Today I would like to draw your attention to an interesting judgement recently issued by a European Union Supreme Court in Germany.
A shipper instructed the defendant carrier to arrange for the road transportation of laptop computers from Germany to Italy. The shipper’s security guidelines were incorporated into the contract of carriage which stipulated that the driver had to spend his rest period at a specified site and that the vehicle was not to be left unattended.
The driver stopped at an unguarded service area, locked the truck, went to the rest room and had a coffee in the restaurant. When he returned, the truck and trailer had disappeared. Unsurprisingly, The Court decided that this was wilful misconduct under CMR, but the ramifications for the shipper were significant.
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