407.302(1)(1) The issuer of a through bill of lading or other document embodying an undertaking to be performed in part by persons acting as its agents or by connecting carriers is liable to anyone entitled to recover on the document for any breach by such other persons or by a connecting carrier of its obligation under the document but to the extent that the bill covers an undertaking to be performed overseas or in territory not contiguous to the continental United States or an undertaking including matters other than transportation this liability may be varied by agreement of the parties.
407.302(2)
(2) Where goods covered by a through bill of lading or other document embodying an undertaking to be performed in part by persons other than the issuer are received by any such person, that person is subject with respect to that person's own performance while the goods are in that person's possession to the obligation of the issuer. That person's obligation is discharged by delivery of the goods to another such person pursuant to the document, and does not include liability for breach by any other such persons or by the issuer.
407.302(3)
(3) The issuer of such through bill of lading or other document shall be entitled to recover from the connecting carrier or such other person in possession of the goods when the breach of the obligation under the document occurred, the amount it may be required to pay to anyone entitled to recover on the document therefor, as may be evidenced by any receipt, judgment, or transcript thereof, and the amount of any expense reasonably incurred by it in defending any action brought by anyone entitled to recover on the document therefor.
407.302 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.303
407.303
Diversion; reconsignment; change of instructions. 407.303(1)(1) Unless the bill of lading otherwise provides, the carrier may deliver the goods to a person or destination other than that stated in the bill or may otherwise dispose of the goods on instructions from:
407.303(1)(b)
(b) The consignor on a nonnegotiable bill notwithstanding contrary instructions from the consignee; or
407.303(1)(c)
(c) The consignee on a nonnegotiable bill in the absence of contrary instructions from the consignor, if the goods have arrived at the billed destination or if the consignee is in possession of the bill; or
407.303(1)(d)
(d) The consignee on a nonnegotiable bill if the consignee is entitled as against the consignor to dispose of them.
407.303(2)
(2) Unless such instructions are noted on a negotiable bill of lading, a person to whom the bill is duly negotiated can hold the bailee according to the original terms.
407.303 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.304
407.304
Bills of lading in a set. 407.304(1)
(1) Except where customary in overseas transportation, a bill of lading must not be issued in a set of parts. The issuer is liable for damages caused by violation of this subsection.
407.304(2)
(2) Where a bill of lading is lawfully drawn in a set of parts, each of which is numbered and expressed to be valid only if the goods have not been delivered against any other part, the whole of the parts constitute one bill.
407.304(3)
(3) Where a bill of lading is lawfully issued in a set of parts and different parts are negotiated to different persons, the title of the holder to whom the first due negotiation is made prevails as to both the document and the goods even though any later holder may have received the goods from the carrier in good faith and discharged the carrier's obligation by surrender of his or her part.
407.304(4)
(4) Any person who negotiates or transfers a single part of a bill of lading drawn in a set is liable to holders of that part as if it were the whole set.
407.304(5)
(5) The bailee is obliged to deliver in accordance with
ss. 407.401 to
407.404 against the first presented part of a bill of lading lawfully drawn in a set. Such delivery discharges the bailee's obligation on the whole bill.
407.304 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.305(1)(1) Instead of issuing a bill of lading to the consignor at the place of shipment a carrier may at the request of the consignor procure the bill to be issued at destination or at any other place designated in the request.
407.305(2)
(2) Upon request of anyone entitled as against the carrier to control the goods while in transit and on surrender of any outstanding bill of lading or other receipt covering such goods, the issuer may procure a substitute bill to be issued at any place designated in the request.
407.306
407.306
Altered bills of lading. An unauthorized alteration or filling in of a blank in a bill of lading leaves the bill enforceable according to its original tenor.
407.307(1)(1) A carrier has a lien on the goods covered by a bill of lading for charges subsequent to the date of its receipt of the goods for storage or transportation (including demurrage and terminal charges) and for expenses necessary for preservation of the goods incident to their transportation or reasonably incurred in their sale pursuant to law. But against a purchaser for value of a negotiable bill of lading a carrier's lien is limited to charges stated in the bill or the applicable tariffs, or if no charges are stated then to a reasonable charge.
407.307(2)
(2) A lien for charges and expenses under
sub. (1) on goods which the carrier was required by law to receive for transportation is effective against the consignor or any person entitled to the goods unless the carrier had notice that the consignor lacked authority to subject the goods to such charges and expenses. Any other lien under
sub. (1) is effective against the consignor and any person who permitted the bailor to have control or possession of the goods unless the carrier had notice that the bailor lacked such authority.
407.307(3)
(3) A carrier loses the carrier's lien on any goods which the carrier voluntarily delivers or which the carrier unjustifiably refuses to deliver.
407.307 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.308
407.308
Enforcement of carrier's lien. 407.308(1)
(1) A carrier's lien may be enforced by public or private sale of the goods, in bloc or in parcels, at any time or place and on any terms which are commercially reasonable, after notifying all persons known to claim an interest in the goods. Such notification must include a statement of the amount due, the nature of the proposed sale and the time and place of any public sale. The fact that a better price could have been obtained by a sale at a different time or in a different method from that selected by the carrier is not of itself sufficient to establish that the sale was not made in a commercially reasonable manner. If the carrier either sells the goods in the usual manner in any recognized market therefor or if the carrier sells at the price current in such market at the time of the sale or if the carrier has otherwise sold in conformity with commercially reasonable practices among dealers in the type of goods sold, the carrier has sold in a commercially reasonable manner. A sale of more goods than apparently necessary to be offered to ensure satisfaction of the obligation is not commercially reasonable except in cases covered by the preceding sentence.
407.308(2)
(2) Before any sale pursuant to this section any person claiming a right in the goods may pay the amount necessary to satisfy the lien and the reasonable expenses incurred under this section. In that event the goods must not be sold, but must be retained by the carrier subject to the terms of the bill and this chapter.
407.308(3)
(3) The carrier may buy at any public sale pursuant to this section.
407.308(4)
(4) A purchaser in good faith of goods sold to enforce a carrier's lien takes the goods free of any rights of persons against whom the lien was valid, despite noncompliance by the carrier with the requirements of this section.
407.308(5)
(5) The carrier may satisfy the carrier's lien from the proceeds of any sale pursuant to this section but must hold the balance, if any, for delivery on demand to any person to whom the carrier would have been bound to deliver the goods.
407.308(6)
(6) The rights provided by this section are in addition to all other rights allowed by law to a creditor against the creditor's debtor.
407.308(7)
(7) A carrier's lien may be enforced in accordance with either
sub. (1) or the procedure set forth in
s. 407.210 (2).
407.308(8)
(8) The carrier is liable for damages caused by failure to comply with the requirements for sale under this section and in case of wilful violation is liable for conversion.
407.308 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.309
407.309
Duty of care; contractual limitation of carrier's liability. 407.309(1)(1) A carrier who issues a bill of lading whether negotiable or nonnegotiable must exercise the degree of care in relation to the goods which a reasonably careful person would exercise under like circumstances. This subsection does not repeal or change any law or rule of law which imposes liability upon a common carrier for damages not caused by its negligence.
407.309(2)
(2) Damages may be limited by a provision that the carrier's liability shall not exceed a value stated in the document if the carrier's rates are dependent upon value and the consignor by the carrier's tariff is afforded an opportunity to declare a higher value or a value as lawfully provided in the tariff, or where no tariff is filed he or she is otherwise advised of such opportunity; but no such limitation is effective with respect to the carrier's liability for conversion to its own use.
407.309(3)
(3) Reasonable provisions as to the time and manner of presenting claims and instituting actions based on the shipment may be included in a bill of lading or tariff.
407.309 History
History: 1975 c. 94 s.
91 (12);
1991 a. 316.
WAREHOUSE RECEIPTS AND BILLS OF LADING:
GENERAL OBLIGATIONS
407.401
407.401
Irregularities in issue of receipt or bill or conduct of issuer. The obligations imposed by this chapter on an issuer apply to a document of title regardless of the fact that:
407.401(1)
(1) The document may not comply with the requirements of this chapter or of any other law or regulation regarding its issue, form or content; or
407.401(2)
(2) The issuer may have violated laws regulating the conduct of the issuer's business; or
407.401(3)
(3) The goods covered by the document were owned by the bailee at the time the document was issued; or
407.401(4)
(4) The person issuing the document does not come within the definition of warehouse keeper if it purports to be a warehouse receipt.
407.401 History
History: 1983 a. 500 s.
43;
1991 a. 316.
407.402
407.402
Duplicate receipt or bill; overissue. Neither a duplicate nor any other document of title purporting to cover goods already represented by an outstanding document of the same issuer confers any right in the goods, except as provided in the case of bills in a set, overissue of documents for fungible goods and substitutes for lost, stolen or destroyed documents. But the issuer is liable for damages caused by the issuer's overissue or failure to identify a duplicate document as such by conspicuous notation on its face.
407.402 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.403
407.403
Obligation of warehouse keeper or carrier to deliver; excuse. 407.403(1)(1) The bailee must deliver the goods to a person entitled under the document who complies with
subs. (2) and
(3), unless and to the extent that the bailee establishes any of the following:
407.403(1)(a)
(a) Delivery of the goods to a person whose receipt was rightful as against the claimant;
407.403(1)(b)
(b) Damage to or delay, loss or destruction of the goods for which the bailee is not liable;
407.403(1)(c)
(c) Previous sale or other disposition of the goods in lawful enforcement of a lien or on warehouse keeper's lawful termination of storage;
407.403(1)(e)
(e) A diversion, reconsignment or other disposition pursuant to
s. 407.303 or tariff regulating such right;
407.403(1)(f)
(f) Release, satisfaction or any other fact affording a personal defense against the claimant;
407.403(2)
(2) A person claiming goods covered by a document of title must satisfy the bailee's lien where the bailee so requests or where the bailee is prohibited by law from delivering the goods until the charges are paid.
407.403(3)
(3) Unless the person claiming is one against whom the document confers no right under
s. 407.503 (1), that person must surrender for cancellation or notation of partial deliveries any outstanding negotiable document covering the goods, and the bailee must cancel the document or conspicuously note the partial delivery thereon or be liable to any person to whom the document is duly negotiated.
407.403(4)
(4) "Person entitled under the document" means holder in the case of a negotiable document, or the person to whom delivery is to be made by the terms of or pursuant to written instructions under a nonnegotiable document.
407.403 History
History: 1983 a. 500 s.
43;
1991 a. 148,
316.
407.404
407.404
No liability for good faith delivery pursuant to receipt or bill. A bailee who in good faith including observance of reasonable commercial standards has received goods and delivered or otherwise disposed of them according to the terms of the document of title or pursuant to this chapter is not liable therefor. This rule applies even though the person from whom the bailee received the goods had no authority to procure the document or to dispose of the goods and even though the person to whom the bailee delivered the goods had no authority to receive them.
407.404 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
WAREHOUSE RECEIPTS AND BILLS OF LADING:
NEGOTIATION AND TRANSFER
407.501
407.501
Form of negotiation and requirements of "due negotiation". 407.501(1)(1) A negotiable document of title running to the order of a named person is negotiated by that named person's indorsement and delivery. After the named person's indorsement in blank or to bearer any person can negotiate it by delivery alone.
407.501(2)(a)(a) A negotiable document of title is also negotiated by delivery alone when by its original terms it runs to bearer and has not been indorsed to a specified person.
407.501(2)(b)
(b) When a document running to the order of a named person is delivered to the named person the effect is the same as if the document had been negotiated.
407.501(3)
(3) Negotiation of a negotiable document of title after it has been indorsed to a specified person requires indorsement by the special indorsee as well as delivery.
407.501(4)
(4) A negotiable document of title is "duly negotiated" when it is negotiated in the manner stated in this section to a holder who purchases it in good faith without notice of any defense against or claim to it on the part of any person and for value, unless it is established that the negotiation is not in the regular course of business or financing or involves receiving the document in settlement or payment of a money obligation.
407.501(5)
(5) Indorsement of a nonnegotiable document neither makes it negotiable nor adds to the transferee's rights.
407.501(6)
(6) The naming in a negotiable bill of a person to be notified of the arrival of the goods does not limit the negotiability of the bill nor constitute notice to a purchaser thereof of any interest of such person in the goods.
407.501 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.501 Annotation
Buyer in ordinary course of business under article 9 of the uniform commercial code (and related matters). Skilton, 1974 WLR 1.
407.502
407.502
Rights acquired by due negotiation. 407.502(1)
(1) Subject to
s. 407.503 and to
s. 407.205 on fungible goods, a holder to whom a negotiable document of title has been duly negotiated acquires thereby:
407.502(1)(c)
(c) All rights accruing under the law of agency or estoppel, including rights to goods delivered to the bailee after the document was issued; and
407.502(1)(d)
(d) The direct obligation of the issuer to hold or deliver the goods according to the terms of the document free of any defense or claim by the issuer except those arising under the terms of the document or under this chapter. In the case of a delivery order the bailee's obligation accrues only upon acceptance and the obligation acquired by the holder is that the issuer and any indorser will procure the acceptance of the bailee.
407.502(2)
(2) Subject to
s. 407.503, title and rights so acquired are not defeated by any stoppage of the goods represented by the document or by surrender of such goods by the bailee, and are not impaired even though the negotiation or any prior negotiation constituted a breach of duty or even though any person has been deprived of possession of the document by misrepresentation, fraud, accident, mistake, duress, loss, theft or conversion, or even though a previous sale or other transfer of the goods or document has been made to a third person.
407.502 History
History: 1991 a. 316.
407.503
407.503
Document of title to goods defeated in certain cases. 407.503(1)(1) A document of title confers no right in goods against a person who before issuance of the document had a legal interest or a perfected security interest in them and who neither:
