Disparity out of Uniformity: Rethinking the Continued Vitality of the Carmack Amendment's Pre-emption of State Consumer Protection Laws
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: A provision of federal law, dubbed the Carmack Amendment, operates to severely limit the amount of liability that may be assessed against interstate carriers, such as moving companies, when consumer goods are lost or damaged in interstate shipment.The Carmack Amendment does not distinguish between consumer transactions, and its liability-limiting provisions have been applied to consumers and businesses alike.This limitation acts to the near universal exclusion of claims based upon state law, and has long been a source of frustration for individual consumers who have attempted to assert the protections against interstate carriers, including claims based on consumer-friendly state statutes.Over the past ioo years, courts have routinely held that the Carmack amendment has pre-empted nearly all state law claims against the liability of interstate carriers, including actions based on state consumer protection law. 1 This pre-emption has been applied regardless of the degree of negligence, bad faith and in some cases outright theft of goods alleged against an interstate moving company. 2 However, the role of the common law in interpreting the Carmack Amendment and assigning it a proper scope has largely been ignored.This outcome creates problems for the individual consumer, and undermine public confidence in the interstate moving industry in .
Source: bepress Legal Repository
Author: Scott J. Davis
Institution: Loyola University Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W42136949