Opinion ID: 411763
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prima Facie Case under the Carmack Amendment.

Text: 11 Johnson sued the L & N under the Carmack Amendment for the invoice value of the goods damaged by freezing. Under that Amendment a shipper must prove the following three elements to establish a prima facie case against a common carrier: (1) delivery of the goods to the carrier in good condition, (2) arrival of the goods in a damaged condition at the final destination, and (3) the amount of damage. Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Elmore & Stahl, 377 U.S. 134, 138, 84 S.Ct. 1142, 1144, 12 L.Ed.2d 194 (1964). Once the shipper has established a prima facie case the carrier must demonstrate that it was not negligent and that the damage was caused by one of the following events: (1) an act of God, (2) an act of the public enemy, (3) an act of the shipper, (4) an act of the public authority or (5) the inherent nature or vice of the goods. 377 U.S. at 137-38, 84 S.Ct. at 1144-45. 12 The Carmack Amendment was enacted to relieve shippers of the burden of searching out a particular negligent carrier from among the often numerous carriers handling an interstate shipment of goods. Reider v. Thompson, 339 U.S. 113, 119, 70 S.Ct. 499, 502, 94 L.Ed. 698 (1950). To claim the benefits of the Carmack Amendment a shipper must sue either the carrier issuing the bill of lading or the carrier delivering the goods to the final destination. 49 U.S.C. Sec. 11707(a)(1). Either of these carriers will be liable for damage caused by any carrier used during the trip. The initiating or delivering carrier may in turn seek recovery from the carrier responsible for the loss. 49 U.S.C. Sec. 11707(b). 13 Initially we are presented the question of whether the journey should be characterized as one complete trip or two separate trips. Although this issue is of importance neither party addressed it until part way through the trial. When the issue was raised by the court, Johnson argued that the case involved one whole transportation problem. The L & N understandably took the contrary position, arguing that Johnson had only brought suit for damage caused on the initial trip to Bowling Green. The judge resolved the issue by allowing Johnson to amend its complaint to allege that the damages flowing from defendant's conduct took place over the period of time from January 10th to and including February 21st. The judge noted that whether that will fly legally we'll worry about later. 14 After hearing the evidence the court found that Johnson had delivered the shipment to the Milwaukee Road in good condition, that the L & N had delivered the shipment to Bowling Green in a damaged condition, and that the shipment was damaged when delivered to Racine. Based upon the L & N's failure to explain why delivery to Bowling Green was delayed the court found that the L & N had failed to establish its freedom from negligence. Nevertheless, the court held that the sampling technique set forth in Military Standard 105-D was an inappropriate means of proving the extent of damage. Furthermore, the court was unwilling to believe that Manske had actually followed the standard. The court found that only Manske's notes could establish how many products had been tested, and that the destruction of the notes justified an inference that the contents of the notes would be unfavorable to Johnson. Because the court found that Johnson had failed to prove the amount of damage at both Bowling Green and Racine it did not resolve which was the proper destination. We believe that a correct analysis of this case requires resolution of that issue. 15