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CMR claim deadlines: the practical guide
The CMR Convention sets strict deadlines for claiming damage, loss and delay in international road transport: 7 days, 21 days and 1 year. Miss them and the right is gone.
The CMR Convention governs international carriage of goods by road and is unforgiving about deadlines: if you do not enter reservations in time, the cargo is presumed delivered in good condition and the claim collapses. These are the deadlines every operator should know by heart.
Apparent damage: reservations at delivery
If damage or partial loss is visible, reservations must be recorded at the very moment of delivery, in writing on the CMR or delivery document. Without reservations, article 30 presumes the goods were received in conformity.
Non-apparent damage: 7 days
If the damage is not visible on receipt (for example, inside the packaging), you have 7 days from delivery to send written reservations, Sundays and public holidays excluded. After that, the presumption works against you.
Delay in delivery: 21 days
To claim for delay, a written reservation must reach the carrier within 21 days of the goods being placed at the consignee’s disposal. This period runs in calendar days and is a hard bar: no reservation, no compensation for delay.
Limitation: 1 year (3 for wilful misconduct)
Actions arising from CMR carriage are time-barred after one year. In cases of wilful misconduct or equivalent default, the period extends to three years. The starting point varies: from delivery (damage), from the scheduled delivery date (total loss) or from the end of the contract.
A written claim addressed to the carrier suspends the limitation period until the carrier rejects it in writing (article 32.2). Document everything: dates, photographs, the CMR signed with reservations.
Common mistakes
- Signing a clean CMR despite visible damage: later reservations no longer help for apparent damage.
- Miscounting the 7 days: Sundays and public holidays do not count.
- Confusing a reservation with a claim: the reservation preserves the right; the claim quantifies it and suspends limitation.
To never miss a computation, the CMR deadlines calculator on this site works out every cut-off date from the delivery date and exports the deadlines to your calendar.