News / Freight forwarders face liability for cargo damage during unauthorised loading

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Freight forwarders on fixed-price contracts with shippers should ensure they brief staff ? and any sub-contractors ? on loading operations, a law firm has warned.

Following a case in Germany, in which a forwarder was found liable for damage to two boxes which had been badly loaded onto a truck by a sub-contracted haulier, Dabelstein & Passehl said that in the absence of a specific contractual stipulation, “staff should abstain from loading goods, as possible neglect may lead to liability”.

The case ...