Bills of Lading & the Impact on Your Transportation of Goods

Transporting goods or property from one individual, or entity, to another, requires an understanding of the legalities involved with such transport. For simply transportation of items, the term most commonly used to describe the chain of movement is known as "common carrier". If you are planning to transport an item for someone, your legal protections are important.

The liability you may carry for transporting goods or property of an individual begins from the moment you accept the products into your custody. Even if you are not physically moving the items at the time, once the products are delivered into your protection, your liability becomes of issue. To acknowledge receipt of the products, it is at this point that most attorneys will recommend that you develop and sign a document known as a bill of lading. The bill of lading is simply a written statement that you should present to the person delivering their goods to you, acknowledging you accept custody with the intent to deliver the items to an intended destination.

In most states the bill of lading text and wording is regulated by the state laws as well as by federal laws. Therefore, if you are transporting items that may be deemed highly valuable, or there is a significant degree of risk, be certain you consult with legal counsel first to confirm the correct terminology.

If you would like to research statutes with regard to the bills of lading, and the implications with regard to your transportation and delivery of goods between two individuals, you can refer to two key statutes known as the Federal Bills of Lading Act, which addresses transportation of goods that will occur outside of your state, and also refer to the Uniform Commercial Code which refers to the bills of lading and transportation that occurs within your state.

There is a key exception or rule involved in transporting goods for another individual or entity which involves the process by which that shipment or transportation begins. If, after the items have been delivered to you, you are unable to ship them for any reason, especially if the shipper has requested that you hold them until given further notice, this would not be considered a situation in which you are a carrier of items for liability insurance purposes. Instead, insurance protection and liability would consider this a "warehousing" situation, until such time as the shipper alerts you to begin transport.

It is important to seek legal counsel before you begin any type of venture that involves transporting goods from one individual, or entity, to another. In most cases, the liability and issues of transport can be addressed in a bill of lading but even this document will require some specific language depending on the federal and state laws, and whether or not the transportation will occur within one state or cross state lines.