When I succeeded William J. Augello as author of this column in 2007, I knew the column would be about transportation law. It was not until later that I realized why it is so important for reade... View More

Starting in the November/December 2023 issue of PARCEL, previous installments of PARCEL Counsel have explored various aspects of a lawsuit, beginning with terminology and basic concepts such as... View More

In this installment of PARCEL Counsel, we will analyze the relationship between a motor carrier’s liability for loss and damage to cargo, cargo liability insurance, and cargo insurance. It i... View More

The last three installments of PARCEL Counsel explored various aspects of a lawsuit: the terminology that lawyers use; the procedures that a litigant will experience in court; and how to effectively u

No matter how carefully a parcel shipper structures its transactions and conducts its operations to avoid being sued, it is almost inevitable that sooner or later a claim will be brought against it in

The legal characteristics of the entities providing transportation service in international commerce fall into three broad categories: International Air, International Ocean, and North America... View More

At some point in my career, I realized that the meaning of terms used in almost any conversation with a lawyer are not at all self-explanatory. Similarly, articles in the press will often use... View More

We last looked at this topic in the November 2008 issue of PARCEL. As reported there, a Google search using the term “transportation law” yielded over 12,000,000 results. The same search... View More

In December 2022, the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) published a thoroughly revised Uniform Straight Bill of Lading as part of the National Motor Freight Classification (NM... View More

Parcel shippers who ship hazardous (hazmat) materials in domestic or international commerce are subject to a wide variety of rules and regulations governing their shipments. By the very nature of the... View More

In the November/December 2022 issue of Parcel Counsel, we looked at the landmark case Hadley v. Baxendale. That column focused on consequential damages as opposed to actual damages. This begs... View More

The case of Hadley v. Baxendale was decided in 1854 by a court in England. Although decided nearly 170 years ago in a foreign jurisdiction, the principle announced in that case, based upon eve... View More

The starting point in understanding international cargo claims is that a claim is based upon a breach of contract by the carrier, not whether the carrier was negligent. This arises out of the... View More

It is very important for a parcel shipper to know and follow the rules of the transportation service providers used by the shipper however named, e.g., tariffs, service guides, or terms and conditions

This installment of PARCEL Counsel is being written during the first weeks of March, 2022 when terms such as “sanctioned” or “sanctions” are very much in the news. These news... View More

Contracts and contracting have often been the topics of previous installments of PARCEL Counsel. In this issue, we will look at a category of contracts not previously considered: USPS’s Nego... View More

In this installment of PARCEL Counsel, we will look at a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation. Its title is “Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise.” Its nickname is “the... View More

In the last installment of PARCEL Counsel, we took a look at four critical points relating to shipping parcels. In this international edition of PARCEL, we will delve deeper into two of those po... View More

In this installment of PARCEL Counsel, we will take a “sneak preview” of two of the presentations at this year’s PARCEL Forum. For the first time in many years, I will not be attending... View More

In the previous issue of PARCEL Counsel, we looked at the first two critical elements of transportation contracting: rates and charges and limits of liability for loss and damage. In this inst... View More