According to Article 23(3) of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) signed in Geneva on 19 May 1956<\/em>, hereinafter referred to as the Convention, compensation for loss or damage to goods may not exceed 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short – the upper limit of the carrier’s liability.<\/p>
Example 1.
<\/strong>A carrier, under an international road carriage contract, was transporting goods with a gross weight of 20,000 kg. However, by mistake, it was entered in the consignment note that the weight of the goods was 2,000 kg gross. During transport, an accident occurred, as a result of which the entire cargo was damaged. Taking into account the weight of the goods entered in the CMR note, the upper limit of the carrier’s liability for the goods will be 74,490.19 PLN, instead of 744,901.92 PLN.<\/p>
What does this mean in practice? Even if the value of the lost cargo was higher and this can be proven with appropriate documents – in the absence of any evidence (documents) other than the CMR note confirming the actual weight of the goods, the carrier will be released from liability beyond the upper limit of its liability resulting from the conversion of the gross weight of the goods in accordance with Article 23(3) of the Convention.<\/p>
Carrier’s subcontractors and successive carriage<\/strong>
The carrier’s performance resulting from the concluded contract of carriage is not of a personal nature. The carrier may use the services of subcontractors, which follows from Article 3 of the Convention, or the same carriage may be performed as so-called successive carriage, regulated in Articles 34-40 of the Convention. Distinguishing between both types of carriage performed by more than one carrier is of significant importance for the issue of pursuing compensation claims (between the sender and the carrier and between carriers), including the limitation period for these claims.<\/p>
Subcontractors
<\/strong>In this case, we are dealing de facto<\/em> with two contracts of carriage: the first concluded between the sender and the first (main) carrier, and the second concluded between the first carrier and its subcontractor (another carrier). In the second contract, the first carrier acts as the sender towards its subcontractor. Since two contracts of carriage have been concluded, two CMR notes should also be issued.
The entitled person (sender or consignee) may pursue compensation claims directly from the first carrier and cannot bring these claims against its subcontractor, even though it was the one that actually performed the carriage. The only person entitled to pursue claims against the subcontractor is the main carrier itself.
Regarding the limitation of claims between the sender (consignee) and the main carrier, and between the main carrier and its subcontractor – in both cases, Article 32 of the Convention will apply.<\/p>
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 4\/2011.<\/p>
L2011-4s58.pdf<\/a>