Gene Davis, T/d/b/a Tar Heel Oil Company, Inc. v. Crown Central Petroleum Corporation, U-Fill 'Er-Up, Inc. v. Crown Central Petroleum Corporation

DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge.

These two cases, combined on hearing because of their similarity of issues, are unfortunate by-products of the current oil shortage. Both the plaintiffs and the defendant are victims of the shortage in one form or another. They may properly be termed independents in their own particular type of operation. The plaintiffs, both citizens of North Carolina, on the one hand, are small independent oil dealers with their main operations in North Carolina. The defendant, on the other hand, is a refiner, dependent almost entirely on producers for its supply of crude oil.…