West Virginia Code 46-7-304 – Tangible bills of lading in a set
(a) Except as customary in international transportation, a tangible bill of lading may not be issued in a set of parts. The issuer is liable for damages caused by violation of this subsection.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 46-7-304
- Bailee: means a person that by a warehouse receipt, bill of lading, or other document of title acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- Carrier: means a person that issues a bill of lading. See West Virginia Code 46-7-102
- 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
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
(b) If a tangible bill of lading is lawfully issued in a set of parts, each of which contains an identification code and is expressed to be valid only if the goods have not been delivered against any other part, the whole of the parts constitutes one bill.
(c) If a tangible negotiable bill of lading is lawfully issued in a set of parts and different parts are negotiated to different persons, the title of the holder to which the first due negotiation is made prevails as to both the document of title and the goods even if any later holder may have received the goods from the carrier in good faith and discharged the carrier's obligation by surrendering its part.
(d) A person that negotiates or transfers a single part of a tangible bill of lading issued in a set is liable to holders of that part as if it were the whole set.
(e) The bailee shall deliver in accordance with Part 4 against the first presented part of a tangible bill of lading lawfully issued in a set. Delivery in this manner discharges the bailee's obligation on the whole bill.