Research of the relevance of changing the liability limit of freight forwarders in selected countries

Abstract

The most important component of the forwarding contract is the definition of the freight forwarder's liability limit. Given the absence of international legislation regulating forwarding activities, the limitation of liability of freight forwarders of different companies is not unified. An important step towards setting the limit of compensation to the client is the creation of standard forwarding conditions by national associations of freight forwarders, which offer a total amount of liability for their members. To determine the relevance of the current limits of liability, the authors conducted a survey of representatives of forwarding companies that are members of two associations – Association of Logistics and Freight Forwarding of the Slovak Republic and The Association of Forwarding and Logistics of the Czech Republic. The topic of the survey was to identify the demand from customers to establish a liability limit in the forwarding contract that exceeds the limit set by the association of freight forwarders. A survey was also conducted on the need to change the liability limit from the point of view of freight forwarders. The study showed that there is a demand from customers for an increased freight forwarder's liability limit, although it is not extremely high. In turn, most of the freight forwarders interviewed claim enough liability. The results suggest the possibility of considering ways to change the current limits of liability.