Carmack Amendment

Criminals do not count as public enemies as defined by the Carmack Amendment. To apply this exception you will have... 

If the claim ends up in court being litigated, remember the limitations of the Carmack Amendment and that only provable facts are going to be allowed. 

Liability typically only provides for restitution of a portion of the losses suffered in an accident. For example, freight customers are only compensated under the Carmack Amendment for the value of their goods that are damaged or destroyed. Shippers are not compensated for costs related to damage such as delays in their production schedules or costs of claim administration. 

The second, and perhaps most important, reason is that short-line railroads are not in competition with the major railroads but are providing a complementary service. The major railroads rely on the short-line railroads to provide connections to and from shippers premises. The major railroads have considerable incentives to ensure the competence of the companies to whom they sell their branch lines. There are direct financial incentives. Often when goods are damaged in transit, shippers often cannot identify when and where the damaged occurred. The cost of any Carmack Amendment claim is split between participating railroads on the basis of the mileage the car traveled on the various railroads. Consequently, a large share is borne by the major line-haul railroad. 

Prior to 1970 most governmental actions were supportive of informational or liability responses to market failure. The Carmack Amendment of 1906 made railroad strictly liable for loss and damage to freight. The Federal Employers Liability Act of 1908 established liability for occupational injuries. The Accident Reports Act of 1910 required railroads to provide information on accidents. The same act allowed the ICC to investigate railroad accidents. These powers were transferred to the NTSB in 1974. Signal failures have had to be reported to the government since the Signal Inspection Act of 1920. 

Supportive of other policy responses Carmack Amendment Federal Employers Liability Act Accident reporting (49 CFR 225) Signal failure reporting (49 CFR 233) NTSB investigations (49 CFR 840)... 

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