John J. Moylan v. United States

Moylan is a freight forwarder at Los Angeles. For a year prior to June 30, 1951, under a specific contract with the General Services Administration, the housekeeping organization of the United States government, he guided through the Port of Los Angeles and on to vessels outbound into, the Pacific a considerable volume of government freight. It is fair to say that his contract price of six and one-half cents per ton plus a fee of $7.50 for each shipment was a modest one. Moylan says the reason he bid for and obtained the contract at these rates was that when he did he was a beginner and anxious to get started in the business.

■ In June, 1951, the West Coast carriers affiliated together under the name of Pacific Westbound Conference initiated the practice of paying freight forwarders such as Moylan a brokerage fee of one and one-fourth per cent of the shipping charges. Obviously, General Services immediately was desirous of eliminating its brokerage fees to Moylan, but there were obstacles. The new rules of the Pacific Conference required that the selection of the carrier for each shipment be made by the freight forwarder. General Services took the position that it had to retain…