Hauliers well advised to accept proposed liability legislation

ALAN PEAT IT’S PROBABLY best for hauliers to accept the Maritime Law Association’s proposed legislation imposing liability for cargo carried by members of the road transport industry, according to Paul Rayner, MD of DTB Cartage and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF). This at a time when almost all truckers have a clause built into their conditions of contract which negates any liability. But there’s a reason for that, Rayner told FTW. The best scenario, he told FTW, would be for the shipper to comprehensively insure the cargo all the way along the logistics chain. “But what normally happens is that the shipper does not do this, and there is a large grey area around where the insurance cover goes to - and this raises its ugly head when a truck is involved in an accident.” So truckers feel justified in rejecting any liability, and saving themselves the high cost of cargo loss or damage when an accident happens, and which the shipper’s insurance doesn’t cover. But, given that this has proved an extremely contentious issue amongst the truck using community, Rayner sees that some compromise is necessary. “As far as I’m concerned,” Rayner said, “I suppose that the MLA’s proposal - that the level of liability be capped - is the best alternative. “Then each trucker would know exactly how much in-transit insurance to have.”