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CARRIER
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CARRIER , a See also:general See also:term for any See also:person who conveys the goods of another for hire, more specifically applied to the trades-men, now largely superseded by the railway See also:system, who convey goods,in carts or wagons on the public roads. In See also:jurisprudence, however, the term is collectively applied to all conveyers of See also:property, whether by See also:land or See also:water; and in this sense the changes and enlargements of the system of transit throughout the See also:world have given additional importance to the subject. The See also:law by which See also:carriers, both by land and See also:sea, are made responsible for the goods entrusted to them, is founded on the praetorian See also:edict of the See also:civil law, to which the ninth See also:title of the See also:fourth See also:book of the Pandect is devoted. The edict itself is contained in these few words, " nautae, caupones, stabularii, quod cujusque salvum fore receperint, nisi restituent, in eos judicium dabo," The simplicity of the See also:rule so announced has had a most beneficial See also:influence on the See also:commerce of the world. Throughout the See also:great civilized region which took its law directly from See also:Rome, and through the other less civilized countries which followed the same commercial See also:code, it laid a See also:foundation for the principle that the carrier's engagement to the public is a See also:contract of See also:indemnity. It See also:bound him in the general See also:case, to deliver what he had been entrusted with, or its value,--thus sweeping away all secondary questions or discussions as to the conditions of See also:mere or less culpability on his See also:part under which loss or damage may have occurred; and it See also:left any limitations of this general responsibility to be separately adjusted by See also:special contract. The law of Engla,nd recognizes a distinction between a See also:common and a private carrier. The former is one who holds himself out to the public as ready to carry for hire from See also:place to place the goods of such persons as choose to employ him. The owner of a See also:stage-See also:coach, a railway See also:company, the See also:master of a general See also:ship, a what-See also:finger carrying goods on his own lighters are common carriers; and it makes no difference that one of the termini of the See also:journey is out of See also:England. It has been held, however, that a person who carries,only passengers is not a common carrier; nor of course is a person who merely engages to carry the goods of particular individuals or to carry goods upon any particular occasion. A common carrier is subject at law to See also:peculiar liabilities. He is bound to carry the goods of any person who offers to pay his hire, unless there is a See also:good See also:reason to the contrary, as, for example, when his See also:carriage is full, or the See also:article is not such as he is in the See also:habit of conveying. He ought to carry the goods in the usual course without unnecessary deviation or delay. To make him liable there must be a due delivery of the goods to him in the known course of his business. His See also:charge must be reasonable; and he must not give undue preference to any customer or class of customers. The latter principle; as enforced by See also:statute, has come to be of great importance in the law of railway companies. In respect of goods entrusted to him, the carrier's liability, unless limited by a special contract, is, as already stated, that of an insurer. There is no question of See also:negligence as in the case of injury to passengers, for the See also:warranty is simply to carry safely and securely. The law, however, excepts losses or injuries occasioned immediately " by the See also:act of See also:God or the See also: Should the article or See also:parcel exceed £10 in value, the carrier is not to be liable• for loss unless such value is declared by the customer and the carrier's increased charge paid. Where the value is thus declared, the carrier may, by public See also:notice, demand an increased charge, for which he must, if required, sign a See also:receipt. Failing such receipt or notice, the carrier must refund the increased charge and remain liable as at common law. Except as above no mere notice or See also:declaration shall affect a carrier's liability; but he may make special See also:con-tracts with his customers. The carriage of goods by sea is subject to special regulations (see AFFRETGHTMENT). The carriage of goods by railway and See also:canal is subject to the law of common carrier, except where varied by particular statutes, as the Railway and Canal See also:Traffic Acts 1854 to 1894 and the Regulation of See also:Railways Acts 1840 to 1893. The effect of these acts is to prevent railway companies as common carriers from limiting by special contract their liability to receive, forward and deliver goods, unless the conditions embodied in the special contract are reasonable, and the contract is in See also:writing and signed by, or on behalf of, the sender. A railway company must provide reason-able facilities for forwarding passengers' luggage; where luggage is taken into the carriage with a passenger, the company is responsible for it only in so far as loss or damage is due to the passenger's interference with the company's exclusive See also:control of it. As carriers of passengers companies are bound, in the See also:absence of any special contract, to exercise due care and See also:diligence, and are responsible for See also:personal injuries only when they have been occasioned by negligence or want of skill. Where there has been contributory negligence on the part of the passenger, i.e. where he might, by the exercise of See also:ordinary care, have avoided the consequences of the defendants' negligence—he is not entitled to recover. By the act of 1846 (commonly called See also:Lord See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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