TRANSPORTATION SEEKS COMMENT ON DRAFT CARGO LIABILITY STUDY |
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
June 3, 1997
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 3, 1997
Contact: Bill Adams
Tel. No. (202) 366-5580
TRANSPORTATION SEEKS COMMENT
ON DRAFT CARGO LIABILITY STUDY
The U.S. Department of Transportation has completed a draft study on motor carrier cargo liability and wants comments from the public before submitting it to Congress.
The study, required by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) Termination Act of 1995, was undertaken to determine whether the loss and damage provisions of the Carmack Amendment, including those on liability limits, should be changed.
The last significant change to these provisions occurred when the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 made released rates easier to obtain and required only that they be reasonable. The last similar study was completed by the department in 1975.
In this draft study, the department addresses cargo liability in a framework of the interests of the public as well as carriers and shippers; efficient delivery of services; and international and intermodal harmony. Statistics from the department's 1975 study of cargo liability are shown in several places as markers and as a basis for requests to shippers, carriers and insurance interests either to produce better statistics or to verify that the loss and damage component of the value of cargo remains approximately as before.
The Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act since 1906 has been a factor in liability limits, though less so since termination of the ICC and deregulation of motor carriers.
Comments on the draft, which was published in today's Federal Register, may be directed to Joseph F. Canny, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Room 10228, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington D.C. 20590, and must be received by July 3, 1997.
The draft study may be viewed on the Internet World Wide Web at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/. To obtain further information or a copy of the draft, members of the public also may contact Paul B. Larsen, Office of the General Counsel, Room 10102, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590; telephone (202) 366-9163; or e-mail, Paul.Larsen@ost.dot.gov.