Freight Forwarding and Multimodal Transport Contracts, 2nd Edition, is a comprehensive guide to the law in relation to contract forms and terms created by operators, trade associations or international bodies such as the UN and used as a basis for trading conditions by freight forwarders, logistics suppliers, combined or multimodal transport operators and container operators. This second edition examines the latest editions of contract forms and terms, both where their object is the supply or procurement of multimodal carriage, as well as where they are directed to the use of combined transport equipment (ie containers, swap bodies). Of particular prominence will be a detailed examination of the latest versions of conditions used by the principal UK forwarding, logistics, intermodal and container operators such as the British International Freight Association (BIFA) conditions 2005A and the current Freightliner Conditions as well as updates on many of the conditions in use and legal developments relevant to them, eg Road Haulage Association Conditions 2009, Maersk Conditions of Carriage, TT Club Conditions.

Written by a combination of top academics, industry experts and leading practitioners, this book offers a detailed insight into both unimodal and multimodal carriage of goods. It provides a comprehensive and thoroughly practical guide to the issues that matter today on what is a very complex area of law. From the papers delivered at the 8th International Colloquium organised by Swansea Law School's prestigious Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, this original work considers current opinions, trends and issues arising from contracts of carriage of goods by sea, land, air, and multi-modal combinations of these, not to mention the legal position of vital participants such as freight forwarders, terminal operators and cargo insurers. The topics under discussion range through issues such as paperwork, piracy, liability for defective containers, damage in transit, the CMR Convention, and the possible effects of the Rotterdam Rules. An indispensable resource for transport lawyers, industry professionals, academics and post-graduate students of maritime law.

Written by a combination of top academics, industry experts and leading practitioners, this book offers a detailed insight into both unimodal and multimodal carriage of goods. It provides a comprehensive and thoroughly practical guide to the issues that matter today on what is a very complex area of law. From the papers delivered at the 8th International Colloquium organised by Swansea Law School's prestigious Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, this original work considers current opinions, trends and issues arising from contracts of carriage of goods by sea, land, air, and multi-modal combinations of these, not to mention the legal position of vital participants such as freight forwarders, terminal operators and cargo insurers. The topics under discussion range through issues such as paperwork, piracy, liability for defective containers, damage in transit, the CMR Convention, and the possible effects of the Rotterdam Rules. An indispensable resource for transport lawyers, industry professionals, academics and post-graduate students of maritime law.

We only have to look around us on the road while we travel to work or home, or to use our eyes at a railway station to know that the transport of goods takes up a lot of the room our modern day infrastructures provide. Sometimes perhaps a little too much; nowadays congestion seems to be the rule rather than the exception. This is an uncomfortable side effect of the explosive growth freight transport has experienced the last few decades1. Modern day transport offers a considerable array of possibilities; possibilities that are for the most part taken for granted by the general public that enjoys their benefits. The average European would not be surprised to learn that the fruit on offer in the local supermarket originates from another continent for instance. The idea that most of the things we use in our daily routine stem from a distant source, such as a cell phone from Japan, a trendy pair of designer jeans made in China or a glass of Australian wine, seems completely natural to us. Clearly the contemporary transport industry offers us a lot of benefits besides such discomforts as congestion and pollution. In earlier times, before machinery such as the steam engine had been invented it was hardly cost effective or even feasible when it came to perishables to carry goods halfway around the world if they were not at least valuable and extraordinary2. The limitations set on trade by the transport structures available did more however than simply curtail the range of affordable products on offer for the public. They also had a negative effect on the location of the industry, limited transport possibilities and forced production to take place near or in heavily populated areas to secure the necessary workforce and market possibilities. After all, industrial decentralisation is only feasible if there is an infrastructure capable of supporting a cost effective movement of goods and employees3 ...

This work covers the common carrier liability and documentation issues. The book includes a comparative study of the law in six countries (Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA) regarding multimodal transport encompassing the various modes of transport. In addition, the general law of obligations (contract and tort), which differs considerably between states has been provided, taking into account how it applies to a multimodal contract.