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Constitutional Law Keyed to Varat
Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corporation
Citation:
450 U.S. 662, 101 S.Ct. 1309, 67 L.Ed.2d 580 (1981)Facts
An Iowa statute barred all tractor trailers over 55 feet in length from its roadways except for ones from cities that bordered Iowa. Iowa justified the statute by arguing that smaller tractor trailers were safer and would cause less wear and tear on the roadways. More specifically, the State argued that smaller trailers take less time to be passed and to clear intersections, they can back up easier, and they are less likely to “jackknife.” However, every other State in the region allowed 65-foot trucks.
Consolidated Freightways, a trucking company based in Delaware, regularly employed 65-foot trucks and wanted to drive them through Iowa. Because of the Iowa statute, however, Consolidated Freightways had to either use smaller trucks or divert around Iowa, costing the company over $2 million per year in added costs. Consolidated Freightways sued, alleging that the Iowa statute unconstitutionally burdened interstate commerce.
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