On March 24, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the matter of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha v. Regal-Beloit Corporation, on appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In this matter, the Court will address the issue of whether the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which governs certain rail and motor transportation by common carriers within the United States, 49 U.S.C. §§ 11706 (rail carriers) & 14706 (motor carriers), applies to the inland rail leg of an intermodal shipment from overseas when the shipment was made under a “through” bill of lading issued by an ocean carrier that extended the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30701.
A copy of the oral argument transcript is available here. For more discussion on the Carmack Amendment, see recent Tulane Maritime Law Journal article, The Extension of an Ocean Carrier’s Limitation of Liability to the Inland Carriage of Goods Under a Through Ocean Bill of Lading: How the Second and Eleventh Circuits Have Undone the Work of the Supreme Court in Kirby by John M. Daley, 33 Tul. Mar. L.J. 111.