People v. Tedesco

BISHOP, J.,

pro tem.

We are invited, in these two cases, to enter upon an interesting field of study for the purpose of surveying the line which marks the boundary between

[668]

the right of the state to fix minimum rates for the trucking business and the right of the federal government to have its work done at a price to be determined by unrestricted competitive bidding. Because the complaints upon which our approach to the problem depends are insufficient, our investigation stops with our approval of the orders sustaining demurrers without leave to amend.

The authority upon which the plaintiff relies for each of these actions is the Highway Carriers’ Act, chapter 223, statutes of 1935, page 878'. Without stopping to learn at this moment what a “highway carrier” is, we note that section 10 of the act authorizes the Railroad Commission to prescribe minimum rates for highway carriers, and makes it unlawful for any highway carrier to charge or collect any lesser rate than the minimum so established. In addition to making a violation of the act a misdemeanor (section 14), it is declared (section 15) that everyone who violates any of the provisions is subject to a penalty of not more than $500, which may be recovered in an action brought in the name of the People of the State of California. It is to recover of each defendant several of these penalties for charging less than the established minimum rates that these actions were brought.

We have reached the conclusion that the complaints, identical in their defects, fail sufficiently to show that the defendants were “highway carriers” within the purview of the statute. A formal definition is given in section 1, subdivision (£) in these words: “The term ‘highway carrier’ when used in this act means every corporation or person, their lessees, trustees, receivers or trustees appointed by any court whatsoever engaged in transportation of property for compensation or hire as a business over any public highway in this State by means of a motor vehicle or motor vehicles. However, it does not include carriers operating exclusively within the limits of a single incorporated city or city and county, nor does it include persons rendering casual transportation services as an accommodation, and not in the usual or ordinary course of business of such person, nor does it include persons hauling their own products.” Stripped of words inapplicable to our problem, a highway carrier, within the meaning of the Highway Carriers’ Act, is a corporation or person engaged in the transportation