49 U.S.C. § 13707 — Payment of rates

(a) Transfer of Possession Upon Payment: Except as (b) allows, a carrier^* under this part's jurisdiction must only release goods at their destination once it's been paid for the transportation^* or service.

(b) Exceptions.
(1) Regulations: Under Secretary^* regulations that govern payment and prevent discrimination, carriers may release goods before payment. These regulations can set up weekly or monthly payment for motor carriers, and periodic payment for water carriers.
(2) Extensions of credit to governmental entities: A carrier — including a motor carrier^* working for a household goods freight forwarder^* — may extend credit when moving property for the U.S. Government, a state^*, a U.S. territory or possession, or one of their political subdivisions.
(3) Shipments of household goods: (A) In general: A household goods carrier must release the goods at delivery once it's paid: (i) 100% of the charges in a binding estimate it gave; (ii) no more than 110% of the charges in a nonbinding estimate; or (iii) for a partial delivery, the prorated share worked out under (B). (B) Calculation of prorated charges: For (A)(iii), figure the prorated percentage by taking the percentage of the shipment's total weight that has been delivered, and applying that percentage to the total charges from (A)(i) or (ii). (C) Post-contract services: (A) doesn't cover extra services a shipper asks for after signing the contract that weren't in the estimate. (D) Impracticable operations: (A) doesn't cover "impracticable operations," as the carrier's tariff defines them, except that charges collected at delivery for those operations can't exceed 15% of all other charges due at delivery. Any remaining charges must be paid within 30 days after the carrier sends its freight bill.