Line Railroad Company. It also purchases citrus fruits at other points throughout the Florida fruit belt. The primary consideration in selecting Atlanta as a distributing point for Florida citrus fruits apparently is the advantage in distance complainant has over competitors in Florida in reaching the destination territory. Shipments from Atlanta can be delivered in from one and one-half to two days less time than those shipped from the Florida origins. Complainant proposes to ship from Florida producing points in bulk to Atlanta, there pack the fruit in boxes and reship to the destination territory. In 1930, complainant shipped 486 carloads of oranges from Florida to Atlanta, most of which was reconsigned in transit and moved to final destination in bulk as originally loaded in the producing districts. Prior to 1910 there were no plants in Florida equipped with machinery for grading and packing citrus fruits. This work was done by hand in the fields or in small sheds. Thereafter central packing plants were built, equipped with modern machinery for washing, polishing, precooling, grading, and packing citrus fruits. Carriers serving the Florida fruit belt have for many years, as an aid toward developing the fruit industry, maintained what in substance is a gathering or concentration service preliminary to the packing and shipping of the fruit to the points of consumption. The fruit is packed loose in so-called field crates and shipped to the packing centers. It is then sorted, graded, and packed in suitable boxes and shipped to the consuming markets. The empty field containers are returned to the shipper. The rates apply from the point of production to final destination, plus the applicable transit charge. Although the inbound hauls to the warehouses are authorized for distances not exceeding 200 miles, unpacked fruit, in field boxes, seldom moves that far. At the present time on shipments orginating on the Seaboard Air Line and Tavares and Gulf Railroad the hauls from the fields to the packing centers are less than 50 miles. No such arrangements are in effect on defendants' lines outside of Florida. Intervener is opposed to the establishment of the packing-intransit arrangement at Atlanta on the ground that it would add needless complexity and difficulty to the problem of marketing the Florida crop and would result in requests for similar arrangements at many other points. It states that Florida now has more than ample facilities for grading and packing all of the citrus fruit produced within the State and that there is no necessity, either from the standpoint of the producing industry or of the public interest, for establishing packing-in-transit arrangements at points outside of that State. Some controversy has arisen as to whether or not a so-called packing-in-transit privilege is authorized at Jacksonville. The intention of the carriers was not to authorize it, but even if it is authorized, it has never been used. Transit service is of a special nature and except where it is universally available and necessary in respect of a particular commodity should not be required by us except upon a clear showing that the failure to provide it results in the exaction of unreasonable rates or in undue prejudice. White Star Refining Co. v. Illinois T. Co., 147 I. C. C. 671. Such a showing has not been made here. We find that the failure of defendants to maintain packing-intransit arrangements at Atlanta is not unreasonable or unduly prejudicial. The complaint will be dismissed. 190 I. C. C. No. 24464 J. W. HILLIARD COMPANY v. GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY ET AL. Submitted July 19, 1932. Decided December 12, 1932 Public convenience and necessity found not to require the construction and operation of a direct track connection between the rails of the Great Northern Railway Company and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, at Pipestone, Minn., for the interchange of freight. Complaint dismissed. Charles Dealy for complainant. M. J. Meeker and M. Tedd Evans for interveners. J. N. Davis, Merrill Shepard, A. L. Janes, and C. L. Taylor for defendants. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS MCMANAMY, BRAINERD, AND LEE BY DIVISION 3: 1 No exceptions were filed to the report proposed by the examiner. Complainant, a corporation in the wholesale fruit and grocery business at Pipestone, Minn., by complaint filed May 15, 1931, alleges that the absence of a direct physical connection between the rails of defendants Great Northern Railway Company 1 and Milwaukee at Pipestone necessitates wasteful expenditures for drayage by complainant and other shippers and receivers of freight 2 at that point and causes great inconvenience and delay. It is further alleged that the construction and operation of such a connection is necessary to afford reasonable, proper, and equal facilities for the interchange of freight traffic in interstate commerce, is practicable, and can be installed with safety and at small expense. We are asked to enter an order under paragraph (3) of section 3 of the interstate commerce act requiring defendants to construct, maintain, and operate this connection. The city of Pipestone and the Pipestone Civic and Commerce Association intervened in support of the complaint, but offered no testimony. 1 Hereinafter called the Great Northern. Other shortened terms used in the report are Milwaukee for Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company; Omaha for Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company; and Rock Island for Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company. Routed over the Great Northern. Some controversy has arisen as to whether or not a so-called packing-in-transit privilege is authorized at Jacksonville. The intention of the carriers was not to authorize it, but even if it is authorized, it has never been used. Transit service is of a special nature and except where it is universally available and necessary in respect of a particular commodity should not be required by us except upon a clear showing that the failure to provide it results in the exaction of unreasonable rates or in undue prejudice. White Star Refining Co. v. Illinois T. Co., 147 I. C. C. 671. Such a showing has not been made here. We find that the failure of defendants to maintain packing-intransit arrangements at Atlanta is not unreasonable or unduly prejudicial. The complaint will be dismissed. 190 I. C. C. No. 24464 J. W. HILLIARD COMPANY v. GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY ET AL. Submitted July 19, 1932. Decided December 12, 1932 Public convenience and necessity found not to require the construction and operation of a direct track connection between the rails of the Great Northern Railway Company and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, at Pipestone, Minn., for the interchange of freight. Complaint dismissed. Charles Dealy for complainant. M. J. Meeker and M. Tedd Evans for interveners. J. N. Davis, Merrill Shepard, A. L. Janes, and C. L. Taylor for defendants. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS MCMANAMY, BRAINERD, AND LEE BY DIVISION 3: 2 No exceptions were filed to the report proposed by the examiner. Complainant, a corporation in the wholesale fruit and grocery business at Pipestone, Minn., by complaint filed May 15, 1931, alleges that the absence of a direct physical connection between the rails of defendants Great Northern Railway Company 1 and Milwaukee at Pipestone necessitates wasteful expenditures for drayage by complainant and other shippers and receivers of freight at that point and causes great inconvenience and delay. It is further alleged that the construction and operation of such a connection is necessary to afford reasonable, proper, and equal facilities for the interchange of freight traffic in interstate commerce, is practicable, and can be installed with safety and at small expense. We are asked to enter an order under paragraph (3) of section 3 of the interstate commerce act requiring defendants to construct, maintain, and operate this connection. The city of Pipestone and the Pipestone Civic and Commerce Association intervened in support of the complaint, but offered no testimony. 1 Hereinafter called the Great Northern. Other shortened terms used in the report are Milwaukee for Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company; Omaha for Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company; and Rock Island for Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company. "Routed over the Great Northern. |