Brokers Beware! Your Carriers Have No Duty to Count the Goods

(Lexology – Marnee L. Baker, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC )

A Tennessee appellate court recently held that a carrier had no duty to count the goods delivered to it by a broker’s customer, even when the goods were delivered to the carrier unsealed. As a result of this ruling, brokers must take care to ensure that goods are properly counted, when loaded and unloaded, or risk liability exposure when disputes arise as to delivery quantities. […]

As always, but more so now after Mark VII, it is critical to have complete, accurate and legible bills of lading. To avoid the trap posed by Mark VII, brokers should consider implementing policies and using contracts that require more complete bills of lading consistent with those of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), coupled with provisions that shift legal responsibility to the extent bills of lading prove to be incomplete, inaccurate or illegible. Additionally, brokers should evaluate whether their contracts adequately address the duty on the part of carriers to ensure the actual quantity of a load matches the quantity set forth on a bill of lading. Read more here.