The short version
Under the Carmack Amendment the carrier is strictly liable for loss or damage to freight in interstate transport, with five narrow defences. You generally have nine months from delivery to file a written claim and two years from a denial to sue. The bill of lading and the delivery condition notes decide most claims before the law is reached.
Freight arrives crushed, short, or not at all. Somebody owes you for it, and the question is who, and on what terms.
The answer is more favourable to shippers than most people expect, and more procedural. Liability is rarely the fight. Deadlines and documentation are.
Who is liable for damaged freight?
The carrier, in most cases. Under the Carmack Amendment a motor carrier moving freight in interstate commerce is strictly liable for loss or damage that happens while the freight is in its possession. Strictly liable means you do not have to prove the carrier was careless, only that the freight was in good condition at pickup, arrived damaged, and what that cost you.
That three-part test is why the bill of lading matters so much. A clean bill of lading signed at pickup is your proof of the first element. Without it, a carrier can argue the damage was already there, and that argument is often enough.
What are the five defences a carrier can use?
Carmack recognises five narrow exceptions: an act of God, an act of the public enemy, an act of the shipper itself, an act of public authority, and inherent vice or the inherent nature of the goods. If none of those applies, the carrier is liable.
| Defence | What it means | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Act of God | A natural event nobody could guard against | Flood, tornado, earthquake |
| Public enemy | Acts of war or hostile forces | Rare in domestic freight |
| Act of the shipper | Your own loading, packing or description caused it | Poor packaging, a load you stacked that shifted |
| Public authority | Government action stopped or seized the freight | Quarantine, embargo, seizure |
| Inherent vice | The goods damaged themselves by their own nature |
Notice how many of those point back at the shipper. The act-of-the-shipper defence is the most commonly argued of the five, and it is why how you pack and load matters to a claim you have not had yet.
It is also why a Shipper Load and Count notation on the bill of lading changes the picture. If you loaded and counted and the carrier did not verify, you have taken on the part of the story the carrier would otherwise have to answer for.
Does the Carmack Amendment apply to brokers?
Generally no, and this surprises people. Carmack liability attaches to the carrier that transports the freight, not to a broker that arranged the transport. A broker who never took possession of your goods is usually not the party a cargo claim is made against.
Which means the identity of the carrier is the thing your claim depends on. If you booked through a broker and do not know which carrier actually moved the freight, your first job in a claim is finding out.
It also means that if a load was re-brokered without your knowledge, you may be chasing a company you never agreed to use. How to spot a double-brokered load covers the signs of that happening before the freight moves.
What are the deadlines?
Generally nine months from the delivery date to file a written claim with the carrier, and two years from the date the carrier denies the claim to file suit. Those are minimums set by regulation and often restated in the bill of lading, and missing them usually ends the claim regardless of its merits.
Nine months sounds generous and is not, because the clock starts at delivery rather than at the moment somebody notices. Freight that goes into a warehouse and is opened three months later has already used a third of the window.
Two practical habits follow from that. Inspect on arrival rather than when the goods are needed, and note any damage on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves. A notation written at delivery is worth more than a photograph taken a week later.
How do you file a freight claim?
- Note the damage at delivery. Write it on the delivery receipt before signing, describing what you can see. A clean signature at delivery is a problem you do not need.
- Photograph everything. The packaging, the pallet, the trailer if you can, and the damage itself, before anything is moved or unpacked further.
- Keep the damaged goods and packaging. The carrier has a right to inspect, and discarding the evidence undermines the claim.
- Work out the actual loss. Usually invoice value, plus freight charges where applicable. Be able to show how you reached the figure.
- File in writing within the window. Identify the shipment, state the claim, and give an amount. A phone call is not a filed claim.
- Keep the whole file. Bill of lading, delivery receipt, photographs, invoices and correspondence, together.
What can limit what you recover?
Two things most often: a declared value or limitation of liability in the contract, and the carrier having no cargo insurance to pay from. Carriers may lawfully limit liability in some circumstances, and the limit is frequently far below what the freight is worth.
The second is the one shippers discover too late. The insurance a carrier must file federally is public liability cover, which pays other people for injury and property damage in a crash. It is not cargo cover, and most general-freight carriers are not federally required to carry cargo insurance at all.
That is the argument for checking before the freight moves rather than after. How to check a carrier before you hand over your freight covers the cargo limit question specifically.
Knowing the carrier before there is anything to claim
This is our own board, so read this with that in mind. A bid here arrives from an account with a rating and a history rather than from a stranger, and where we have checked a carrier against the federal register their name carries a verified mark. What that mark cannot tell you is the one thing this page says decides a claim: the cargo limit. Verification is optional here, a missing mark is ordinary rather than suspicious, and neither state is a statement about insurance. Ask for the certificate, and read the cargo line, as the carrier check sets out.
The bottom lineThe carrier is liable and the law is on your side, but claims are won on the delivery receipt, the photographs and the nine-month clock. Note damage before the driver leaves, and check the cargo limit before the freight ever moves.
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for freight damage?
In US interstate freight the carrier is generally liable under the Carmack Amendment, and the liability is strict: you need to show the freight was in good condition at pickup, arrived damaged, and what the loss was. Five narrow defences can shift that, including damage caused by the shipper’s own packing or loading.
What is a freight claim?
A written demand to the carrier for the value of freight that was lost or damaged in transit. It identifies the shipment, describes the loss and states an amount. A phone call or an email complaint is not a filed claim unless it does those three things in writing.
Does the Carmack Amendment apply to brokers?
Generally no. Carmack liability attaches to the carrier that physically transported the freight, not to a broker that arranged it and never took possession. That makes identifying the actual carrier the first step in any claim booked through a broker.
Sources
Every figure in this article is linked in place. The full list, for anyone who wants to check the working.
- Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. 14706. Carrier liability for loss or damage to property, and the minimum periods a carrier may set for filing a claim and bringing suit.
- eCFR, 49 CFR 370.3. What a written claim must contain before a carrier is required to process it.
- eCFR, 49 CFR 387.9. The public liability minimums, which are not cargo cover.
