Tietjen delivered a load of apples to the railroad to be shipped to philadelphia

Question

Tietjen delivered a load of apples to the railroad to be shipped to philadelphia when the paperwork was ready. Tietjen's secretary got the flu and did not complete the paperwork for four days. When the railroad received the papers it hauled the apples to philadephia and notified the consignee they were at the depot. It took the consignee five more days to pick up the apples. A number of the apples had begun to spoil. What standard of care did the railroad have toward the apples while it had possession of them?

This is for business law class, there is not subject for this question.

Explanation / Answer

Liability of the Bailee

Duty of Care

The basic rule which could be implemented in this case is that bailee is expected to return all the bailed goods to the owner when the possession time for the bailee is over and they will be liable if the products are not returned. But it should not understand that if the delivery of goods has been accepted by the bailee then bailee is also responsible for the safety of the products. We must know that the law of bailments cannot be applied as a standard of absolute liability which means that the bailee cannot be treated as the insurer of the product’s safety and the liabilities depends on the nature of the circumstances. In the decisions of some of the courts, the liability of bailee id the straightforward standard of “ordinary care under the circumstances.” If the necessary actions are taken by the bailee then no losses can be recovered from them.

As in the case, the apple started to rotten then the railways has the responsibility for either returning the product to the bailor or to inform the events to the bailor so that the necessary steps can be taken by the other party. Railway is only responsible for the transportation not for the safety and maintaining the status of the product.

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