Shipper Liable for Dangerous Load

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller transporting cargo as a truck driver. When he reached his destination, he opened the trailer’s doors, and the cargo fell out and injured him. He was already pursuing a worker’s compensation claim. Still, he wanted to know if he could sue the shipper or other parties for his injuries.

When cargo is shipped, multiple parties can be involved. The party that ships the freight is called the shipper and the party that transports the cargo is called the carrier. I know that terminology is somewhat confusing.

Let’s go over an example. Suppose you own a large grand piano and you want to ship it from your home in Indiana to Florida, where you plan to retire. You might call a company that ships pianos. That shipping company might then call up a trucking company called a carrier to carry the piano to Florida.

Trucking companies will transport but not typically do they contract to load the truck. In our example, the trucking company will send a trailer to the piano’s location. Still, the shipper is charged with lifting the piano and loading it into the trailer.

In Indiana, the party holding the bag on liability is the carrier unless the shipper takes responsibility for loading the cargo, and any defect in the way the cargo is loaded is latent or concealed.

In our piano example, when the shipper loads the piano, it assumes responsibility for loading it safely. However, if the piano is loaded in an obviously dangerous manner, the carrier is liable. Why? Because the danger is obvious, the carrier can fix the problem with how the piano is loaded before transport. If the danger in the way the cargo is loaded is concealed, however, then the shipper remains responsible.

Suppose the shipper straps the piano down to a wood pallet that looks strong and looks like it would prevent the piano from moving in the trailer during shipment, but in reality, the wood pallet is undersized for the weight of the piano. The carrier looks the piano and pallet over. It deems the load secure before transporting the trailer with the piano to Florida. The pallet breaks during transit. When the trailer is opened in Florida, the truck driver is unaware that the pallet broke, permitting the piano to roll. When the trailer opens, it presses against the door, and the driver is hurt when the piano rolls out.

Since the defect in the pallet is hidden, the shipper remains liable.

These cases are fact-intensive, and they require careful investigation.

We used a piano in our example. But, most cases where someone is injured opening a trailer involve boxes, crates, pallets, and the like.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, a product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”