REAVLEY, Circuit Judge:
This appeal is from a final judgment entered in favor of a shipper, Johnson & Johnson, in an action brought under the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 11707 (formerly codified at 49 U.S.C. § 20(11)), against three motor carriers — Chief Freight Lines Company, Joy Cartage Company, and Graves Truck Lines — to recover damages for the loss in transit of 990 cases from a shipment of baby shampoo, baby lotion, and baby powder. We affirm.
In a suit to recover damages for loss of goods in transit under the Carmack Amendment, the shipper establishes a prima facie case by proving three elements: (1) delivery of the cargo to the originating carrier, (2) receipt by the consignee of less goods at the destination, and (3) damages. Miller, Shipper Load and Count Shipments,
So much is common ground. With no dispute as to damages or nonreceipt by the consignee, the carriers concede, as they must, that they are liable to Johnson & Johnson for the loss of the products if, as the district court found, "Johnson & Johnson delivered two thousand two hundred (2,200) cases of baby shampoo, four hundred (400) cases of baby lotion and sixty-five (65) cases of baby powder to" the originating carrier. We hold that the proof of delivery presented at trial by Johnson & Johnson — a copy of the bill of lading — immunizes this finding of the district court from attack.
At trial, Johnson & Johnson established delivery of the cartons to the originating carrier by the introduction of a copy of the bill of lading signed by the carrier's agent listing the number of cartons in the shipment.
Robertson, The Prima Facie Loss and Damage Case, 1973 Transp.Law Inst. 73, 81 (footnote omitted).
We reject the carriers' argument that the shipment of baby products was a "shipper's load and count," see generally R. Sigmon, Miller's Law of Freight Loss and Damage Claims 99-117 (4th ed. 1974), and, therefore, that Johnson & Johnson was required to prove the number of cartons delivered for shipment by evidence other than the bill of lading.
Miller, supra, at 285 (emphasis added); see Dublin Co. v. Ryder Truck Lines, Inc., 417 F.2d 777, 778 (5th Cir. 1969); R. Sigmon, supra, at 113. We have examined the copy of the bill of lading introduced by Johnson & Johnson at trial and find no indication that the shipment of baby products was a "shipper's load and count."
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
FootNotes
Missouri P. R.R. v. Elmore & Stahl, 377 U.S. 134, 137, 84 S.Ct. 1142, 1144, 12 L.Ed.2d 194 (1964).
Robertson, The Prima Facie Loss and Damage Case, 1973 Transp.Law Inst. 73, 81 (footnotes omitted); see 49 U.S.C. § 101. At issue is only whether the cartons of baby products were delivered to the originating carrier.
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