American Farm Lines v. Black Ball Freight Service

397 U.S. 532 · Decided April 20, 1970 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

American Farm Lines v. Black Ball Freight Service was decided on April 20, 1970 by a vote of 5–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice William O. Douglas wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Truck or motor carrier regulation” in the Economic Activity area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

American Farm Lines v. Black Ball Freight Service et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1969-074, docket 1969-074-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Truck or motor carrier regulation”

• United States v. International Minerals & Chemical Corp.
  402 U.S. 558Decided June 1, 19716–3William O. Douglas
• Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc.
  419 U.S. 281Decided December 23, 19749–0William O. Douglas
• Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc. v. Shannon
  377 U.S. 311Decided June 1, 19645–4William J. Brennan Jr.
• Willis Shaw Frozen Express, Inc. v. United States
  377 U.S. 159Decided May 4, 19646–3Per curiam
• United States v. J. B. Montgomery, Inc.
  376 U.S. 389Decided March 23, 19649–0Tom C. Clark
• Pensick & Gordon, Inc. v. California Motor Express
  371 U.S. 184Decided December 3, 19626–3Per curiam

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Cases on the same legal provision: Interstate Commerce Act

• United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission
  396 U.S. 491Decided February 2, 19707–0Warren E. Burger
• City of Chicago v. United States
  396 U.S. 162Decided December 9, 19698–0William O. Douglas
• United States v. City of Chicago
  400 U.S. 8Decided October 19, 19707–2Per curiam
• Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad Co.
  393 U.S. 87Decided November 12, 19689–0William O. Douglas
• Norfolk & Western Railroad Co. v. Nemitz
  404 U.S. 37Decided November 15, 19714–3William O. Douglas
• American Commercial Lines, Inc. v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co.
  392 U.S. 571Decided June 17, 19688–1Thurgood Marshall

Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)

• Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of California
  396 U.S. 13Decided October 27, 19696–1Per curiam
• Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co., Inc.
  396 U.S. 57Decided December 8, 19697–0William O. Douglas
• Zuber v. Allen
  396 U.S. 168Decided December 9, 19694–2John M. Harlan II
• Nacirema Operating Co., Inc. v. Johnson
  396 U.S. 212Decided December 9, 19695–3Byron R. White
• United States v. Interstate Commerce Commission
  396 U.S. 491Decided February 2, 19707–0Warren E. Burger
• Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  397 U.S. 137Decided March 2, 19708–0Potter Stewart

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error