Chandler v. Aero Mayflower Transit Co.

CRAVEN, Circuit Judge:

This is a suit by William E. Chandler, Jr. (shipper)1 against Aero Mayflower Transit Company (carrier) to recover the value of household property destroyed by fire while in transit in the carrier’s van between Columbia, South Carolina, and San Francisco, California. The principal question for decision is whether the shipper is entitled to recover the fair market value of his property on the basis of the carrier’s liability as it existed at common law or whether by reason of the provisions of 49 U.S.C.A. Section 20(11) he is limited in his recovery to the “released value…