Carmack Amendment

The Carmack Amendment is the federal law that decides who owes the shipper when freight is lost or damaged on an interstate truck shipment. Today it sits at 49 U.S.C. § 14706. It makes the carrier that receives the freight and the carrier that delivers it liable to the person entitled to recover under the bill of lading (the shipping contract and receipt for the load), for the actual loss or injury to the property, even when another carrier on the route caused it. A lawsuit can also be brought against the carrier alleged to have caused the loss. A carrier that never issued a bill of lading is still liable.

The carrier is close to an insurer of the freight. Under the Supreme Court's reading in Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Elmore & Stahl (1964), the shipper makes its case by showing the freight was in good condition when it was handed over, that it arrived damaged or short, and the amount of the loss. The carrier then has to prove two things: that it was not negligent, and that the damage was caused by one of five exceptions: an act of God, the public enemy (an act of war, not an ordinary thief), an act of the shipper, an act of public authority (such as a government seizure or quarantine), or the inherent vice or nature of the goods (a flaw in the goods themselves, like fruit that ripens and rots on its own). Those five exceptions come from court decisions, not from the words of the statute.

The statute also sets deadlines. A carrier cannot give the claimant less than 9 months to file a claim. It cannot give less than 2 years to sue, and those 2 years start when the carrier declines all or part of the claim in writing. The bill of lading sets the actual deadlines. A carrier can limit its liability to a value the shipper declares or agrees to in writing, if that value is reasonable (household goods moves follow separate rules). FMCSA rules at 49 CFR Part 370 set the claim process: a written claim that identifies the shipment, asserts liability and asks for a specific or calculable amount; an acknowledgment from the carrier within 30 days; and payment, a decline or a firm settlement offer in writing within 120 days, or a written status update every 60 days after that.

Carmack liability is what a carrier's motor truck cargo policy is bought to pay, but the policy is a separate contract. It pays up to its limit, less the deductible, and only for causes it does not exclude. Many cargo policies exclude or restrict unattended-vehicle theft, certain commodities, and spoilage when the driver set the wrong temperature, even when reefer breakdown coverage is on the policy. When the carrier is liable and its cargo policy does not pay, the carrier owes the claim itself.

Carmack applies to carriers. A freight broker that only arranges the load is usually not a carrier under the statute, but shippers still bring claims against brokers, for example for hiring the wrong equipment. That is where a broker's contingent cargo policy comes in: depending on its form, it may respond when the carrier's cargo policy does not, such as a lapsed policy, an excluded cause, or a limit too low for the load. It is a backup, not a substitute for checking the carrier's cargo coverage before the load is tendered.

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. A disputed cargo claim is a question for a transportation lawyer.

Not the Same as Motor Truck Cargo

The Carmack Amendment is the law that makes the carrier liable for the freight. Motor truck cargo insurance is the policy the carrier buys to pay that liability, up to its limit and subject to its exclusions. What Motor Truck Cargo covers.

Example

A broker books a dry van for a load of refrigerated product. The shipper loads it anyway, the driver accepts it, and the product arrives damaged. The carrier's cargo insurer can be expected to resist paying, pointing to the broker's choice of truck and the shipper's loading, and each party blames the others. In one claim like this described on a freight broker insurance podcast, all three shared the fault, so they split the cost by percentage, and much of it was paid out of pocket rather than by insurance.

Sources

• 49 U.S.C. § 14706, Liability of carriers under receipts and bills of lading (U.S. Code, Cornell Legal Information Institute) (checked October 20, 2026)
• 49 CFR Part 370, Investigation and voluntary disposition of loss and damage claims (eCFR) (checked October 20, 2026)
• Missouri Pacific R. Co. v. Elmore & Stahl, 377 U.S. 134 (1964) (checked October 20, 2026)