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Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp.

Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp.
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued November 4, 1980
Decided March 24, 1981
Full case name Raymond Kassel, Director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray, and state transportation officials Robert Rigler, L. Stanley Schoelerman, Donald Gardner, Jules Busker, Allan Thomas, Barbara Dunn, William McGrath, Jon McCoy, Charles W. Larson, Edward Dickinson, and Richard C. Turner v. Consolidated Freightways Corporation of Delaware
Citations 450 U.S. 662 (more)
101 S. Ct. 1309; 67 L. Ed. 2d 580; 1981 U.S. LEXIS 17; 49 U.S.L.W. 4328
Prior history Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Holding
Iowa's truck-length limitation violated the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Court membership
Case opinions
Plurality Powell, joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence Brennan, joined by Marshall
Dissent Rehnquist, joined by Burger, Stewart
Laws applied
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., 450 U.S. 662 (1981), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the application of the Dormant Commerce Clause to an Iowa state statute restricting the length of tractor-trailers.

An Iowa statute restricted most truck combinations to 55 feet in length. The statute did provide for some exceptions: doubles, mobile homes, and trucks that carried or certain types of farm equipment were permitted to be 60 feet, and cities which abutted the state line were permitted to adopt the length limitations of the adjacent State. Deliverers of trucks or oversized mobile homes were required by law to obtain a permit before shipping the items into or out of the state.

Plaintiff Consolidated Freightways Corporation sued Raymond Kassel, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa governor Robert Ray, and number of other state transportation officials in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleging that Iowa's statutory scheme unconstitutionally burdens interstate commerce. Iowa defended the statute as a reasonable safety measure enacted pursuant to its police power, asserting that 65-foot double tractor-trailers are more dangerous than 55-foot singles, and that the law would improve safety and reduce the number of highway accidents by diverting truck traffic outside the state.

The District Court made the factual finding that 65-foot doubles were just as safe as 60-foot doubles and 55-foot semi-trailers. It then determined that the state law impermissibly burdened interstate commerce, holding that the relatively slight benefit of the law in improving safety and reducing casualties was outweighed by the federal interest in promoting commerce between the States. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed, noting that the only apparent safety benefit to Iowa was that resulting from forcing large trucks to detour around the State, thereby reducing overall truck traffic on Iowa's highways. The Court of Appeals noted that this was not a constitutionally permissible interest. It also commented that the several statutory exemptions identified above, such as those applicable to border cities and the shipment of livestock, suggested that the law in effect benefited Iowa residents at the expense of interstate traffic.


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