49 U.S.C. § 80113 — Liability for nonreceipt, misdescription, and improper loading

(a) Liability for Nonreceipt and Misdescription. Unless this section provides otherwise, a carrier issuing a bill is liable for damage caused because it did not receive all or part of the goods by the bill’s date or because the goods do not match the bill’s description. It is liable to the owner under a nonnegotiable bill, subject to stopping transportation, or to a negotiable-bill holder when the owner or holder gave value in good faith relying on the description or the shipment date.

(b) Nonliability of Carriers. The carrier is not liable under subsection (a)—(1) when the shipper loaded the goods; (2) when the bill describes them by marks or labels or by kind, quantity, or condition, or is qualified by “contents or condition of contents of packages unknown,” “said to contain,” “shipper’s weight, load, and count,” or equivalent words; and (3) to the extent the carrier does not know whether goods were received or match the description.

(c) Liability for Improper Loading. The carrier is not liable for improper loading when the shipper loaded the goods and the bill says “shipper’s weight, load, and count” or equivalent words showing that fact.

(d) Carrier’s Duty To Determine Kind, Quantity, and Number. (1) If a shipper loads bulk freight and provides adequate weighing facilities, the carrier must determine the freight’s kind and quantity within a reasonable time after the shipper makes a written request. In that case, “shipper’s weight” or equivalent words in the bill have no effect. (2) If the carrier loads the goods, it must count packages when the freight is packaged and determine kind and quantity when it is bulk freight. In that case, “shipper’s weight, load, and count” or words saying the shipper described and loaded the goods have no effect in a bill, notice, receipt, contract, rule, or tariff, except for freight hidden by packages.