Donald L. Cleveland Christa A. Cleveland v. Beltman North American Co., Inc. N. American Van Lines

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• stating that one of the primary purposes of the Carmack Amendment is to provide uniformity in the disposition of claims brought under a bill of lading
• noting that it is for Congress and not the judiciary to determine the damages that are recoverable under the Carmack Amendment
• noting that creating a federal common law claim for punitive damages under the Carmack Amendment would frustrate the uniformity goal
• explaining that the Carmack Amendment was the shipper’s sole remedy when the shipper’s possessions were damaged during shipment under a bill of lading
• stating that “the question we must decide is whether Congress has broadly occupied the entire field of interstate shipping to the exclusion of any other law and, in particular in this case, federal common law,” and answering that question in the affirmative
• explaining that a federal common law claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing “cannot exist alongside the Carmack Amendment” and that courts “should be reluctant to use federal common law to supplement comprehensive legislation”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).