Filing a Freight Claim Against the Carrier
Who files a freight claim, what it must contain, the filing and response deadlines, and how shipper load and count affects a shortage claim.
Who files a freight claim, and who is it filed with?
The claimant is the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading. You file the claim with a carrier the statute makes liable: the receiving carrier, the delivering carrier, or another carrier over whose line or route the property moved.
49 U.S.C. 14706(a)(1) makes a carrier liable "to the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading," a role, not a named party. Check your bill of lading to see who holds it.
What a freight claim must contain
Federal regulation spells out what counts as a sufficient written claim: it has to be a written communication that identifies the shipment, asserts the carrier's liability for loss, damage, injury, or delay, and states a specified or determinable dollar amount.
Per 49 CFR 370.3(b), the regulation says a claim has to be filed within the time limits set in your bill of lading or contract of carriage. Check your carrier's tariff for any extra format it requires.
The filing deadline, and the carrier's response deadlines
Federal law sets a floor, not the deadline itself: a carrier can't require a claim in less than nine months or a lawsuit in less than two years. What actually governs is the period in your bill of lading or contract of carriage. Once you file, the carrier has to acknowledge the claim in writing within 30 days, then pay it, decline it, or make a firm settlement offer within 120 days.
Past 120 days, the regulation says the carrier has to send a written status update every 60 days until the claim is resolved. Check your carrier's tariff and contract for your actual period.
What SLC on the bill of lading records
SLC means the shipper loaded the trailer and counted the freight, not the carrier's driver. Read it before you build a count-shortage claim against the carrier, and check your carrier's tariff and contract for how that carrier treats an SLC notation.
See SLC for the full definition.
Documents to attach
A freight claim needs documents that identify the shipment, show its condition at pickup and delivery, and, where it applies, tie it to the retailer deduction it's answering.
- Bill of lading
- Proof of delivery, with any delivery exceptions noted
- Invoice for the goods shipped
- The retailer's deduction notice, if the claim traces to a chargeback
For deciding whether a charge belongs with a carrier or 3PL at all, see relaying chargebacks to partners. For a retailer-side concealed shortage, see Shortage Deduction Disputes, a separate clock. For routing, detention, or demurrage charges, see Freight and Routing Deductions.
Roy matches each deduction to the documents that answer it and prepares the dispute for review. See where your own deductions stand with a free deduction assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Who files a freight claim, and who is it filed with?
- The claimant is the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading. You file the claim with a carrier the Carmack Amendment makes liable: the receiving carrier, the delivering carrier, or another carrier over whose line the property moved.
What must a freight claim contain?
- A written communication that identifies the shipment, asserts the carrier's liability for loss, damage, injury, or delay, and claims a specified or determinable amount of money, per 49 CFR 370.3(b).
What is the minimum filing deadline for a freight claim against a carrier?
- A floor a carrier can't shorten: not less than 9 months to file and 2 years to sue, under 49 U.S.C. 14706(e)(1). Check your carrier's tariff and contract for the period that applies.
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