Boston & Maine R. v. United States, 358 U.S. 68 (1958)

Boston & Maine Railroad v. United States

No. 310

Decided November 17, 1958 *
358 U.S. 68

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

Syllabus

In a suit to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission declaring that per diem rates charged by all railroads for the rental of freight cars to other railroads were not in excess of reasonable compensation, the District Court held that the Commission had adjudicatory jurisdiction under § 5(d) of the Administrative Procedure Act to issue an order, but it set aside the order and remanded the matter to the Commission for further proceedings on the ground that the Commission had erred in rejecting, without more thorough investigation and more detailed findings, another method of compensation urged by some railroads as being more equitable.

Held:

1. The appeal in No. 310 prematurely presented for decision the question whether the Commission had adjudicatory jurisdiction to determine a rate of uniform application throughout the industry or whether such a rate could be fixed only through the exercise of its rulemaking power under § 1(14)(a) of the Interstate Commerce Act, and the appeal is dismissed without prejudice to raising that issue again if it survives further Commission proceedings. Pp. 69-72.

2. This also requires dismissal of the appeal in No. 322, which challenged the scope of the District Court’s review. P. 72.

162 F. Supp. 289, appeal dismissed.