General Principles Flashcards
What is the test to determine whether a person is a common carrier?
The law makes no distinction between one whose principal business activity is the carrying of persons or goods or both, and one who does such carrying only as an ancillary activity (in local idiom, as “a sideline”). Article 1732 of the Civil Code also carefully avoids making any distinction between a person or enterprise offering transportation service on a regular or scheduled basis and one offering such service on an occasional, episodic, or unscheduled basis.
Neither does Article 1732 distinguish between a carrier offering its services to the “general public,” i.e., the general community or population, and one who offers services or solicits business only from a narrow segment of the general population.
What are the requisites to be a common carrier?
He must be engaged in the business of transporting passengers or goods generally as a business, not just as a casual occupation;
He must undertake to carry passengers or goods over established roads by the method by which the business was conducted; and
The transportation must be for hire.
- “Spouses Perena, ibid.; First Philippine Industrial Pipeline v. Court ofAppeals,
G.R. No. 125948, December 29, 1989.
Cite examples of common carriers.
Barge operator
Passenger jeepney, bus company, or a taxi company
Vessels engaged in inter-island shipping
Cargo truck to transport anybody’s goods for a fee
Is a pipeline operator a common carrier?
Yes. It is engaged in the business of transporting or carrying goods, i.e., petroleum products, for hire as a public employment, it undertakes to carry for all persons indifferently, that is, to all
persons who choose to employ its services, and transports the goods and for compensation. The fact that the pipeline operator as a limited clientele does not exclude it from the definition of a common carrier. Moreover, the definition of “common carriers” in the Civil Code makes no distinction as to the means of transporting,
as long as it is by land, water, or air. It does not provide that the transportation of the passengers or goods should be by motor vehicle.
Are school bus operators common carriers?
Yes. Persons engaged in the business of transporting students from their respective residences to their school and back are
considered common carrier. Despite catering to a limited clientele, they operate as common carriers because they hold themselves out as a ready transportation indiscriminately to the students of a particular school living within or near where they operate the service and for a fee.
Is a travel agency a common carrier?
A travel agency is not a common carrier. It only arranges for the transportation of its clients for air carriage. As such, it is not bound to exercise extraordinary diligence in the performance of its obligations.
What is a private carrier?
A private carrier is one who, without making it his vocation or holding himself out to the public as ready to act for all who desire his services, undertakes, by special arrangement in a particular instance only, to transport persons or property from one destination to another, either gratuitously or for hire.
Give examples of private carriers.
Bareboat charter
Funeral car
company bus
May a common carrier be converted to private carrier by stipulation?
Yes. A common carrier may be converted to a private carrier in case of bareboat or demise charter, that is, the ship owner lets the vessel and the crew insofar as that particular voyage is concerned. A common carrier retains its status as such in case of voyage or time charter, where the charter is limited to the ship.
It was held in one case that carrier was converted into a private carrier notwithstanding the existence of the Time Charter Party agreement since the said agreement was not limited to the ship only but extends even to the control of its crew. Despite the denomination as Time Charter by the parties, their agreement undoubtedly reflected that their intention was to enter into a Bareboat Charter Agreement.
During the elections last May, AB, a congressional candidate in Marinduque, chartered the helicopter owned by Lode Mining Corporation (LMC) for use in the election campaign. AB paid LMC the same rate normally charged by companies regularly engaged in the plane chartering business. In the charter agreement between LMC and AB, LMC expressly disclaimed any responsibility for the acts or omissions of its pilot or for the defective condition of the helicopter’s engine. The helicopter crashed killing AB. Investigations disclosed that pilot error was the cause of the accident. LMC now consults you on its possible liability for AB’s death in light of the above findings.
How would you reply to LMCs query?
I would reply to LMC’s query as follows:
LMC is not liable for the death of AB. LMC is not a common carrier, but a private carrier, because it did not hold itself to the public as being engaged in transportation business. A stipulation with a private carrier that would exempt responsibility for simple negligence of the carrier’s employees is a valid stipulation. Such a stipulation, however, will not hold in cases of liability for gross negligence or bad faith.
