private carrier
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 314 U.S. 104 - Commercial Molasses Corp. v. New York Tank Barge Corp. · 1941Most cited · 778 citing opinions
admiralty
not an insurer. His undertaking is to exercise due care in the protection of the goods committed to his care and to perform the obligation of his contract including the warranty of seaworthiness when he is a shipowner
How the Supreme Court has restated “private carrier”
Each Supreme Court definition of “private carrier,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “private carrier”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “private carrier” — 1,657 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1873–1941
- ORIGINAL
A common carrier may, undoubtedly, become a private carrier, or a bailee for hire, when, as a matter of accommodation or special engagement, he undertakes to carry something which it is not his business to carry.
He does not undertake to carry for the public and does not devote his property to any public use. He has done nothing to give rise to a duty to carry for others. The public is not dependent on him or the use of his property for service, and has no right to call on him for transportation.