Damage Claims and 21st Century Short Lines

[CatFoodFlambe]

When a carload of merchadise generates a damage claim that isn't traceable to a single event (such as a derailment), how are such claims addressed in most current "switching fee" contracts between a short line and Class I carrier? 

I spent a summer working for a small-town wholesale grocer in Ohio in the pre-Staggers era - among my responsiblities was unloading the frequent carload of foodstuffs in cans or glass containers.   In particular, I recall getting an SP&S boxcar loaded with glass bottle of apple juice that had obviously suffered a REALLY rough coupling somewhere enroute from Washington State - at least a third of the bottles were broken, and walking through the car was like walking on wet glue, and it was so infested with bees by the time we unloaded it that the Penn Central had to take it out and let it sit on a siding outside of town for a month before a cleaning contractor could do their thing.  

Back then, the damage claim follow a hidebound formula that allocated the cost.   Does a shortline carrier still get charged for a share of "unknown cause" damages in instances such as these?

[PNWRMNM]

To the best of my knowledge, in the "switch fee" style contracts the short line does NOT participate in the claim in the case you posited.

Mac - One time VP Marketing on a switch fee short line

[bartman-tn]

Generally, if a company is simply performing as a switch contract operator, they simply represent the primary carrier who has the contract. In this case, the contract should have been with one of the long-haul carriers (one if a local rate, two or more carriers on a joint rate, but one is still the primary contracted carrier, or the carrier that quoted the rate). Having been in the business on both sides, the Class I handled the claims while the switch fee carrier stayed out of it unless an investigation was done to track all of the moves.

[BaltACD]

The biggest determinate is if the short line participates in the divisions of the total freight rate of the shipment or only gets a per car switch fee for their efforts.  If they participate in the divisions of the freight rate, they will also participate in the damage claim.  If they don't, they are only acting as an agent of the carrier(s) that do participate - their only damage liability would be defined in the agreement that creates their switch fee and it would be payable to the road haul carriers, not the consignee of the shipment.