§ 375.211 Must I have an
arbitration program?
(a) You must have an arbitration program for individual shippers to resolve disputes about property loss and damage and disputes about whether carrier charges in addition to those collected at delivery must be paid. You must establish and maintain an arbitration program with the following 11 minimum elements:
(a)(1) You must design your
arbitration program to prevent you from having any special advantage in any
case where the claimant resides or does business at a place distant from your
principal or other place of business.
(a)(2) Before the household
goods are tendered for transport, your arbitration program must provide notice
to the individual shipper of the availability of neutral arbitration, including
all three of the following items:
(a)(2)(i)
A summary of the arbitration procedure.
(a)(2)(ii) Any
applicable costs.
(a)(2)(iii) A
disclosure of the legal effects of election to use arbitration.
(a)(3) Upon the individual
shipper's request, you must provide information and forms you consider
necessary for initiating an action to resolve a dispute under arbitration.
(a)(4) You must require
each person you authorize to arbitrate to be independent of the parties to the
dispute and capable of resolving such disputes, and you must ensure the
arbitrator is authorized and able to obtain from you or the individual shipper any material or
relevant information to carry out a fair and expeditious decisionmaking
process.
(a)(5) You must not charge
the individual shipper more than one-half of the total cost for instituting the
arbitration proceeding against you. In the arbitrator's decision, the
arbitrator may determine which party must pay the cost or a portion of the cost
of the arbitration proceeding, including the cost of instituting the proceeding.
(a)(6) You must refrain
from requiring the individual shipper to agree to use arbitration before a
dispute arises.
(a)(7) Arbitration must be binding for
claims of $10,000 or less, if the individual shipper requests arbitration.
(a)(8) Arbitration must be binding for
claims of more than $10,000, if the individual shipper requests arbitration and
the carrier agrees
to it.
(a)(9) If all parties
agree, the arbitrator may provide for an oral presentation of a dispute by a
party or representative of a party.
(a)(10) The arbitrator
must render a decision within 60 days of receipt of written notification of the
dispute, and a decision by an arbitrator may include any remedies appropriate under
the circumstances.
(a)(11) The arbitrator may
extend the 60-day period for a reasonable period if you or the individual
shipper fail to provide, in a timely manner, any information the arbitrator
reasonably requires to resolve the dispute.
(b) You must produce and distribute a concise, easy-to-read, accurate summary of your arbitration program, including the items in this section.
[68 FR 35097,