Title 8 — Carriage

The contract of carriage is a contract for the conveyance of property, persons, or messages from one place to another.

Carriage is either inland or marine. Carriers upon navigable waters or rivers which are subject to the admiralty jurisdiction of the United States are marine carriers. All others are inland carriers.

Carriers without reward are subject to the same rules as employees without reward, except so far as is otherwise provided by this title.

A carrier without reward, who has begun to perform the carrier's undertaking, shall complete it in like manner as if the carrier had received a reward, unless the carrier restores the person or thing carried to as favorable a position as before the carrier commenced the carriage.

A carrier of persons without reward shall use ordinary care and diligence for their safe carriage, except as the carrier's liability is limited by the provisions of title 39.

A carrier of persons for reward shall use the utmost care and diligence for their safe carriage, shall provide everything necessary for that purpose, and shall exercise to that end a reasonable degree of skill.

A carrier of persons for reward shall provide vehicles safe and fit for the purposes to which they are put and is not excused for default in this respect by any degree of care.

A carrier of persons for reward must not overcrowd nor overload the vehicle used for carriage.

A carrier of persons for reward shall give to passengers all such accommodations as are usual and reasonable and must treat them with civility and give them a reasonable degree of attention.

A carrier of persons for reward shall travel at a reasonable rate of speed without any unreasonable delay or deviation from the proper route.

1. "Carpool" means a ridesharing arrangement in a private passenger automobile or station wagon by two or more persons, regardless of their relationship to each other, to and from common or nearby employment sites. The term includes: a. Shared-driving, in which the car of each pe…

Repealed by S.L. 2021, ch. 280, § 7.

Property carried is called freight; the reward, if any, to be paid for its carriage is called freightage; the person who delivers the freight to the carrier is called the consignor; and the person to whom it is to be delivered is called the consignee.

A carrier of property for reward shall use at least ordinary care and diligence in the performance of all of the carrier's duties. A carrier of property without reward shall use at least slight care and diligence.

A carrier shall comply with the reasonable and lawful directions of the consignor or consignee.

When the directions of a consignor and consignee are conflicting, the carrier shall comply with those of the consignor in respect to all matters except the delivery of the freight. As to delivery of the freight, the carrier shall comply with the directions of the consignee, unles…

A carrier of property shall deliver it to the consignee, at the place to which it is addressed, in the manner usual at that place.

If there is no usage to the contrary at the place of delivery, freight must be delivered as follows: 1. If carried upon a railway owned and managed by the carrier, it may be delivered at the station nearest the place to which it is addressed; 2. If carried by water, it may be del…

If for any reason a carrier does not deliver freight to the consignee or the consignee's agent personally, the carrier shall give notice to the consignee of its arrival and keep the same in safety, upon the carrier's responsibility as a warehouseman, until the consignee has had a…

If a consignee does not accept and remove freight within a reasonable time after the carrier has fulfilled the carrier's obligation to deliver or has duly offered to fulfill the same, the carrier may eliminate further liability for the carrier by placing the freight in a suitable…

Whenever any trunk, valise, bundle, package, or article of property transported or coming into the possession of any railroad, or express company, or any other common carrier in the course of business as common carrier, remains unclaimed and the legal charges thereon unpaid durin…

A carrier, in the exercise of a reasonable discretion, may sell any perishable property which has been transported to its destination, at public or private sale without advertising, if the consignee, on being notified of its arrival, refuses or neglects to receive the same and pa…

A carrier may require the carrier's freightage to be paid upon the carrier's receiving the freight. If the carrier does not demand it then, the carrier cannot demand it until the carrier is ready to deliver the freight to the consignee.

The consignor of freight is presumed to be liable for the freightage, but if the contract between the consignor and the carrier provides that the consignee shall pay it and the carrier allows the consignee to take the freight, the carrier cannot afterwards recover the freightage …

The consignee of freight is liable for the freightage if the consignee accepts the freight with notice of the intention of the consignor that the consignee should pay it.

No freightage can be charged upon the natural increase of freight.

If freightage is apportioned by a bill of lading or other contract made between a consignor and carrier, the carrier is entitled to payment according to the apportionment for so much as the carrier delivers.

If a part of the freight is accepted by a consignee without a specific objection that the rest is not delivered, the freightage must be apportioned and paid as to that part, though not apportioned in the original contract.

If a consignee voluntarily receives freight at a place short of the one appointed for delivery, the carrier is entitled to a just proportion of the freightage, according to the distance. If the carrier, being ready and willing, offers to complete the transit, the carrier is entit…

If freight is carried further or more expeditiously than was agreed upon by the parties, the carrier is not entitled to additional compensation and cannot refuse to deliver it on the demand of the consignee at the place and time of its arrival.

A carrier has a lien for freightage which is regulated by title 35.

A carrier of messages for reward shall deliver a message at the place to which it is addressed or to the person for whom it is intended.

A carrier of messages for reward shall use great care and diligence in the transmission and delivery of messages. A carrier by telegraph shall use the utmost diligence therein.

Everyone who offers to the public to carry persons, property, or messages is a common carrier of whatever or whomever the person offers to carry. Provided, everyone who offers to carry persons under a ridesharing arrangement, as defined in section 8-02-07, is not a common carrier…

A common carrier, if able, shall accept and carry whatever is offered to the common carrier, at a reasonable time and place, of a kind that the common carrier undertakes or is accustomed to carry.

A common carrier shall always give a preference in time and may give a preference in price to the United States and to this state.

A common carrier shall start at such time and place as the common carrier announces to the public unless detained by accident or the elements or in order to connect with carriers on other lines of travel.

A common carrier is entitled to a reasonable compensation which the common carrier may require to be paid in advance. If payment is refused, the common carrier may refuse to carry.

The obligation of a common carrier cannot be limited by general notice on the common carrier's part but may be limited by special contract.

A common carrier cannot be exonerated from liability for the negligence, fraud, or other wrongful act of the common carrier or the common carrier's servants by any agreement made in anticipation thereof.

A passenger, consignor, or consignee, by accepting a ticket, bill of lading, or written contract for carrying with a knowledge of its terms, assents to the rate of hire, and the time, place, and manner of delivery therein stated. A person's assent to any other modification of the…

A common carrier of persons may make rules for the conduct of the common carrier's business and may require passengers to conform to them if they are lawful, public, uniform in their application, and reasonable.

A common carrier of persons, unless the common carrier's vehicle is fitted for the reception of passengers exclusively, shall receive and carry a reasonable amount of luggage for each passenger without any charge.

A common carrier shall deliver every passenger's luggage immediately upon the arrival of the passenger at the passenger's destination, and unless the vehicle would be overcrowded or overloaded thereby, shall carry it on the same vehicle by which the common carrier carries the pas…

The liability of a carrier for luggage received by the carrier with a passenger is the same as that of a common carrier of property.

A common carrier of persons shall provide a sufficient number of vehicles to accommodate all the passengers who can be reasonably expected to require carriage at any one time and shall provide every passenger with a seat. A common carrier of persons must not overload the common c…

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.

A common carrier may demand the fare of passengers either at starting or at any subsequent time.

A passenger who refuses to pay the passenger's fare or to conform to any lawful regulation of the carrier may be ejected from the vehicle by the carrier. This must be done with as little violence as possible and at any usual stopping place or near some dwelling house. After havin…

A common carrier has a lien upon the luggage of a passenger for the payment of such fare as the common carrier is entitled to from that passenger. This lien is regulated by title 35.