Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Maxwell, 237 U.S. 94 (1915)

Please note: this case begins in mid-page. It therefore shares a citation with the last page of the previous case. If you are attempting to follow a link to the last page of 237 U.S. 84, click here.

Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company v. Maxwell

No. 181

Submitted March 8, 1915
Decided April 5, 1915
237 U.S. 94

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

Syllabus

Under the Act to Regulate Commerce, the duly filed tariff of the carrier must be charged by it and paid by the shipper or passenger without deviation therefrom.

Shippers and travelers are charged by the duly filed tariff and must abide thereby, unless it is found to be unreasonable by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Neither misquotation of rates nor ignorance is an excuse for charging or paying less or more than the filed rate.

Although a passenger might have gone and returned by direct route to and from the point of destination, if he expressed the desire to go and come by a different route via specified points, he must pay the filed tariff rates for the route taken, notwithstanding a misquotation made by the carrier’s agent and accepted by him in good faith. Such a mistake is not a mere misrouting by error of the carrier which would relieve the passenger.

In a case here under § 237, Jud.Code, if the filed tariffs are not included in the record, this Court takes the findings of the state court.

If the tariffs are not included in the record of a case to recover excess over- an undercharge, and this Court reverses a judgment against the carrier on the findings of the state court, and it appears on further proceedings that there was no undercharge, the carrier cannot recover in the court below.

The facts, which involve the construction of the Act to Regulate Commerce and the right of the carrier to recover from a passenger the amount of an undercharge on sale of railroad tickets, are stated in the opinion.