Citations
- 153 F. Supp. 2d 1339
Full opinion text
FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
HIGHSMITH, District Judge.
THIS CAUSE came before the Court for a bench trial on February 26, 2001. The issues tried to the Court were limited to Yareinca Corporation’s (hereinafter “Yareinca”) potential (a) liability and (b) right to contribution for any such liability, resulting from the unexplained loss of a trailer of cargo. Upon due consideration of the pleadings, the live testimony ad-dueed at trail, the deposition testimony admitted at trial, and the exhibits admitted, the Court finds as follows:
I.FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Yareinca is a Florida corporation, engaged in the business of leasing parking space. Yareinca’s primary place of business — its parking lot — is located at 3000 West 84th Street, Hialeah, Florida. The lot is a rectangular shape and is fenced on all sides. There is a single means of ingress and egress to the lot, located off of 84th Street. At the point of ingress and egress there is a gate manned by a security guard, who is responsible for logging in and out all vehicles entering and exiting the lot.
2. Panalpina, Inc. (hereinafter “Panal-pina”) is a Swiss company, with its American headquarters in New Jersey, engaged in the business of transporting freight internationally.
3. Gateway Freight Systems, Inc. (hereinafter “Gateway”) was an interstate trucking company, incorporated under the laws of Florida. Gateway has gone bankrupt.
4.In March of 1998, Panalpina contracted with Gateway for Gateway to deliver two shipments from Panalpina’s Chicago, Illinois facility to Panalpina’s Miami, Florida facility. Motorola, Inc. (hereinafter “Motorola”) had contracted with Panal-pina for one of the shipments to be delivered by air to Jaguariuna, Brazil. That cargo consisted of cellular phones. Panal-pina issued Motorola four through air way bills for that shipment, which were numbered: (1) 684661; (2) 684697; (3) 684748; and (4) 684641. The other shipment, which consisted of industrial machinery, was sent by L.H. Carbide Corporation (hereinafter “L.H. Carbide”) to Buenos Aires, Argentina. L.H. Carbide’s shipment was to be transported via air by Panalpina to Argentina, as evidenced by short form bill of lading number 6S695/6P695 issued to L.H. Carbide on March 5,1998.
5. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company (hereinafter “Fireman’s Fund”), a California Corporation, insured Motorola’s shipment; La Meridional Cia Arg S.A. (hereinafter “La Meridional”), an Argentinean company, insured L.H. Carbide’s shipment.
6. In Illinois, the two shipments described in paragraph 4 were consolidated for transport to Miami in Gateway trailer number 537573 (hereinafter the “Trailer”). The Gateway truck hauling the Trailer left Chicago for Miami sometime late in the evening Thursday March 12, 1998 or early in the morning Friday March 13, 1998. The Gateway truck hauling the Trailer arrived in Miami early in the morning Sunday March 15,1998.
7. Once in the Miami area, the driver of the Gateway truck, David Avila, proceeded to the Yareinca parking lot rather than going to Panalpina’s Miami facility to drop of the Trailer. (It appears that Mr Avila did not go directly to Panalpina’s Miami facility because the facility was closed on Sundays). At 7:20 a.m. on Sunday March 15, 1998, Mr. Avila arrived at the Yareinca lot and arranged to park the Trailer, for a fee of $8.00 per day. At that time, the Trailer was detached from the truck that had hauled it from Chicago to Miami and left at the Yareinca lot.
8. Mr. Avila provided no type of bill of lading for the contents of the Trailer and was issued no receipt for the contents of the Trailer. Yareinea’s employees made no inquiries into the contents of the Trailer, and no Yareinca employee was afforded the authority to enter the Trailer or move the Trailer.
9. The next day, another driver, Enrique Perez, returned to pick up the Trailer. At that time, the Trailer could not be located on the Yareinca lot. The Trailer had not previously been logged out of the lot. Due to the unexplained absence of the Trailer, a police report was filed with the Hialeah Police Department (case number 98-11306).
10. The Trailer has never been located, and no arrests have been made.
11. Fireman’s Fund compensated Motorola $2,227,783.65 for the loss of Motorola’s cargo; La Meridional compensated L.H. Carbide $99,874.00 for the loss of its cargo.
12. This suit followed.
13. Fireman’s Fund has settled its claims against Panalpina; La Meridional has settled its claims against Panalpina.
II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
To the extent that the Court’s factual findings constitute legal conclusions, they are incorporated into these conclusions of law. To the extent that there are any additional findings of fact in this section, they shall have the same effect as if listed in the findings of fact above.
1. The Court has jurisdiction over this action and the parties to it under both 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question) and 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (diversity).
2. By satisfying Motorola’s claim, Fireman’s Fund became subrogated to Motorola for purposes of asserting claims for the loss of Motorola’s shipment aboard the Trailer. By satisfying L.H. Carbide’s claim, La Meridional became subrogated to L.H. Carbide for purposes of asserting claims for the loss of L.H. Carbide’s shipment aboard the Trailer.
3. The liability regime established by the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706, does not apply to this case, as the interstate ground transportation of the shipments was incidental to international contracts for air carriage. See Shorts v. United Parcel Serv., No. CIV.A. 3:97-CV-0682R., 1999 WL 118791, at *3-*4 (N.D.Tex. Feb.25, 1999) aff'd, 204 F.3d 1114 (5th Cir.1999) (table decision); Williams v. Fed. Express Corp., No. CV 99-06252 MMM BQRX, 1999 WL 1276558, at *3 n. 11 (C.D.Cal. Oct.6, 1999).
4. Yareinca’s liability must be determined by reference to federal common law. See Royal Ins. Co. v. Millon Air Cargo, No. 96-1261-CIV-LENARD Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, at 9 (S.D.Fla. Aug. 13, 1997) (Brown, M.J.); Baloise Ins. Co. Ltd. v. United Airlines, Inc., 723 F.Supp. 195, 198 (S.D.N.Y.1989); see generally Nippon Fire & Marine v. Skyway Freight Sys., 235 F.3d 53 (2d Cir.2000); Sam L. Majors Jewelers v. ABX, Inc., 117 F.3d 922 (5th Cir.1997).
5. Federal common law recognizes the existence of a bailment relationship when one takes exclusive control of another’s cargo. See generally Highlands Ins. Co. v. Strachan Shipping Co., 772 F.2d 1520 (11th Cir.1985); Dunavant Enters., Inc. v. Strachan Shipping Co., 730 F.2d 665 (11th Cir.1984) (per curiam). In Thyssen Steel Co. v. M/V Kavo Yerakas, 50 F.3d 1349 (5th Cir.1995), the Fifth Circuit described the law of bailment as developed by federal courts sitting in admiralty:
Bailment is the delivery of goods or personal property to the bailee in trust, under an express or implied contract, which requires the bailee to perform the trust and either to redeliver the goods or otherwise dispose of the goods in conformity with the purpose of the trust. Under general admiralty law, bailment does not arise unless delivery to the bailee is complete and he has exclusive possession of the bailed property, even as against the property owner.
Id. at 1354-55 (citations omitted). The party seeking to recover against a putative bailee bears the burden of proof on every element necessary to establish a bailment. See Highlands Ins. Co., 772 F.2d at 1521.
6. In the present case, Fireman’s Fund, La Meridional, and Panalpina must prove the following facts, by a preponderance of the evidence, in order to recover from Yareinca:
a. that the Trailer’s cargo (i.e., Motorola’s cellular phones and L.H. Carbide’s industrial machinery) were delivered to Yareinca, under an implied or express contract to hold it in trust and redeliver it to Gateway’s driver (the agent of Panalpina, Motorola, and L.H. Carbide);
b. that Yareinca had exclusive possession of the cargo, even against Gateway’s driver (again, the agent of Panalpina, Motorola, and L.H. Carbide); and
c. that Yareinca failed to redeliver the cargo in good condition.
7. Fireman’s Fund, La Meridional, and Panalpina have failed to satisfy their burden of establishing that Yareinca received the cargo under a contract to hold it in trust. The evidence established that Yareinca leased a space in which the trailer could be parked. There was no evidence, however, that Yareinca was aware of the existence or presence of the cargo, let alone that it contracted to hold the cargo in trust.