The law of carriage regulates the legal relations of the carriage of goods (land, maritime, railway, air, and mixed), including contract conditions, the rule of receipt and delivery of goods, document circulation, the scope of liability, the grounds for compensation for damages, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The aforementioned regulation is particularly important in both domestic and international carriages, because both national legislation and international convention regimes apply, which affect the rights and obligations of the parties.

In case of damage, loss, or delay of cargo, liability depends on the type of carriage, the roles of the parties (carrier, forwarder, sender/receiver of the cargo), and the conditions provided by the contract, as well as the relevant international rules (for example, the CMR Convention in international land carriages). In practice, it is crucial to establish when and under whose control the cargo was, how receipt and delivery are regulated, whether there are grounds for exclusion of liability (e.g., natural property of the cargo, improper packaging, force majeure), and in what terms/format a claim must be declared, because procedural errors often lead to a refusal to satisfy the demand.

CMR is a convention that regulates international land cargo transportation and determines the main rules of the carrier's liability, the scope of compensation for damages, the terms for submitting claims, and evidentiary standards. The CMR waybill represents a document confirming the main conditions of the carriage, which is practically used for the identification of the cargo, receipt and delivery, recording of remarks (reservations), packaging, and condition; its content is important when resolving disputed issues.

A Bill of Lading (BL) is a key document used in maritime carriage, which can simultaneously represent a document confirming the receipt of cargo, a carrier of the conditions of carriage, and a certain document of title or right of disposal, due to which its legal importance is particularly high. The incorrect formulation of the BL (e.g., incomplete description of the cargo, inappropriate remarks, risks related to status, incorrect conditions of issuance/transfer) can cause an increase in liability, a delay in the issuance of the cargo, or a complication of a dispute related to loss or damage, while the applicable rules are often evaluated in the context of the Hague-Visby principles.

Incoterms is a system of international trade terms that establishes where and when the risk related to the cargo transfers from the seller to the buyer, who pays the costs of transportation, insurance, loading and unloading, and customs formalities, and what obligations are imposed on each party in the export-import process. Incoterms does not automatically change the rule of transfer of ownership, although in practice it determines a significant part of the liability (e.g., FOB/CIF in maritime transport, FCA/EXW in land delivery, DAP upon delivery), therefore the correct determination of the term is important.