Quick answer: A freight-damage claim is won or lost in the two minutes before you sign. Inspect the pallet at the truck, write the specific damage on the delivery receipt in the driver's presence, photograph everything before it moves, and report it to us within 48 hours. A receipt signed with no exception noted is evidence the shipment arrived in good order.
Why a used engine travels as freight
Above a certain size and weight a bare engine, a transmission or a body panel leaves the parcel network and moves as less-than-truckload (LTL) freight — crated or strapped to a pallet, scheduled by the carrier, and handed over against a delivery receipt rather than left at the door. The curbside, dock and liftgate mechanics are in how used auto parts shipping works; what follows is what happens when the part arrives broken.
The paperwork is not a formality. A motor carrier moving property in interstate commerce must issue a receipt or bill of lading showing the consignor and consignee, the origin and destination points, the number of packages, a description of the freight and its weight. Any later claim is built on that document.
The delivery receipt decides everything
Federal law — the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. 14706 — makes the carrier that receives the property and the carrier that delivers it liable for the actual loss or injury to it, so a freight claim is a real remedy. But liability must be proved, and the proof is the freight's recorded condition when it changed hands. Transportation-law guidance on concealed damage puts it plainly: a clear delivery receipt signed by the consignee is usually considered good evidence the shipment was delivered in good order, and the claimant must then prove the damage existed at delivery and could not have happened afterwards. Never sign clean for a shipment you can see is damaged.
Write what you can actually see
One major LTL carrier's rules tariff provides that where there is visible, observable evidence of loss, damage or shortage, the proper exception must be placed on the delivery receipt at the time of delivery — and that deliveries are not made subject to inspection, so you cannot open a crate at the door when nothing outside it is damaged. Describe what you see: which crate panel is split, which corner is crushed, where the wrap is torn, and that photographs were taken.
One hedge is worse than no note at all. That same tariff states that "subject to" is an improper exception that may not be placed on a delivery receipt, and that any use of the term will be treated as evidence of clear delivery — the exact opposite of what people write it for. A specific exception protects the claim; "subject to inspection" hands the carrier a clean receipt.
If the crate is destroyed, the pallet has collapsed or the part is visibly broken rather than scuffed, refuse the shipment — and call us while the driver is there.
Photograph the pallet before anything moves
- All four sides, the freight labels and the receipt, before the pallet is touched.
- Again as the wrap and crate come off — an unbroken sequence from sealed to opened.
- The damage itself and the part's casting numbers — then keep the crate, pallet and packing as found.
Concealed damage is the harder fight
Concealed damage is damage that was not discovered, and could not have been discovered, until after the carrier completed delivery. On a crated engine that is common: nothing outside looks wrong until the crate is off.
Most LTL carriers participate in the National Motor Freight Classification, whose reporting rule tells the consignee to report concealed damage to the delivering carrier on discovery, request an inspection, hold the container and contents as found, and — unless the carrier specifies otherwise — give notice within five business days of delivery. The carrier then has five normal working days to inspect, excluding weekends and holidays, and its written report supports your claim.
The sting is in the same rule: where a clear delivery receipt exists with no damage or shortage noted, the claimant must document that the damage occurred before delivery. And the classification binds only participating carriers, so your real window is whatever your carrier's bill of lading and rules tariff say.
Watch both clocks, because they are not the same clock. Carrier notice runs in business days from delivery; a return request runs 7 calendar days from confirmed carrier delivery. A crate you open the following weekend can still be inside one and close to the edge of the other. Tell us the day you find the damage, not the day you finish diagnosing it.
Who files the claim, and against whom
Under Carmack the carrier is liable to the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading, and a written claim may go to the receiving carrier, the delivering carrier, the carrier that issued the bill of lading, or the carrier on whose line the loss occurred. No carrier may set a filing period shorter than nine months.
A claim is narrower than people assume: federal rules treat a communication as a claim only if it identifies the shipment, asserts liability and claims payment of a specified or determinable amount of money — and they say expressly that a damage notation on a delivery receipt, a bad-order report or an appraisal report, standing alone, is not enough. Once a proper claim is filed the carrier must acknowledge it in writing within 30 days unless it has already paid or declined it, and pay, decline or make a firm written settlement offer within 120 days.
On an order placed through us, you do not file with the carrier yourself. Risk of loss transfers to you on carrier pickup and LiveAutoParts is not responsible for loss or damage occurring after that point, but we manage freight-damage and lost-in-transit claims with the carrier and supplier on your behalf. What we need from you is the delivery-receipt notation and the photographs; what the carrier then does with the claim is still the carrier's decision.
What a freight claim does not stretch to cover
Carriers may limit liability to a value the shipper declares in writing or agrees in writing. One major LTL carrier's rules tariff releases used, reconditioned or refurbished goods — automobile parts named explicitly in that table — to a low value per pound with a cap per occurrence unless higher coverage was declared up front. Even the optional full-value coverage carries carve-outs: that tariff excludes mechanical, electrical or electronic derangement, and unsuitable packing. So a used ECU or PCM that arrives dead in an undamaged crate is a hard freight claim — there is no damage on the receipt to point at, and derangement sits outside the coverage that would otherwise pay.
Our own terms sit alongside that, not inside it. The 30-day limited warranty from delivery — up to 90 days on select parts where your quotation states it — covers the part itself, not labour, installation, diagnostics, towing, a rental vehicle or any other indirect or consequential cost, and a refund covers the part price only. The used parts warranty guide has the rest.
Do this, in this order
- Note any visible damage on the delivery receipt before you sign, in the driver's presence.
- Photograph the packaging and the part before unpacking.
- Report the damage to us within 48 hours of delivery.
- Keep all original packaging in case the carrier requests an inspection.
- Wait for a written RMA before sending anything back — unauthorised returns may be refused, discarded, or returned at your expense.
- Do not install, test or connect an electrical or electronic part you suspect is damaged — those are final sale once installed, tested or connected.
Returns must be requested within 7 calendar days of confirmed carrier delivery. Where the fault is ours — wrong part, defective part, shipping damage — we cover return shipping and no restocking fee applies. Missing these steps can void a shipping-damage claim, because the carrier will refuse it.
If you are still at the quoting stage, raise it then rather than at the curb. When you request a quote by VIN, say where the part will be delivered and ask how the unit is crated. The terms printed on your quotation control.
