The Truckload Carriers Association will sponsor an audio conference on "Recurring Issues in Shipper and Carrier Contracts" April 3
from noon to 1:30 p.m. eastern time.

More than two decades after deregulation began, shippers still insist on negotiated contracts, TCA notes. "As a licensed, authorized and insured motor carrier with non-delegable regulatory obligations for the safe operations of the equipment you own or control, your customers should be encouraged to hire you as a vendor free from vicarious liability without becoming ensnared in a legal briar patch of conflicting contractual provisions and assumed duties which cause unnecessary and vexatious litigation."

Some of the important topical issues to be addressed include:

? General principles of federal transportation law which should not be waived in contracts
? Why the Carmack Amendment establishes the proper standard for the proper adjudication of cargo claims and how to effectively used released rates to limit carrier liability for high value shipments
? The continuing role of a carrier's service conditions and how to manage special service requests as exceptions, not the rule.
? The dangers of broadly worded indemnification and additional insured language.
? Why you cannot sign a shipper or broker contract as a carrier if you intend to broker the freight.
? Why the bill of lading remains the ultimate contract of carriage and why your name as the service provider must appear on each bill your driver executes.

For more information go to www.truckload.org/tla/Contracts%20Flyer.pdf