"How Swiftly1 the Carmack Amendment is Washed Away" (Or Why Justice Sotomayor was Right in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha LTD. V. Regal-Beloit Corp., 130 S.CT. 2433 (2010)2)

• Published in: Journal of maritime law and commerce 2011-10, Vol.42 (4), p.631
• Main Author: Talbot, Patrick M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bills of lading; Cargo ships; Customs; Exports; Exports and imports; Freight transportation; Imports; Intermodal; International trade; Interstate Commerce Act-US; Jurisdiction; Justice; Railroads; Revenue; Shipments; Shipping; Shipping industry; Supreme Court decisions; Transportation; Valuation
• ISSN: 0022-2410; 2162-4127

International shipping, as it affects the United States and its trading partners is a multi-trillion dollar business including both imports and exports.7 Intermodal rail service accounts for about 21% of all U.S. railroad revenue (that revenue was somewhere in the vicinity of U.S. $63 billion in 2008).8 Roughly 60% of all U.S. intermodal carriage involves international shipments (in volume terms (by TEU's) this figure consists of about 60% in imports and 40% in exports).9 In dollar terms, one economist's indications show industry revenues amounting to about $18.8 billion in 2008 from intermodal imports including all modes of surface transportation (i.e., local drayage, long-haul trucking, and rail), and about $13.5 billion in 2008 from intermodal exports using the same modes of transportation (total in 2008 of about $32.3 billion).1" The total value of cargo on a customs valuation basis entering the U.S. by ocean vessel in 2008 came to over $1.15 trillion." [...] UP's move was subject to the jurisdiction of the STB.