Plan for the Claim Before It Happens: A Conversation with Rob Moseley

A freight claim doesn't start with the accident. It starts, or is prevented, months earlier, in the contracts, policies, and conversations carriers and brokers put in place long before anything goes wrong.

"You need to plan for the day when there's a freight claim — before it happens."

Rob Moseley, Transportation Attorney, Moseley Marcinak Law Group LLP

Cottingham & Butler sat down with transportation attorney Rob Moseley to break down what carriers and brokers can do to get ahead of it.

Three Contract Opportunities That Shape Every Claim

Every motor carrier has three documents that shape how a freight claim plays out: the shipper-carrier agreement, the bill of lading, and the carrier tariff. Handshake deals leave all of this to chance, while a contract gives carriers and brokers something to negotiate from that they wouldn't otherwise have. Moseley covers what to look for in each one, including where Carmack Amendment defenses and load valuation come into play.

Put Limitation of Liability and Salvage Rights in Writing

Assumptions don't hold up in a claim dispute. A shipper who hands over a high-value load without disclosing its worth robs the carrier of the chance to take proper precautions or buy the right insurance. Salvage rights carry similar stakes: if a load is damaged but still sellable, who has the right to move it, and what happens if that right isn't granted? Both need to be settled in writing well ahead of time.

Eliminate the Most Common Claim Triggers

Many claims trace back to gaps in driver and customer education, not a single bad moment on the road. Moseley shares how a little planning on both fronts, from how freight is loaded and secured to how it's communicated about, can prevent the most common claims before they start.

Know Your Exposure: Cargo Theft, Imposter Carriers, and High-Value Loads

Cargo theft is evolving fast, and brokered freight has made it worse. Carriers today are dealing with more than opportunistic theft: imposter carriers are finding new ways to get access to loads. High-value and high-theft-risk freight needs to be flagged and handled differently from the start.

The carriers who avoid the worst claims aren't lucky. They put the right agreements in writing, knew their exposure, and had the hard conversations before a claim ever came in. That's the kind of groundwork worth laying now, not after something goes wrong.