Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Burbank Generators, Inc.

Opinion

COBEY, J.

Defendant, Burbank Generators, Inc. (Burbank), appeals from a judgment declaring that a cargo loss suffered by it on August 30, 1976, was not covered by a then outstanding specified inland marine insurance policy issued by plaintiff, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company (Aetna), to it. The sole question on appeal is whether the loss was

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covered by the policy which, in turn, depends upon whether the loss occurred while the cargo was “in transit” or “in ordinary course of transportation.”

1

We intend to reverse the judgment for reasons that follow.

Facts

2

On August 30, 1976, sometime prior to 6 p.m., at Burbank’s factory, warehouse and store on Sherman Way in Canoga Park, two trailers and a truck owned by Burbank were loaded, locked and invoiced for delivery of their cargoes to particular customers in northern California. At approximately 6 p.m. three employees of Burbank drove these three conveyances one to two miles from the Sherman Way headquarters of Burbank to an unfenced parking lot on Roscoe Boulevard, also in Canoga Park, and leased by Burbank.

3

There, all three conveyances were parked and, in accordance with a common practice of truck drivers on the road, the two trailers were disconnected and the drivers apparently drove home in the two tractors.

4

The purpose of leaving these three conveyances at the Roscoe parking lot was to facilitate their pick up by their drivers at 2 o’clock the following morning for the trips north since the parking area at the Sherman Way location was both fenced and locked. In addition, extended parking at the Sherman Way location was discouraged because its space was needed generally for safe docking.

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