Keystone Publishing Co. v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 78 Pa. Super. 486
• 1922 Pa. Super. LEXIS 145

Syllabus

<p>. Carriers — Interstate commerce — Freight—Nondelivery — Notice —Liability—Initial carrier — Bill of lading — Carmaclc amendment —California Civil Code, section 2120.</p> <p>An agreement of shipper and carrier as to terms of their contract for transportation of freight in interstate commerce is subject to interstate commerce legislation, and any restrictions upon liability inconsistent with such legislation would be inoperative.</p> <p>The effect of the Carmack amendment (Act of August 9, 1916) is to extend the common law liability of the initial carrier of an interstate shipment of freight, so as to hold with the same effect as if the initial carrier owned a continuous line from the place of shipment to the destination.</p> <p>When goods have arrived at their destination, and a reasonable time has elapsed for the consignee to take them, the relation of the carrier, as such, ceases and thereafter is that of warehouseman only.</p> <p>The Carmack amendment operates only upon carriers, and does not extend their liability as warehousemen.</p> <p>In the absence of any specific condition of liability prescribed by statute, the conditions of the bill of lading are controlling, and additional obligations cannot be imputed to the carrier which are not imposed by the common law.</p> <p>A carrier, having given the consignee notice of the arrival of freight at its destination, in accordance with the requirements of the bill of lading, is under no obligation to notify the consignor of the failure by the consignee to receive them.</p> <p>The California Civil Code, section 2120, requires the warehouseman to whom a carrier delivers freight, which has remained uncalled for, to notify the consignee, but does not require notice to the consignor.</p> <p>A shipper of a package of books sent from Philadelphia to San Francisco cannot recover from the initial carrier the value of the package on the ground that it was sold by a warehouseman in San Francisco to whom it had been delivered