8.2 Characteristics of Carriage and Contract of Carriage

1. Bailment for reward — possession of the goods for transit; the carrier's care duty (Unit 2's bailee standard, heightened by reward).2. The common carrier's public character — the old common-law insurer's liability: the common carrier answered for all loss short of the classic exceptions (act of God, act of theQueen's/state's enemies, the shipper's own fault, inherent vice — the quartet, named as doctrine), now softened by statute, convention and standard terms.3. Document-driven — the consignment note (land), rail receipt, bill of lading (sea), airwaybill (air): receipt + evidence of the contract + (for the bill) document of title.4. Freight as the price — payable per the contract; the carrier's lien on the goods for freight and charges (Unit 2).5. The standard-form world — carriers' conditions of carriage, limitation clauses and convention caps; the consumer-protection overlay polices the riders (Law of Contract-I, Unit 4's exclusion-clause controls).