§ 375.103 What
are the definitions of terms used in this part?
Terms used in this part are defined as follows. You may find
other terms used in these regulations defined in 49 U.S.C. 13102. The
definitions contained in this statute control. If terms are used in this part and
the terms are neither defined here nor in 49 U.S.C. 13102, the terms will have
the ordinary practical meaning of such terms.
Advertisement
means any communication to the public in connection with an offer or sale of any
interstate household goods transportation service. This includes written or
electronic database listings of your name, address, and telephone number in an
on-line database. This excludes listings of your name, address, and telephone
number in a telephone directory or similar publication. However, Yellow Pages
advertising is included in the definition.
Cashier's check
means a check that has all four of the following characteristics:
(1) Drawn on a bank as defined in 12 CFR 229.2.
(2) Signed by an officer or employee of the bank on behalf
of the bank as drawer.
(3) A direct obligation of the bank.
(4) Provided to a customer of the bank or acquired from the
bank for remittance purposes.
Certified scale
means any scale inspected and certified by an authorized scale inspection and
licensing authority, and designed for weighing motor vehicles, including
trailers or semi-trailers not attached to a tractor, or designed as a platform
or warehouse type scale.
Commercial shipper
means any person who is named as the consignor or consignee in a bill of lading
contract who is not the owner of the goods being transported but who assumes
the responsibility for payment of the transportation and other tariff charges
for the account of the beneficial owner of the goods. The beneficial owner of
the goods is normally an employee of the consignor and/or consignee. A freight
forwarder tendering a shipment to a carrier in furtherance of freight forwarder
operations is also a commercial shipper. The Federal government is a government
bill of lading shipper, not a commercial shipper.
Force majeure means a defense protecting the parties in the
event that a part of the contract cannot be performed
due to causes which are outside the control of the parties and could not be
avoided by exercise of due care.
Government bill of
lading shipper means any person whose property is transported under the
terms and conditions of a government bill of lading issued by any department or
agency of the Federal government to the carrier responsible for the
transportation of the shipment.
Household goods,
as used in connection with transportation, means the personal effects or
property used, or to be used, in a dwelling, when part of the equipment or
supplies of the dwelling. Transportation of the household goods must be
arranged and paid for by the individual shipper or by another individual on
behalf of the shipper. Household goods includes property moving from a factory
or store if purchased with the intent to use in a dwelling and transported at
the request of the householder, who also pays the transportation charges.
Household goods motor carrier means-
(1) In general, a motor carrier that, in the ordinary course of its business of providing transportation of household goods, offers some or all of the following additional services:
(i) Binding and nonbinding estimates;
(ii) Inventorying;
(iii) Protective packing and unpacking of individual items at personal residences;
(iv) Loading and unloading at personal residences.
(2) The term includes any person considered to be a household goods motor carrier under regulations, determinations, and decisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in effect on the date of enactment of the Household Goods Mover Oversight Enforcement and Reform Act of 2005 (August 10, 2005).
(3) The term does not include any motor carrier providing transportation of household goods in containers or trailers that are entirely loaded and unloaded by an individual other than an employee or agent of the motor carrier.
Individual shipper means any person who—
(1) Is the shipper, consignor, or consignee of a household goods shipment;
(2) Is identified as the shipper, consignor, or consignee on the face of the bill of lading;
(3) Owns the goods being transported; and
(4) Pays his or her own tariff transportation charges.
May means an option. You may do something, but it is not a
requirement.
Must means a legal obligation. You must do something.
Order for service
means a document authorizing you to transport an individual shipper's household
goods.
Reasonable dispatch
means the performance of transportation on the dates, or during the period,
agreed upon by you and the individual shipper and shown on the Order For Service/Bill of Lading. For example, if you deliberately
withhold any shipment from delivery after an individual shipper offers to pay
the binding estimate or 110 percent of a non-binding estimate, you have not
transported the goods with reasonable dispatch. The term "reasonable
dispatch" excludes transportation provided under your tariff provisions
requiring guaranteed service dates. You will have the defenses of force majeure, i.e.,
superior or irresistible force, as construed by the courts.
Should means a recommendation. We recommend you do something, but
it is not a requirement.
Surface Transportation
Board means an agency within the Department of Transportation. The Surface
Transportation Board regulates household goods carrier tariffs among other
responsibilities.
Tariff means an
issuance (in whole or in part) containing rates, rules, regulations,
classifications or other provisions related to a motor carrier's transportation
services. The Surface Transportation Board requires a tariff contain specific
items under §
1312.3(a) of this title. These specific items include an accurate
description of the services offered to the public and the specific applicable
rates (or the basis for calculating the specific applicable rates) and service
terms. A tariff must be arranged in a way that allows for the determination of
the exact rate(s) and service terms applicable to any given shipment.
We,
us, and our means the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
You and your means a household goods motor carrier engaged in the interstate transportation of household goods and its household goods agents.
[68 FR 35091,