Saunders Leasing Sys. v. Gulf Cent. Distrib. Ctr.

Saunders Leasing Sys. v. Gulf Cent. Distrib. Ctr.

Opinion

 [*1304]  Appellant, Saunders Leasing System, Inc. ("Saunders"), appeals the $ 572,000 March 25, 1986 final judgment entered in favor of Gulf Central Distribution Center, Inc. ("Gulf Central"). Saunders raises nine issues on appeal.

These proceedings stem from a Vehicle Lease and Service Agreement that the parties entered in early September of 1982. Under the agreement, Saunders agreed to lease to Gulf Central sixteen 1979 International Harvester sleeper tractor trucks. The parties estimated that the trucks would be delivered on September 4, 1982. When Saunders delivered six trucks on September 7, 1982, Gulf Central inspected and rejected all six. Saunders took the trucks back to its garage to correct the problems. During the next eight days, Gulf Central inspected the original six and certain additional trucks at Saunders ' location in Tampa, noting what remained to be corrected.

 [*1305]  Between [**2]  September 7, 1982, and September 15, 1982, Gulf Central decided it would not take delivery of less than all sixteen vehicles. Gulf Central nevertheless proceeded under the contract, and provided Saunders with a letter of credit that was required under the agreement.

On September 15, 1982, Jay Whitson, Saunders' marketing manager, assured Bill Gregory, president of Gulf Central, that all deficiencies would be corrected and that Saunders would perform an "in-frame" (engine overhaul) on any truck questioned by Gulf Central.

On the following day, September 16, 1982, Bill Gregory wrote to Whitson to advise him that Gulf Central would not proceed under the contract. In the letter, Gregory asked Whitson to compose a list of the damages Saunders had incurred in preparing to perform under the contract so that Gulf Central could possibly reimburse it. In response, on September 17, 1982, Saunders submitted a letter in which it estimated its expenses to have been $ 97,000.

On October 12, 1982, Gulf Central filed a one-count complaint against Saunders for breach of contract. Gulf Central alleged that Saunders breached the contract by failing to deliver the vehicles in accordance with the [**3]  terms of the agreement. Gulf Central also sought to enjoin Saunders from using the letter of credit. The court did not issue an injunction because Saunders advised the court that it did not intend to proceed against the letter of credit during the litigation.

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