Title 49 — Transportation
Chapter 801 — Bills of Lading
§ 80103. Negotiable and nonnegotiable bills
Statutory text
Negotiable Bills.—
A bill of lading is negotiable if the bill—
states that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a consignee; and
does not contain on its face an agreement with the shipper that the bill is not negotiable.
Inserting in a negotiable bill of lading the name of a person to be notified of the arrival of the goods—
does not limit its negotiability; and
is not notice to the purchaser of the goods of a right the named person has to the goods.
Nonnegotiable Bills.—
A bill of lading is nonnegotiable if the bill states that the goods are to be delivered to a consignee. The indorsement of a nonnegotiable bill does not—
make the bill negotiable; or
give the transferee any additional right.
A common carrier issuing a nonnegotiable bill of lading must put “nonnegotiable” or “not negotiable” on the bill. This paragraph does not apply to an informal memorandum or acknowledgment.
Legislative history
Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.
Pub. L. 103–272 § 1(e) · 108 Stat. 745
Enacted · 49 U.S.C. § 80103
(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1346.)
Source evidence
Code source credit
(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1346.)Enacted provision · exact public law section
Section 1. subtitles ii, ii, and v-x of title 49, united states code (a) Certain general and permanent laws of the 49 USC prec. 101 note. United States, related to transportation, are revised, codified, and enacted by subsections (c)–(e) of this section without substantive change as subtitles II, III, and V–X of title 49, United States Code, “Transportation”. Those laws may be cited as “49 U.S.C. ________”. (b) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking the table of subtitles at the beginning of the title and substituting the following new table of subtitles: “Subtitle “I. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION “II. OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES “III. GENERAL AND INTERMODAL PROGRAMS “IV. INTERSTATE COMMERCE “V. RAIL PROGRAMS “VI. MOTOR VEHICLE AND DRIVER PROGRAMS “VII. AVIATION PROGRAMS “VIII. PIPELINES “IX. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION “X. MISCELLANEOUS (c) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking subtitle II, except that chapter 31 (comprising sections 3101–3104) of subtitle II is redesignated and restated as chapter 315 (comprising sections 31501–31504) of subtitle VI of title 49, as enacted by subsection (e) of this section. (d) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding the following immediately after subtitle I:
1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision
Notes
historicalAndRevision
| Historical and Revision Notes | ||
|---|---|---|
| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 80103(a)(1) | 49 App.:83. | Aug. 29, 1916, ch. 415, §§ 2, 3, 6, 7, 29 (last sentence), 39 Stat. 539, 543. |
| 80103(a)(2) | 49 App.:87. | |
| 80103(b)(1) | 49 App.:82. | |
| 49 App.:109 (last sentence). | ||
| 80103(b)(2) | 49 App.:86. | |
In subsection (a)(1), the words “A bill of lading is negotiable if . . . states that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a consignee” are substituted for “A bill in which it is stated that the goods are consigned or destined to the order of any person named in such bill is an order bill” for clarity and consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. The words “does not contain on its face an agreement with the shipper that the bill is not negotiable” are substituted for 49 App.:83 (last sentence) for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words.
In subsection (a)(2)(B), the words “right the named person has” are substituted for “rights or equities of such person” for clarity.
In subsection (b)(1), before clause (A), the words “A bill of lading is nonnegotiable if” are substituted for “A bill in which . . . is a straight bill” in 49 App.:82 for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code. The words “free from existing equities” in 49 App.:109 (last sentence) are omitted as surplus.