Court Opinion

ID: 9827235
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 17:18:46.668635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:42:27.204301
License: Public Domain

On Appellant’s Motion for Rehearing.
Upon a further consideration of the law questions in this case and a re-examination of the authorities, we have concluded that we erred in the' disposition of this appeal on original hearing. It would seem, under the authority of A., T. & S. E. Ry. Co. v. Robinson, 233 U. S. 173, 34 Sup. Ct. 556, 58 L. Ed. 901, and Boston, etc., Ry. Co. v. Hookern, 233 U. S. 97, 34 Sup. Ct. 526, 58 L. Ed. 868, L. R. A. 1915B, 450, Ann. Cas. 1915D, 593, that unless the shipper declares a value greater than $50 per hundred weight, and pays the excess rate for the higher valuation, the liability of the carrier is limited to such lower rate. Rule 13, sections (a), (b), and (c), of the Interstate Commerce Commission, introduced in evidence, reads as follows:
“(a) The rates governed by this classification are based upon a value of not exceeding fifty dollars on each shipment of one hundred pounds or less, and not exceeding fifty cents per pound actual weight on each shipment weighing more than one hundred pounds, and the liability of the express company is limited to the value above stated, unless a greater value is declared at the time of shipment, and the declared value in excess of the value above specified is paid for or a greed to be paid for under the schedule of charges for excess value.
“(b) When the value declared by the shipper exceeds fifty dollars on a shipment weighing 10O pounds or less, or exceeds fifty cents per pound on a shipment weighing more than one hundred pounds the charge for such excess value will be at the rate of ten cents on each $100 or fraction of $100. * * *
“(c) When the weights of separate packages are aggregated under rule 2, declared values of the separate packages must also be aggregated, and if the value so ascertained exceeds fifty dollars for 100 pounds weight or less, or fifty cents per pound, when the weight exceeds one hundred pounds, additional charge for the excess value must be assessed as provided in paragraphs a and b.
“Trunks: Eirst Class. Cordell, Okla., to Alvarado, Texas, $1.80.
“Schedule of first-class express rate in cents. $1.80 per hundred pounds. Charges on shipments of over 100 pounds must be computed as per instructions on page 3. Item 2, page 3: Rates for shipments over 100 pounds first-class rate. When the scale number is known first class charges on shipments of.only 100 pounds must be ascertained by multiplying the rate for a hundred pound package by the number of pounds in the shipment and dividing the product by one hundred.
“Example: Under rate scale 45 what is the charge for 583 pounds of first-class matter? The rate for 100 pounds being $2.75, 2.75 x 5S3 equals to 1603.25. 1603.25 divided by 100 equals 16.0325. Under the rule of classification that all fractions of a cent shall be equalized as one cent, the charge would be $16.04.”
'It is uncontroverted that appellee declared no higher valuation, in fact declared no valuation at all. Under such circumstances, under the authorities above cited, he would be chargeable for only basic rate and would be limited in his recovery to the valuation of $50 per hundredweight. Hence the judgment below is reformed so as to allow ap-pellee a recovery of only $107.50. The motion for rehearing is granted, and the judgment as reformed will be affirmed, with costs of appeal adjudged against appellee.