Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company v. Long et al

Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company, as subrogee of Techno Horizon, sued trucker Michael Long and Long Transportation Services after printing press parts shipped from China were damaged in a Georgia road accident during the inland leg. Nationwide had paid nearly $300,000 for the loss. The defendants invoked the ocean bill of lading's Himalaya Clause and the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA) to limit liability to $500 per package. The district court agreed, but the Eleventh Circuit reversed on March 30, 2023. The appellate court held that COGSA applies only from tackle-to-tackle and that the Himalaya Clause did not clearly and explicitly extend COGSA's liability limitation to a purely inland truck carrier. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's summary judgment, holding that COGSA's liability limitation did not apply to the inland carrier, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Whether a Himalaya Clause in an ocean bill of lading effectively extends COGSA's $500 per-package liability limitation to a purely domestic inland truck carrier for damage occurring entirely during the road segment.

The decision clarified the strict limits of extending maritime liability protections inland, reinforcing that Himalaya Clauses must be unambiguous. It provided critical guidance for subrogation claims by marine cargo insurers and highlighted the contractual pitfalls in multimodal logistics, prompting shippers and carriers to re-examine risk allocation in through bills of lading.