Carrier Liability – Damage to SL&C

Q: On a full truckload shipment from out of DC, the truck was sealed and the driver did not have the opportunity to inspect the load. When the truck arrives at the store for delivery, the driver breaks the seal and opens the trailer door, and the load appears to be properly secured, The driver then begins to back into the load then shifts and packages fall out of the back of the trailer and are damaged. Would the carrier at this time point be liable for the damages?

A: This appears to be a Shippers Load & Count (“SL&C”) situation, where the trailer was loaded and sealed by the shipper, and the driver had no opportunity to observe or participated in the loading. Under these circumstances, the shipper assumes a greater responsibility than if the driver is present and can supervise the loading.

The question is whether the carrier/driver was negligent in any way. You say that the driver broke the seal, opened the door, and then started to back up the trailer. If the driver could not see any obvious problem with the loading, and was careful in operating the truck while backing up, It would be difficult to hold the carrier liable for the damage. On the other hand, if he backed up very rapidly, bumped the loading dock, etc., you could argue that the driver’s negligence was a contributing cause of the damage, in which case, the carrier would be liable.

Carrier Defenses – Act of God

Q: As a contract carrier, the bulk of my business is obtained from brokers via the internet. I haul mostly pipe, steel, and lumber, Question, Many times I will accept a load that has a stated destination of a town, but when I call the receiver I am told that the load that the load delivers to a different place sometimes as much as 40 miles away. I attempt to bill the broker for the extra miles but they always say it was a flat rate load. Also misstated weight is a problem. The broker will say the load is 42,000 but when you go to load the shipper wants to load 48,000 but when you go to load the shipper wants to load 48,000 or more. Is there any way to collect for extra miles and weight?

A: It appears that you must be making verbal arrangements with the shippers or brokers, You should use a written agreement that spells out the arrangement clearly, together with your terms and conditions. This would avoid most of the problems that you have described.