law if the jury should determine that the damage was caused by a defect or vice in the property, and that the carrier was not negligent the plaintiff would not be entitled to recover. Under the charge as given the defendant would be liable regardless of freedom from negligence unless it showed that the damage was caused by some vis major constituting an exception to liability. It is clear, therefore, that the excerpt was harmful and reversible error, and was not cured by any subsequent portion of the charge.
The second special ground of the motion for new trial complains that the court erred in charging the jury that if they found a verdict for the plaintiff the defendant carrier would also be liable for the reasonable expenses which the plaintiff in curred in reprocessing the cotton waste and getting it back to East Point, Georgia, "and getting it back to the destination that they originally intended it to go." It was contended that the charge was erroneous' and injurious because the contract of carriage and the regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which are a part thereof, specifically provide that the movant can not transport burnt cotton for a specified period of time, to wit, 10 days, and the record shows that the transportation expense was incurred within such period. It is shown by the record that on January 4, 1950, the defendant carrier wired the plaintiff to advise disposition of the shipment and that it would be necessary that it be held 10 days before reloading. Under the Interstate Commerce Commission's regulations, as shown by an extract in the record, in force throughout the period from December 28, 1949, to January 10, 1950, inclusive, burnt cotton "must not be offered for transportation until not less than 10 days have elapsed since the last evidence of fire in it." Accordingly, the defendant carrier could not legally deadhead, if liable, this damaged material back to the shipper at East Point, Georgia, for reprocessing until 10 days had expired after the last evidence of fire on December 31, 1949. The plaintiff, however, without waiting for the defendant carrier to deadhead or transport the shipment back to East Point, Georgia, saw fit to haul it away by truck, it being shown by the record that it was back at East Point, Georgia, on January 6, 1950. Having thus deprived the defendant carrier of the opportunity of returning the shipment in conformity with Interstate Commerce Commission regulations, if there was any obligation upon it to do so, the plaintiff can not require of the common carrier any refund of the expense incurred in hauling the material by truck. It follows that the court erred in charging the jury as to this item of expense and also in submitting to the jury the item of expense "in getting it back to the destination that they originally intended it to go," the evidence showing that the waste had been sold F. O. B. East Point, Georgia, and not F. O. B. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Upon rehearing the opinion has been rewritten with only the above rulings as to excerpts of the charge of the court, and as these require a reversal of the judgment no ruling is being made by the court on the general grounds of the motion for new trial.
Judgment of reversal adhered to on rehearing.
Sutton, C.J., and Felton, J., concur.