U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Liability for Inland Portion of Intermodal Shipments

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a ruling June 21 that reverses two Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions concerning through bills of lading, which allow cargo owners to contract for transportation across oceans and to inland destinations in a single transaction.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which governs the liability of domestic rail carriers, does not cover damages to cargo during the inland leg of an international intermodal shipment moving under a through bill of lading issued by an ocean carrier where no domestic bill of lading was issued and the ocean carrier subcontracted for rail transportation. Instead, such shipments are covered by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, which regulates bills of lading issued by ocean carriers engaged in foreign trade.

The complete SCOTUS decision can be downloaded from our website.