Freight law. Where cargo, contract and timing must fit together.
Loss, damage and delay are rarely resolved by a single document. This portal connects the transport contract, consignment note, evidence, liability roles and time limits and guides you to focused topics, checks and checklists.
Mag. Bernhard Brandauer, Austrian attorney-at-law
BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte
Mag. Bernhard Brandauer assists with the legal assessment of transport contracts, cargo damage and freight claims.
From the first damage notice to a reliable transport file.
In freight matters, the claim, possible defences and the available evidence are closely connected. A structured process helps reconstruct the parties, the contractual chain and the condition of the cargo.
Clarify roles and instructions
Consignor, consignee, carrier, subcontracting carrier and freight forwarder may perform different tasks. The instructions, actual process and businesses involved need to be reviewed together.
Preserve evidence early
Consignment note, proof of delivery, reservations, photographs, packaging, temperature records and correspondence should be linked to a specific shipment and time.
Organise limits and claims
Notice requirements, liability limits, limitation periods and possible defences are separate questions. Early documentation reduces the risk of losing decisive information.
Begin with the specific transport event. The topic pages explain the legal connections, the interactive checks organise the first questions and the checklists help assemble the relevant documents.
Which part of the transport needs to be clarified?
Choose the area in which the contract, records, damage, delay or cross-border process needs to be examined.
CMR and the transport contract
When the CMR applies, how instructions and the contract of carriage interact and which agreements matter for the legal classification.
Learn more →Consignment note and documentation
Which details and reservations in consignment notes, proof of delivery and digital transport records matter when evidence is assessed.
Learn more →Carrier liability and cargo damage
Assess loss, damage and liability limits by considering custody, the damage pattern, packaging and possible exclusions.
Learn more →Delivery delay and carriage obstacles
Record delay, instructions, transhipment and obstacles in the transport process and place them in their contractual and liability context.
Learn more →Freight forwarding and logistics contracts
Distinguish forwarding, carriage, storage and ancillary services and identify responsibility along the actual logistics chain.
Learn more →Cross-border carriage of goods
Align the applicable rules, jurisdiction, transport records and operational interfaces at an early stage of an international shipment.
Learn more →CMR liability check
Interactive orientation on liability, reservations and documents.
Tools, knowledge and checklists
Freight law combines contract, liability and evidence.
A cargo claim can only be assessed reliably if the contract, route, roles of the parties and actual condition of the goods are considered together. Depending on the facts, the CMR, Austrian commercial and civil law, contractual terms and other transport rules may interact. Fracht-recht.at is the multilingual specialist portal of BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte. It helps businesses and affected parties structure the facts, identify relevant records and prepare a focused legal review.
Common questions about freight law
When does the CMR apply to a transport? +
What should be preserved first after cargo damage? +
Is a transport contract invalid without a complete consignment note? +
Which time limits apply to loss, damage or delay? +
Who may be liable where several transport companies were involved? +
Which documents help with an initial legal assessment? +
Discuss a freight-law matter
Briefly describe the route, the parties and the event. We will discuss which documents and next review step may be useful.
Clarify a freight-law question
Address
BRANDAUER Rechtsanwälte GmbH Giselakai 51 5020 Salzburg
Phone
+43 662 6280000