What is the Carmack Amendment?

The Carmack Amendment governs the liability of interstate motor and rail carriers for cargo loss or damage. By default the carrier is liable for the actual loss, but it can lawfully limit liability to a released value rate per pound if the shipper agreed to that lower rate in exchange for a lower freight charge.

What is a released value rate?

A released value rate caps the carrier's liability at a stated dollar amount per pound, such as 60 cents per pound, rather than the cargo's full value. Shippers accept it for a cheaper rate, but it can leave high-value goods badly under-recovered if they are lost or stolen.

Why is depreciation subtracted?

Recovery is usually based on the actual value of the goods at the time of loss, not their original purchase price. For used or aging goods that means applying a depreciation percentage, so the recoverable value reflects what the cargo was actually worth when it was lost.

How does the deductible affect recovery?

If the claim is paid through cargo insurance, the policy deductible is subtracted from the gross recovery. The tool deducts it after applying the carrier cap and depreciation, so the net recovery is what you would actually receive.

What is the uncovered shortfall?

The shortfall is the gap between the cargo's actual value and the net recovery. It exists when the carrier liability cap or the deductible leaves part of the loss unrecovered, which is the gap that separate full-value cargo insurance is designed to close.

What is the Cargo Theft & Loss Recovery Calculator?

Applies carrier liability limits (Carmack per-lb limits, released-value rates, or full-value declared), then deducts policy deductibles and depreciation to estimate net cargo claim recovery and the uncovered shortfall. For shippers and cargo claims adjusters. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Cargo Theft & Loss Recovery Calculator

Name: Cargo Theft & Loss Recovery Calculator
Creator: Gera Tools
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Get one useful tool a week

Like this tool? Enter your email and we'll send you one genuinely useful Gera tool a week — plus a link to come back to this one. No spam, one-click unsubscribe any time.

When cargo is stolen or lost, the amount you actually recover is rarely the full value of the goods. Carrier liability is often capped per pound, depreciation lowers the recoverable value, and an insurance deductible comes off the top. This calculator estimates the net recovery under each basis of liability and shows the uncovered shortfall.

How it works

The recovery is the lesser of the depreciated value and the carrier’s liability cap, minus the deductible:

depreciated_value = actual_value × (1 − depreciation%)
carrier_cap       = declared_value            (full value basis)
                  = weight × per_lb_rate       (released / Carmack limit)
gross_recovery    = min(depreciated_value, carrier_cap)
net_recovery      = max(0, gross_recovery − deductible)
shortfall         = actual_value − net_recovery

The basis of liability is the key driver. A released value rate of a few cents per pound can cap recovery far below the cargo’s worth, while declaring full value removes the per-pound ceiling.

Three bases of liability compared

Basis	How the cap is set	Best for
Released value rate	Weight × cents-per-lb agreed at booking	Bulk commodities, cost-sensitive shippers
Carmack default	Actual proved loss	Higher-value freight where no special rate was signed
Full declared value	The value stated on the bill of lading	Electronics, pharmaceuticals, high-value goods

The choice you (or your freight broker) make at booking defines your exposure before a loss even occurs. If you signed a contract with a 60-cent-per-pound released value clause for high-value electronics, the carrier owes only that capped amount regardless of what the cargo was actually worth.

Worked example

2,000 lb of cargo worth $40,000 shipped under a 60-cents-per-pound released value rate is capped at $1,200 from the carrier, regardless of value. Even before depreciation or a deductible, that leaves a $38,800 shortfall — which is exactly why shippers buy separate cargo insurance for high-value loads.

Now take the same shipment with a $30,000 declared full value, a 10% depreciation (the goods were used), and a $2,500 insurance deductible:

Depreciated value: $40,000 × 0.90 = $36,000
Carrier cap (full declared): $30,000
Gross recovery: min($36,000, $30,000) = $30,000
Net recovery: $30,000 − $2,500 = $27,500
Shortfall: $40,000 − $27,500 = $12,500

That $12,500 gap represents real money left on the table — the case for declaring actual value and matching insurance limits to cargo value.

Common mistakes shippers make

Accepting the carrier’s default without checking the rate. The default released value rate for many truckload contracts is $0.10 or $0.25 per pound. On a 5,000 lb electronics shipment worth $100,000, that caps recovery at $500–$1,250.
Not accounting for depreciation. Insurance policies that pay actual cash value (ACV) rather than replacement cost will apply depreciation, which the calculator models. If your policy pays replacement cost, set depreciation to 0%.
Forgetting the deductible compounds the shortfall. A $5,000 deductible applied after a $6,000 gross recovery leaves only $1,000 — and the calculator surfaces that immediately.

Notes

Carmack recovery defaults to the actual loss unless the carrier lawfully limited liability and the shipper agreed. Depreciation and valuation rules differ by commodity and policy wording. Treat the figure as an estimate for negotiation, not a coverage determination. All math runs locally.