Freight - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition freight

Definition :

Freight, the sum paid by a merchant or other person chartering a ship or part of a ship, or sending goods in a general ship, for the use of such ship or part, or the conveyance of such goods during a specified voyage or for a specified time. The freight is most commonly fixed by the charter-party, or bill of lading, but in the absence of any formal stipulation on the subject it would be due according to the custom or usage of trade. In the absence of an express contact to the contrary, the entire freight is not earned until the whole cargo be ready for delivery, or has been delivered to the consignee, according to the contract for its conveyance.

1. Goods transported by water, land or air 2. Compensation paid to carrier for transporting goods, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 677.

Dead freight is the freight agreed to be paid in respect of any part of the cargo which was contracted to be carried and through any fault of the consignor has not been carried.

As to the shipowners' lien for freight, see (English) Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, ss. 494, 495 (repeating ss. 68-70 of the repealed Merchant Shipping Act, 1862). See also (English) Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. Consult Maclachlan or Temperley on merchant Shipping; Abbott on Merchant Ships.

It means the charge levied for the carriage of goods including transhipment charges, if any. [Railways Act, 1989, s. 2 (17)]