Opinion ID: 767431
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: definition of shipment

Text: 17 INA contends that there was uncertainty with respect to the meaning of the invoice phrase, $50 per shipment, as the term shipment could have meant any one of three alternative definitions: (1) each of the 2,703 cartons of golf balls, (2) each of the 53,632 pounds of cargo, or (3) the entirety of the cargo referenced on the invoice. Because any uncertainty in a writing is construed most strongly against the party who caused the uncertainty to exist, see Interpetrol Bermuda Ltd. v. Kaiser Aluminum Int'l. Corp., 719 F.2d 992, 998 (9th Cir. 1984), INA asserts that we should read the limitation term, shipment, to mean each of the 53,632 pounds of cargo. 18 INA is correct with respect to contract interpretation, but its legal argument lacks factual substantiation. Jean Ashworth, transportation administrator for Dunlop, used the term shipment in a manner evincing a mutual understanding of the term: [t]he shipment was one of two containers of golf balls, totaling 2,703 cartons of golf balls. INA does not provide any evidence suggesting that Dunlop construed shipment to mean otherwise.