Tve, Subject: WESTERN FRUIT EXPRESS COMPANY
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/ MEMORANDUM If ^z j r J t'i / ,/ A y ,i\ ■ e x June 17, 1937. /-Tve, Subject: WESTERN FRUIT EXPRESS COMPANY. The name of the above company has been submitted for a determination of its status, as a carrier, under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935. A search of the records and files of the Interstate Commerce Commission by the Abstract Clerk reveals the following information relative to the western Fruit Ex press Company, although there is no record of the above named company in the Card Index, MA" File, Tariff Card Index, Official Guide, Indices and Century and Decennial Digest Citations, Poor's Railroads, 1936. western Fruit Express company was incorporated July 18, 1923, under the laws of the State of Delaware and took over the operation as of Sep tember 1, 1923, the refrigerator car equipment formerly owned and operated by the Great Northern Railway Company for which company it performs, under contract, refrig eration and other protective service in the handling of perishable freight. It operates two car shops, one at St. Paul, Minn., and one at Hillyard, 'Washington. Capital Stock: Authorized $10,000,000 capital stock out standing December 31, 1935 $6,800,000. All outstanding stock is owned by the Great Northern Railway Company and controlled by the above company throughout its corporate existence. The Equipment Register for 1920 shows the company as op erating 5540 refrigerator cars and 7112 for 1936, and that it is operating the refrigeration equipment of the Great Northern Railway Company. The Correspondence files reveal a contract entered into August 20, 1923, by the Great Northern Railway Company and the Western Fruit Express company; the following quoted provisions taken from the contract are indicative of the service performed by the Western Fruit Express Company and no cancellations are of record, therefore, it is assumed that it is still in effect. "First: The Express Company shall furnish the Railway Com pany, and the Railway Company will receive, at junction points or other points on its lines of railway at such times as the business of the Railway Company may require suitable refrigerator cars in sufficient numbers, if the facilities of the Express Company will so permit, or if by the exercise of reasonable diligence the Express company can obtain the necessary cars from other sources, to enable the Railway Company to accept with reasonable dispatch and carry all the fruits, vegetables, dairy products and other commodities requiring movement in refrigerator cars and for which the Railway Company is now furnishing cars, which dur ing the life of this contract shippers may actually deliver to the Railway Company at customary receiving points on its lines of railway for transportation under refrigeration, ven tilation or insulation. That the Express Company, for the charges hereinafter mentioned to be paid to the Express company by the Railway Company, shall properly ice or heat said cars initially and keep said cars properly iced and under refrig eration or heated in transit between loading points and points of destination to the extent that the Railway Company is obligated by tariffs lawfully in effect to ice and keep said cars tinder re frigeration or heated. That the Express Company, for the charges hereinafter mentioned to be paid to the Express Company by the Railway Company, shall keep all refrigerator cars loaded with perishable traffic which move over the lines of said Railway Company properly iced and under refrigeration or heated while in transit between loading points and points of destination to the extent that the Railway Company is obligated by tariffs lawfully in effect to ice and keep refrigerator cars of all ownerships under refrigeration or heated. The protective ser vice to be performed by the Express Company in the handling of perishable freight on the lines of the Railway Company shall be confined to such shipments of perishable freight as move in freight trains of the Railway Company, and shall not include or cover protective services for perishable freight handled by the Railway Company in passenger, mail or express trains, ex cept that the Express Company, at the request of the Railway Company, will ice the refrigerator cars handled by the Railway Company in passenger, mail or express trains as may be required the Railway Company paying the cost of such service plus ten percent (10%) to cover handling and overhead. "Subject to the limitations just expressed, the Express company agrees to do and perform for the Railway Company, for the con siderations hereinafter stated, all acts, and to render all services, to which shippers are or may be entitled under the published tariffs of the Railway Company for the handling of perishable freight. 3— "The Express Company will, if given reasonable advance notice there for, furnish the necessary protective service for the handling of perishable freight in box cars furnished by the Railway Company, the Railway Company paying therefor at the same rate or rates of compensation as are hereinafter provided for similar services per formed in the protection of perishable freight moving in refrigerator cars." ********** "Fourth: The Express company shall receive for its services ren dered hereunder: (a) The stated charges for refrigeration or protective service against cold provided by perishable protective tariffs lawfully in effect at the time wherever the traffic moves under such charges." ********** (c) For traffic moving under refrigeration, normally under ’shipper’s Icing,’ or under tariff stated refrigeration charges accruing to other railroads or private car lines, or for icing or for by shippers in addition to the stated charges for refrigeration or protective service against cold, the Express Company will arrange, on reasonable notice, for the icing or heating of the cars, and shall receive the collections from the shipper or the railroad or car line, receiving the stated charge, for the ice and/or salt or heater service furnished, at tariff prices. The Express Company shall also receive a charge of $12.50 per loaded car to cover supervision, risk, etc., for the traffic under ’Shipper’s Icing' originatingon the lines of the Railway Company. If the Express Company hasto pay for ice and/or salt for these purposes a greater amount than the amount provided for 'Shipper's Ice and Salt' under tariffs lawfully in effect, the Railway Company will reimburse the Express Company for the excess paid by it over and above such tariff prices. The Express Company, however, will not make any contracts for ice or salt at prices in excess of the said tariff allowances without first obtaining the approval of the Railway Company. (d) Where the freight tariff includes and covers the refrigeration service or the protective service against cold, as in the case of shipments which do not move under carload rates or otherwise, or shipments handled in box cars for which the Express company shall furnish protective service, the Railway Company shall allow the Express Company for its services the total cost of the ice and/or salt in bunkers of cars or the total cost of the protective service against cold, and in addition $12.50 per car." **** ************** "Fifth: It is understood that cars furnished hereunder and initially iced or heated are to be loaded promptly and that this contract does not con template the furnishing of local storage at shipping points or desti nation.***** "Seventh. The Express Company shall hold Itself accountable (sub ject to paragraphs Sixth and Eighth hereof) to the Railway Company for any failure on its part to properly ice and keep under refrig eration or heat refrigerator cars handled on the lines of the Rail way Company under this contract and also for the faulty or improper condition of any of the cars furnished and supplied by the Express Company to the Railway Company under this contract, except that which, under the Master Car Builders Rules, is recognized as hand ling line’s responsibility.**** "Seventeenth; This contract shall take effect as of the first day of September, A.D. 1923, and shall Inure to the benefit of and be binding upon each of the parties hereto, their respective successors, lessees and assigns, for the period of three (3) years and six (6) months from said date. If, without the execution of a new contract, the parties hereto continue the arrangement herein provided for be yond the said period of three (3) years and six (6) months, the pro visions of this contract shall continue to operate and to govern the rights and obligations of the parties inter se, and in this event, neither party shell terminate the agreement without first givipg the other party twelve months' notice in writing of its intention so to do. It is understood, however, and agreed by and between the parties hereto, that notwithstanding said fixed term of three (3) years and six (6) months the Railway Company shall have the right to terminate this agreement at any time during said fixed term on three (3) months' written notice to the Express Company." A recapitulation of the foregoing facts shows that the western Fruit Ex press Company was controlled by the Great Northern Railway Company and that it performed refrigeration and icing service in connection with the transportation by railroad of the controlling companies and their subsid iaries. While it is not known whether or not they performed similar service for other companies, it may reasonably be assumed that their prin cipal, if not their entire business, was the performance of such service in connection with the controlling companies. It is my opinion, therefore, that the Western Fruit Express Company was a carrier within the meaning of the second class of carriers defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 and was such a carrier as of August 29, 1935.