West Coast Products Corporation v. Southern Pacific Company, a Corporation

Southern Pacific Company brought this action against West Coast Products Corporation to recover claimed additional freight charges on various shipments of olives transported by it and connecting carriers from Orland, California, to various eastern destinations. The basis of the contention was that the charges actually paid were collected erroneously under an item of the tariff which did not cover the shipments. The case came on for trial before a jury, but the trial judge held it was the duty of the court to decide which item of the tariff should apply as a question of law, and thereupon, by consent of the parties, he discharged the jury. The evidence given at the trial was without contradiction or dispute. Thereafter, the court decided in favor of the plaintiff and entered judgment for the Southern Pacific, from which West Coast appeals.

Southern Pacific contends that the conclusion of the trial court was correct in holding that the shipments in question were covered by Item 5670 of the Trans-Continental Freight Bureau Eastbound Tariff No. 3-S, which reads: “Olives, salt cured, not preserved in liquid, in waterproof barrels, boxes, kits or pails.” The claim of West Coast is that…