Reefer Loads and Carrier Liability

          This case comes to us by way of a New Jersey federal district court.  Since federal law usually applies to matters involving interstate transportation, it's all the same, or supposedly so, whether we're talking west coast, east coast, or somewhere in between.  It should be noted, however, that there are 11 different federal circuits (Oregon is in the 9th Circuit), and that sometimes there is a difference of opinion between the circuits on various issues.  Still, even where there is a difference of opinion amongst the circuits, the courts nevertheless still apply their version of federal law; they do not use state law to guide their disposition of the case.
 
            The case involved a shipment of cheese, purchased by Trader Joe's, transported from origin in New Jersey to destination in California.  The vendor hired a carrier which in turn hired another carrier to perform the transportation service.  The Master Vendor Agreement between the vendor and the buyer, Trader Joe's, provided Trader Joe's with the right to reject the shipment at destination if the temperature readings exceeded 40 degrees. 
 
            There were two separate temperature reading devices, a TempTale provided by the seller and a Thermo King WinTrac 4 provided by the carrier.  Sure enough, both devices showed that the temps exceeded 40 degrees during most of the time of transport.  Trader Joe's nevertheless only rejected 11 out of the 17 pallets.           
 

Read More