In other words, when carriers agree to haul fresh produce, they are impliedly notified of the need to use reasonable dispatch to deliver expeditiously. Section 5.0 of Blue Book’s Transportation Guidelines provides the following—
Carriers are required to use “reasonable dispatch” to ensure goods are delivered in a timely manner consistent with normal and customary delivery times. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, a Carrier (i.e., a motor carrier) that hauls a load 500 or more miles per day (1,000 miles per day if a “team” is hired) will be presumed to have used reasonable dispatch. A Carrier’s failure to cover 500 miles per day, in the absence of evidence of adverse weather conditions or extreme and unavoidable traffic conditions, may be used to help establish that a Carrier failed to use reasonable dispatch in breach of the contract of carriage; however, especially with shorter trips (e.g., one day), in light of the advent of electronic data loggers, which track a driver’s hours of operation more closely than ever before, assessing reasonable dispatch must be considered on a case-by-case basis. Evidence of a mechanical breakdown or other failure to keep the shipment moving as expeditiously as possible may also be used to establish a failure to use reasonable dispatch.
This notwithstanding, receivers will sometimes disregard reasonable dispatch and instead attempt to treat appointment times as if they were guarantees. But although guaranteed delivery times that can be met without violating hours of service regulations may be contractually enforceable (subject to force majeure provisions), appointment times, without language of guarantee, are not usually binding on the carrier.
Section 5.3 of the Guidelines states the following regarding delivery times or appointments—Since delivery times or “appointments” are customarily only estimates, a party alleging a guarantee should be prepared to prove the putative guarantee was made by clear and convincing evidence. A signed agreement which conspicuously states, “delivery time is guaranteed” is recommended.
Of course, receivers may give real meaning to delivery appointments by, for instance, making it a priority to unload carriers who arrive during their appointment times. But merely missing a delivery appointment is not usually grounds for establishing a breach of the contract of carriage.
Damages When Late Product Is Received
When a failure to use reasonable dispatch in breach of the contract of carriage can be established, the question that quickly follows is what, if any, financial damages did the receiver incur as a result of the breach?
