West Virginia Code 46-7-301 – Liability for nonreceipt or misdescription; “said to contain”; “shipper’s weight, load and count”; improper handling
(a) A consignee of a nonnegotiable bill of lading which has given value in good faith, or a holder to which a negotiable bill has been duly negotiated, relying upon the description of the goods in the bill or upon the date shown in the bill, may recover from the issuer damages caused by the misdating of the bill or the nonreceipt or misdescription of the goods, except to the extent that the bill indicates that the issuer does not know whether any part or all of the goods in fact were received or conform to the description, such as in a case in which the description is in terms of marks or labels or kind, quantity, or condition or the receipt or description is qualified by "contents or condition of contents of packages unknown", "said to contain", "shipper's weight, load, and count", or words of similar import, if that indication is true.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 46-7-301
- Consignee: means a person named in a bill of lading to which or to whose order the bill promises delivery. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract for storage or transportation. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Issuer: means a bailee that issues a document of title or, in the case of an unaccepted delivery order, the person that orders the possessor of goods to deliver. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Shipper: means a person that enters into a contract of transportation with a carrier. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
(b) If goods are loaded by the issuer of a bill of lading;
(1) The issuer shall count the packages of goods if shipped in packages and ascertain the kind and quantity if shipped in bulk; and
(2) Words such as "shipper's weight, load, and count" or words of similar import indicating that the description was made by the shipper are ineffective except as to goods concealed in packages.
(c) If bulk goods are loaded by a shipper that makes available to the issuer of a bill of lading adequate facilities for weighing those goods, the issuer shall ascertain the kind and quantity within a reasonable time after receiving the shipper's request in a record to do so. In that case, "shipper's weight" or words of similar import are ineffective.
(d) The issuer of a bill of lading, by including in the bill the words "shipper's weight, load, and count", or words of similar import, may indicate that the goods were loaded by the shipper, and, if that statement is true, the issuer is not liable for damages caused by the improper loading. However, omission of such words does not imply liability for damages caused by improper loading.
(e) A shipper guarantees to an issuer the accuracy at the time of shipment of the description, marks, labels, number, kind, quantity, condition, and weight, as furnished by the shipper, and the shipper shall indemnify the issuer against damage caused by inaccuracies in those particulars. This right of indemnity does not limit the issuer's responsibility or liability under the contract of carriage to any person other than the shipper.