Responsibility of the CT operator is one of the main issues concerning intermodal transport, regulating claims against the operator for possible losses or damages of the cargo, as well as for potential delay in delivery of goods. The main principle for this responsibility is that it lasts from the moment cargo is taken over by the operator until it is delivered to the principal. Laws also regulate a situation in which the carrier is relieved of this liability (e.g., when losses or damages or the exceeding of the transit period  were caused by the fault of the person entitled).

When intermodal transport is concerned, however, the issue is more complicated due to the change of legal regulations in connection to the means of transport on certain stage as well as to the place where the loss appeared. Moreover, international CT principles, regarding responsibility of the operator, may also differ in connection to the contract rules binding the parties (e.g., choosing rules of responsibility provided in INCOTERMS as a globally-recognized set of standards, used worldwide in international and domestic contracts for the delivery of goods). If, however, a different set of rules are not chosen in the contract of the carriage, international and national regulations concerning responsibility of the CT operator should be applied. 

The mentioned international and national regulations differ due to the means of transport used regarding any certain stage and may differ according to the place where the loss appeared. When road transport is concerned the main legal act regulating the delivery of goods, including responsibility of the operator, is a Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) (Geneva, 19 May 1956). According to Article 1 of the convention it is to be applied to “every contract for the carriage of goods by road in vehicles for reward, when the place of taking over of the goods and the place designated for delivery, as specified in the contract, are situated in two different countries, of which at least one is a contracting country, irrespective of the place of residence and the nationality of the parties”. Article 3 specifies that for the purposes of this Convention the carrier shall be responsible for the acts of omissions of his agents and servants and of any other persons of whose services he makes use for the performance of the carriage, when such agents, servants, or other persons are acting within the scope of their employment, as if such acts or omissions were his own.

For international rail transport the main legal issues are regulated in the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF) of 9 May 1980 (COTIF 1999). According to Article 23 of the Convention (see Appendix B of the Convention) “the carrier shall be liable for loss or damage resulting from the total or partial loss of, or damage to, the goods between the time of taking over of the goods and the time of delivery and for the loss or damage resulting from the transit period being exceeded, whatever the railway infrastructure used. The carrier shall be relieved of this liability to the extent that the loss or damage or the exceeding of the transit period was caused by the fault of the person entitled, by an order given by the person entitled other than as a result of the fault of the carrier, by an inherent defect in the goods (decay, wastage, etc.), or by circumstances which the carrier could not avoid and the consequences of which he was unable to prevent.”

When international inland navigation is concerned, there are several regulations concerning it: Strasbourg Convention on the limitation of liability in inland navigation, Budapest Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterway, as well as Convention on the Registration of Inland Navigation Vessels. 

Responsibility of the CT operator in carriage of goods by sea are included in The Hague—Visby Rules—International Convention for the unification of certain rules of law relating to bills of landing. The rules in general provide the responsibility of the carrier from the moment of loading until discharge.

International carriage of goods by air is regulated mainly in the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to International Carriage by Air, Signed in Warsaw (12 October 1929) as well as other protocols. The main document is centered on the responsibility of the carrier by way of the Air Way Bill.

For instance in Poland, its national regulations, in terms of intermodal transport, differs due to the means of transport used. The main regulation, regarding road and rail transport as well as inland navigation is included in Transport Law—Prawo przewozowe (Dz. U. 2020, poz. 8), which Article 65 provides the responsibility of the carrier for loss or damage of goods between the time of taking over of the goods and the time of delivery. Polish national regulations concerning carriage of goods by sea are included in its Maritime Code—Kodeks Morski (Dz. U. 2018, poz. 2175), where the regulations concerning the responsibility of the carrier were incorporated and are similarly drafted using The Hague—Visby Rules.

The problems connected with the presented main regulations concerning responsibility of the CT operator result mainly from the fact that there are no unified rules, common to all means of transport together. There were attempts to create some universal rules (e.g., ICC Rules issued in 1973,  United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980), and The Rotterdam Rules), however, they are not legally binding, for the mentioned conventions have not been ratified by required number of states. 

Together with the need to create universal rules concerning international CT, there is also a necessity to provide such rules in national law. Among others there should be some nominated structure to legally regulate an “intermodal bill of landing.”