Transport and Logistics Law: Carrier Liability, Cargo Claims and Multimodal Carriage – Dubai, 18–22 Oct 2027

Programme overview

Introduction:

Transport and logistics law decides whether a consignee recovers anything when goods arrive short, wet, crushed or late, yet many carriage disputes are lost on paper: a missed notice window, a consignment note without reservations, a forwarder who acted as principal without knowing it, or a time bar that expired during negotiation. This Core Concept course trains logistics, forwarding, claims and legal staff to identify the governing carriage regime, read the transport document, calculate the carrier's limit and run a recovery. Participants build a Cargo Claim File and Liability Analysis for a multimodal consignment.

Course Objectives:

• Identify the carriage regime that governs a road, air, sea, rail or multimodal leg and the contract of carriage it creates between consignor, carrier and consignee
• Interpret the CMR consignment note, air waybill and bill of lading as evidence of the contract, receipt for the goods and, where relevant, document of title
• Determine carrier liability, available defences and the SDR limitation for a loss, damage or delay event, and test whether wilful misconduct removes the limit
• Classify a freight forwarder or warehouse operator as agent, principal or bailee and allocate liability under the FIATA Model Rules and storage terms
• Prepare a cargo claim with timely notice, survey evidence, quantum calculation and protective steps against the time bar, and coordinate subrogated recovery with cargo insurers
• Review liability, indemnity and limitation clauses in logistics service agreements before signature

Target Audience:

• Operations staff who arrange road, air, rail and sea carriage and sign or receive transport documents
• Freight forwarding and third-party logistics staff who issue house documents and answer customer claims
• Cargo claims handlers who notify carriers, gather survey evidence and pursue recoveries
• Cargo insurance and broking staff who settle losses and exercise subrogation rights against carriers
• In-house legal and contracts staff who review carriage terms, warehousing contracts and logistics service agreements

Course Outline:

Day 1: Contract of Carriage and the Map of Carriage Regimes

• Contract of Carriage Elements: Consignor, Carrier, Consignee and Contracting Versus Actual Carrier
• Mandatory Carriage Conventions Versus Freedom of Contract and Standard Trading Conditions
• Carriage Regime Selection Matrix by Mode, Route and Place of Loss
• Carrier Duty of Care, Custody Period and Delivery Obligation
• Current-State Screening of an Organisation's Carriage Contracts and Open Cargo Disputes

Day 2: Road, Air and Rail Carrier Liability Rules

• CMR Convention Scope, Presumed Carrier Fault and Special Risk Defences
• CMR Consignment Note Entries, Carrier Reservations and eCMR Protocol
• Montreal Convention Cargo Liability, Air Waybill and Electronic Cargo Record
• COTIF-CIM Uniform Rules for International Rail Consignments
• Per-Kilogram SDR Limitation Comparison Table Across Road, Air and Rail

Day 3: Sea Legs, Multimodal Chains and Forwarder Liability

• Hague-Visby Rules Seaworthiness Duty, Exceptions Catalogue and Package Limitation at Overview
• Hamburg Rules Contrast: Removal of Nautical Fault Defence and Wider Period of Responsibility
• Multimodal Liability Models: Network System, Uniform System and Localised Versus Unlocalised Loss
• Freight Forwarder as Agent or Principal: Due Diligence Standard and Contracting Carrier Test
• FIATA Model Rules Liability Caps and FIATA Multimodal Bill of Lading Clauses

Day 4: Breaking the Limit, Time Bars, Warehousing and Insurance Interface

• Wilful Misconduct and Equivalent Default Tests for Losing the Liability Limit
• Notice of Loss, Damage and Delay Windows and Suit Time Bar Tracker by Regime
• Warehouse Keeper Liability: Bailment Standard, Storage Terms and Inventory Shrinkage Claims
• Institute Cargo Clauses Interface: Insured Value, Claim Settlement and Subrogation Receipt
• Logistics Service Agreement Clauses: Liability Caps, Indemnities, Consequential Loss Exclusions and Insurance Obligations

Day 5: Cargo Claim Case Work and Liability Analysis

• Case Brief: Temperature-Sensitive Consignment Moving Truck-Air-Truck with Damage Found at Delivery
• Survey Report, Photographs, Tally Records and Data Logger Evidence Assembly
• Claim Quantum Calculation: Invoice Value, Salvage Proceeds, Survey Fees and Limitation Cap
• Recovery Letter Drafting and Time Bar Extension Request to the Carrier and Forwarder
• Cargo Claim File and Liability Analysis Build and Peer Challenge

Skills You Will Gain:

• Carriage Regime Identification
• Transport Document Interpretation
• Liability Limit Calculation
• Forwarder Capacity Assessment
• Cargo Loss Evidence Handling
• Time Bar Management
• Subrogated Recovery Coordination
• Logistics Contract Clause Review

Why Attend This Course:

• Leave with a Cargo Claim File and Liability Analysis built on a multimodal consignment case
• Stop losing recoveries to late notices, clean receipts signed without reservations and expired suit periods
• Know before a loss happens how much each carrier, forwarder or warehouse can be made to pay
• Compare claims and contract practice with forwarders, shippers, insurers and legal staff from manufacturing, retail, pharmaceutical and project cargo sectors

Conclusion:

Recovering a cargo loss depends on knowing which convention governs each leg, what the transport document proves and which deadline is running. The course moves from the contract of carriage and the map of regimes, through road, air and rail liability under the CMR convention, the Montreal convention and COTIF-CIM rules, to sea legs, multimodal chains and forwarder capacity, then to breaking the limit, time bars, warehousing, cargo insurance and logistics service agreements. The final day produces a Cargo Claim File and Liability Analysis for a multimodal consignment.