Common Carrier

A common carrier holds itself out to carry goods for the public generally and, at common law, is an insurer of the cargo: liable for loss or damage save for the four excepted perils (act of God, act of the Queen’s enemies, inherent vice, and fault of the shipper). A private carrier, by contrast, contracts case by case and is liable only for negligence. The distinction sets the liability baseline that the Hague-Visby Rules then modify by contract of carriage, replacing the strict common-law standard with the catalogue of carrier duties and immunities.