Common carrier is a person or company that transports passengers and goods by water, land, or air for a fee. Common carriers include companies that operate truck lines, buses, street railways, railroads, air transport, and pipelines. Telephone companies are also considered to be common carriers, though they do not transport physical goods.
A common carrier has two legal obligations. First, it must serve anyone who can pay. Thus, a store that provides a delivery service solely for its own customers is not a common carrier. Second, the common carrier is liable for loss or injury to goods or passengers carried. In the United States, the federal government regulates trade between states. States control common carrier operations within their borders.
It is generally stated that common carriers are responsible for any loss or accident except those due to an “act of God or of the public enemy.” In this sense, an “act of God” means any unavoidable accident that occurs through no fault of a human being. A train being struck by lightning is an example of an “act of God.” The term public enemy includes any government that is at war with the government of the common carrier. Thieves and rebels are not regarded as public enemies in this sense.
In 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to classify Internet service providers as common carriers. The classification helps ensure that data transmitted over the Internet receives equal treatment regardless of its sender—a concept called net neutrality. See Internet (Net neutrality) . However, in 2017, the FCC repealed net neutrality regulations, allowing internet service providers control over customers’ ability to access certain content. The decision also ended federal regulation of high-speed internet as a utility.
