Short answer. Generally yes. A common carrier's duty of extraordinary diligence over your goods remains in full force even while they are temporarily unloaded or stored in transit, unless you or the shipper made use of the right of stoppage in transitu, which changes the picture.
What the law says
The common carrier's duty to observe extraordinary diligence over the goods remains in full force and effect even when they are temporarily unloaded or stored in transit, unless the shipper or owner has made use of the right of stoppage in transitu.
Civil Code, Article 1737 — Diligence During Temporary Unloading. Read the full provision →
A pause in the journey does not pause the carrier's duty
It is tempting to assume that a carrier's high standard of care applies only while your cargo is actually moving, and drops away the moment it sits in a warehouse or yard mid-route. This article rejects that assumption directly: the common carrier's duty to observe extraordinary diligence over the goods remains in full force and effect even when they are temporarily unloaded or stored in transit. Extraordinary diligence is the highest standard of care the law imposes, and this article confirms it travels with the goods through every stage of the trip, storage included.
"Temporary" and "in transit" are the operative words
This continuity of duty is specifically tied to storage that is temporary and occurs in transit — meaning the goods are still on their way to their destination, simply paused along the route rather than finally delivered or diverted for some unrelated purpose. That framing matters: this article speaks to storage that is part of the shipment's normal journey, not to arrangements that fall outside the transport the carrier undertook.
The one thing that changes the analysis
The article carves out a specific exception: the extraordinary-diligence duty applies "unless the shipper or owner has made use of the right of stoppage in transitu." Stoppage in transitu is a right the shipper or owner can exercise to reroute or reclaim goods mid-journey, typically tied to non-payment situations. If that right was actually exercised, the ordinary continuity of the carrier's duty under this article no longer automatically applies, and the situation needs to be assessed on its own terms rather than through this article alone.
What this means if your cargo went missing mid-route
If your goods disappeared while sitting in a warehouse or transfer point partway through the shipment, this article is your starting point for holding the carrier accountable — the fact that the goods were not physically moving at the moment of loss is not, by itself, a defense the carrier gets to raise. The relevant questions become whether that storage was genuinely temporary and part of the transit, and whether stoppage in transitu had been invoked, since that is the one circumstance the article itself treats differently.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- The Union Insurance Society of Canton vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 100319, August 8, 1996 — read the decision on LawPhil →