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The typical ocean Bill of Lading in its common form contain numerous terms and conditions usually found on the reverse side. Typical clauses include sub-contracting and indemnity provisions (Himalaya clause) and carrier’s responsibility provisions.

In a recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in Valmet Paper Machinery Inc. v. H.A. Davis Transport Ltd., the Court of Appeal considered a decision of the Trial Judge Groberman J. wherein he awarded the plaintiff shippers the sum of $1,244,000 for the destruction of a piece of equipment known as a rewinder, in the course of it being carried by a truck of the appellant motor carrier. The rewinder had been loaded to the ship at Helsinki, transhipped at Bremerhaven to a vessel bound for Los Angeles, transhipped at Los Angeles and off loaded at Vancouver. The rewinder subsequently fell off the truck near Cameron Lake on Vancouver Island in consequence of the undisputed negligence of the motor carrier and its driver.