Chubb Group of Insurance v. H.A. Transportation Systems, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT H.A.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

INTRODUCTION

This action is before the Court on the motion of Defendant H.A. Transportation (“HA”) for Summary Judgment. For the reasons stated below, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED.

FACTS

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed. This action arises from the theft of a truck and trailer in South Gate, California in June, 2000. Compl. at 2. That truck and trailer contained 1,200 cases of menthol cigarettes en route from Madrid, Spain to Benicia, California. The cigarettes were the property of Cigarettes Cheaper!, which had contracted with HA in June, 2000 to transport the cigarettes for the inland leg of the shipment — from Carson, California to Be-nicia. Compl. at 2.

HA is a licensed property broker and acts as a middleman between shippers and prospective truckers. As such, HA did not transport the shipment itself. Declaration of Alan Huttman ¶ 3-4. Rather, HA contracted with Orozco Transportation, Inc. (“Orozco”) to transport the cargo. Orozco, in turn, subcontracted the load to R & G Trucking (“R & G”). Compl. at 2. The cigarettes were stolen when the R & G driver parked the truck containing the…