Editing Common carrier (section)

{{Short description|Term in common law legal systems for transporters of goods/people}}
{{Admiralty law}}

A '''common carrier''' in [[common law]] countries (corresponding to a '''public carrier''' in some [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems,<ref name="Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods"</ref> usually called simply a '''''carrier''''')<ref>{{cite web |author=Daniel Engber |title=Louisiana's Napoleon Complex |url=https://www.fcc.gov/general/open-internet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828050332/https://www.fcc.gov/general/open-internet |archive-date=28 August 2016 |access-date=16 September 2018 |website=Slate Group}}[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2005/09/louisianas_napoleon_complex.html]: Note that Louisiana uses "common carrier" although its law is based on the Spanish and French civil law tradition, a version of the Napoleonic Code.</ref> is a person or company that transports [[goods]] or people for any person or company and is [[Legal liability|responsible]] for any possible loss of the goods during transport.<ref name="Longman Business">{{cite web |title=common carrier |url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/common-carrier |website=LDOCE Online |publisher=Longman |access-date=31 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Garner |editor1-first=Bryan |title=Black's law dictionary |date=2009 |publisher=West |location=St. Paul, MN |isbn=978-0314199492 |page=252 |edition=9th}}</ref> A common carrier offers its services to the general public under license or authority provided by a [[regulatory body]], which has usually been granted "ministerial authority" by the legislation that created it. The regulatory body may create, interpret, and enforce its regulations upon the common carrier (subject to [[judicial review]]) with independence and finality as long as it acts within the bounds of the enabling legislation.
 
A common carrier (also called a ''public carrier'' in [[British English]])<ref name="Longman Business"/> is distinguished from a contract carrier, which is a carrier that transports goods for only a certain number of clients and that can refuse to transport goods for anyone else, and from a [[private carrier]]. A common carrier holds itself out to provide service to the [[general public]] without [[discrimination]] (to meet the needs of the regulator's quasi-judicial role of impartiality toward the public's interest) for the "public convenience and necessity." A common carrier must further demonstrate to the regulator that it is "fit, willing, and able" to provide those services for which it is granted authority. Common carriers typically transport persons or goods according to defined and published routes, time schedules, and rate tables upon the approval of regulators. Public [[airline]]s, [[railroad]]s, [[bus line]]s, [[taxicab]] companies, [[phone companies]], [[internet service providers]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fcc.gov/general/open-internet|title=Restoring Internet Freedom|date=12 June 2017|website=fcc.gov|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=28 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828050332/https://www.fcc.gov/general/open-internet|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[cruise ship]]s, motor carriers (i.e., [[canal]] [[barge|operating companies]], trucking companies), and other [[freight companies]] generally operate as common carriers. Under US law, an [[ocean]] [[freight forwarder]] cannot act as a common carrier.<ref name="Longman Business"/>

The term ''common carrier'' is a common law term and is seldom used in Continental Europe because it has no exact equivalent in civil-law systems. In Continental Europe, the functional equivalent of a common carrier is referred to as a ''public carrier''<ref name="Britannica"/> or simply as a ''carrier''. However, ''public carrier'' in Continental Europe is different from ''public carrier'' in British English in which it is a synonym for ''contract carrier.''

{{Self-contradictory|about=the legal meaning of ''public carrier'' in British English|date=January 2022}}