Shipping Modes
Multimodal Transport
Carriage by at least two different modes under a single contract and one transport document, with one operator responsible for the entire journey.
In depth
Under a multimodal contract one party — the multimodal transport operator, often a forwarder or NVOCC — issues a single through document and carries responsibility end to end, whichever mode the cargo is on when something goes wrong. For the shipper this is a significant simplification: one contract, one invoice, one party to claim against, rather than having to establish which leg the loss occurred on. The commercial trade-off is that liability limits differ by mode, so the compensation available can still depend on where the damage happened.
Key points
- Two or more modes under one contract and one document
- A single operator is responsible for the whole journey
- Simplifies claims — no need to prove which leg failed
- Liability limits may still vary by the mode where loss occurred