CMR liability: how the road convention allocates risk on cross-border trucking

When the convention takes over the contract

The regime attaches to a contract for carriage of goods by road for reward where the place of taking over and the place of delivery are in two different countries and at least one is a contracting state. It applies automatically. Parties cannot exclude it, and any stipulation that departs from it to the detriment of the cargo interest is null. Certain categories, such as postal traffic and funeral consignments, sit outside it, and purely domestic movements are governed instead by national law or the operator's terms. One consequence catches operators out regularly: because attachment depends on the places of taking over and delivery, a vehicle that travels part of the journey on a ferry or a rail wagon without the goods being unloaded generally remains within the road regime for the whole movement.

The consignment note as the evidential spine

The consignment note is prepared in original copies for sender, carrier and consignee, and it is evidence of the contract, of the conditions of carriage and of the carrier's receipt of the goods. When the driver takes over the goods, the note records apparent condition and the marks and numbers of the packages. Absent contrary entries, the goods are presumed to have been in apparent good order. That presumption is why driver reservations matter so much. A reservation is only effective against the sender if the sender agreed to it expressly on the note, so a scribbled remark that nobody countersigned achieves less than drivers assume. Equally, a carrier that signs for a load without checking has accepted the presumption that comes with a clean note.

Liability, defences and the reservation window at delivery

The carrier is answerable for total or partial loss and for damage occurring between taking over and delivery, and for delay, unless it establishes one of the recognised exonerations: circumstances it could not avoid and whose consequences it could not prevent, wrongful act or neglect of the claimant, defect inherent in the goods, or one of the privileged risks such as carriage in open unsheeted vehicles where agreed, defective packing by the sender, handling by sender or consignee, or goods of a nature liable to wastage. At delivery the consignee must act. Apparent loss or damage has to be raised with the carrier at the moment of acceptance; damage that is not apparent has to be notified in writing within the short period the convention allows, and delay claims require a written reservation as well. Silence lets a presumption run that the goods were received in the condition described in the note.

Successive carriers and subcontracting chains

Where a single contract is performed by successive road carriers, each carrier that accepts the goods and the consignment note becomes a party to the contract on the terms of the note. A claimant may generally proceed against the first carrier, the last carrier, or the one performing the leg during which the loss occurred, which is a considerable practical advantage when the chain is opaque. For an operator, the same rule is a warning. Accepting goods and the note as a successive carrier brings convention liability with it, and the internal recourse rules between carriers in the chain then decide who bears the loss. Anyone subcontracting routinely should know which role its paperwork places it in on each job.

Compensation, capped and calculated

Compensation for loss is assessed by reference to the value of the goods at the place and time of acceptance for carriage, capped by weight through a limit expressed in a unit of account, with carriage charges, customs duties and other charges incurred in respect of the carriage refunded in addition. Delay is compensated up to the carriage charges. Higher recovery is possible where a value or a special interest in delivery was declared on the note against a supplement, or where the conduct alleged reaches the level that removes the benefit of limitation under the law of the court hearing the case. The convention text, the national law of the forum and the wording on the note decide outcomes, not summaries such as this one. Where a claim has value, take advice early, because the periods for notification and for bringing suit are short.

Frequently asked questions

Can a haulier's own terms override the road convention?

Not where the convention applies. Stipulations departing from it to the detriment of the cargo interest are treated as null, although terms that improve the claimant's position, or that cover matters the convention leaves open, can still operate.

What should a consignee do if damage is only found after unloading?

Notify the carrier in writing within the short period the convention allows for non-apparent damage, describing the general nature of what was found. Accepting goods without reservation otherwise supports a presumption that they arrived as described on the consignment note.

Does the regime cover a trailer carried on a ferry?

Where the goods stay on the vehicle throughout, the road regime generally continues to govern the whole carriage, with a specific rule addressing loss caused by an event that could only have occurred during the sea leg. The detail matters and is worth checking on a specific route.