On March 24, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Regal- Beloit case to decide whether the Carmack Amendment or the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) governs the inland leg of an intermodal import shipment moving under a “through” bill of lading. The Court’s decision should clarify several issues related to intermodal transportation of international shipments, including whether motor carriers can rely on COGSA’s $500 per-package cargo liability limitation. The issue arises because Carmack typically governs rail and motor carrier liability for cargo loss, damage, and delay,...

Few areas of transportation law are evolving so rapidly as that pertaining to 3PL liability. Long a relative safe-harbor against potential liability, brokers and freight forwarders are increasingly under attack on a number of fronts based on several theories of law whereby a 3PL can potentially be held liable for personal injury and property loss damages arising from a motor carrier’s negligence. Because of the publicity surrounding several high-dollar judgments recently obtained against 3PLs, the plaintiff’s bar seems increasingly prone to name 3PLs as parties to such cases in its never- ending...