§ 375.12 Liability of carriers.

(a) Liability restricted. Except as provided in § 375.11(a), common carriers by motor vehicle of household goods as defined in § 375.1(b)(1) shall not assume any liability in excess of that for which they are legally liable under their lawful bills of lading and published tariffs.

(b) Limitations of liability. A common carrier by motor vehicle of household goods shall be liable for loss of or damage to any articles caused by it while being transported or while being held for storage-in-transit, including incidental pickup or delivery, and including liability for loss or damage to any article or appliance resulting from the servicing of such article or appliance by a third person engaged by the carrier to perform such service, to the extent provided in the outstanding released rates order; except that the carrier may exempt its liability in the following instances:

(1) No liability need be assumed for perishable articles included in the shipment without the knowledge of the carrier; and a carrier accepting for shipment perishable articles may impose reasonable conditions necessary to insure the safe transportation of such commodities.

(2) When a shipment is released to a value greater than sixty cents (60¢) per pound, per article, liability for loss or damage may be limited to $100 per pound, per article (based upon the actual article weight), for any article included in the shipment that exceeds $100 per pound, per article in value, unless the shipper specifically notifies the carrier in writing that an identified article or articles with a value greater than $100 per pound will be included in the shipment. In such case, the shipper will be entitled to full recovery up to the declared value of the article or articles, not to exceed the declared value of the entire shipment.

(c) Storage-in-transit. A common carrier by motor vehicle of household goods holding goods for storage-in-transit (S.I.T.) shall, no less than 10 days prior to the expiration of either the specified period of time during which the goods are to be held in such storage or the maximum period of time provided in the carrier's tariff for storage-in-transit, notify the shipper in writing (1) of the date of conversion to permanent storage, (2) of the existence of a nine-month period subsequent to the date of conversion to permanent storage during which shipper may file claims against the carrier for loss and/or damage which occurred to the goods in transit or during the S.I.T. period, and, (3) of the fact that on the date of conversion, the liability of the carrier shall terminate and the property shall be subject to the rules, regulations, and charges of the warehouseman. Notification shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested. A common carrier by motor vehicle of household goods holding goods for storage-in-transit for a period of time less than 10 days shall, no less than one day prior to the expiration of the specified time during which the goods are to be held in such storage, give notification to the shipper of the information specified in paragraph (d) (1), (2), and (3) and maintain a record thereof as part of its record of the shipment. Failure or refusal of a carrier to notify the shipper in accordance with the foregoing shall automatically effect a continuance of carrier liability pursuant to the applicable tariff provisions with respect to S.I.T., until the end of the day following the date upon which notice is given.

[46 FR 16218, Mar. 11, 1981, as amended at 55 FR 18729, May 9, 1990; 55 FR 30235, July 25, 1990; 62 FR 49941, Sept. 24, 1997]