Cengage Advantage Books: Law for Business 18th Edition by John Ashcroft ,Janet Ashcroft

Exercise 25

Carroll Decker drove for R.D. Roy Transport Inc. He had driven a load of paper pulp bales from New England Public Warehouse (NEPW) to the S.D. Warren mill. Warren asked that the bales be stacked in a contiguous configuration that meant four high and placed side by side at the ends of the trailer and single file down the center. Decker had asked NEPW to use a spaced configuration for his load that meant the bales were side by side at the ends, but no bales were between the stacked bales at the front and back. A Roy driver picked up another load at NEPW. He watched NEPW load using a continuous configuration and drove the load to Roy's terminal. Decker inspected the load from the ground because it looked the same as his prior load. He could not see which configuration was used. Decker drove to an entrance ramp of the turnpike. He heard several thumps, and then the trailer rolled over and crashed. He sued NEPW. Is NEPW, the shipper, liable? [Decker v. New England Public Warehouse Inc., 749 A.2d 762 (Me.)]