Boston & Maine R. v. Piper, 246 U.S. 439 (1918)

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Boston & Maine R. v. Piper

No. 208

Submitted March 14, 1918
Decided April 15, 1918
246 U.S. 439

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF VERMONT

Syllabus

A stipulation in the Uniform Live Stock Contract, filed by the carrier with the Interstate Commerce Commission, limiting the carrier’s liability for unusual delay and detention caused by its own negligence to the amount actually expended by the shipper in the purchase of food and water for the stock while so detained, is illegal, and is not binding on a shipper who executed the contract and shipped under it for the corresponding reduced tariff rate.

Such a stipulation contravenes the principle that the carrier may not exonerate itself from losses caused by its own negligence, and is not within the principle of limiting liability to an agreed valuation which has been made the basis of a reduced rate. Illegal conditions and limitations in a carrier’s bill of lading do not gain validity from the filing of a form containing them with the Interstate Commerce Commission.

90 Vt. 176 affirmed.

The case is stated in the opinion.