Claim file number

Definition

The successive number a carrier assigns to every cargo claim the moment it arrives.

Why It Matters

49 CFR 370.5(b) requires a carrier to create a separate file at the time each claim is received and assign it a successive claim file number; 370.5(a) gives 30 days to acknowledge the claim in writing and 370.9(a) gives 120 days to pay, decline, or make a firm compromise settlement offer. The scope in 370.1 reaches each motor carrier moving property in interstate commerce and draws no weight line at all, so the fleet that sits under 10,001 pounds and outside the federal driver rules is inside these. Because the numbers run in sequence the register is countable: ask for it by year and read the distance between claims opened and claims closed.