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🚚 A public transporter 🌐 A public network provider
common carrier

common carrier

1 3.7
A person or company that carries people and goods for the public and must pay for any loss and damage
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑːmən ˈkɛrɪər/
  • Formal
translation icon : transportista público
  • As to delivery-related activities, the new law specified that the use of distribution facilities and similar places of business, other than through a common carrier, triggers agency nexus.
  • common carrier line
  • common carrier company
  • other common carrier

Examples

  • Cell phone operators should be required to be common carriers, period.

    Blog text (15)

  • The FAA has no authority to license a pilot or airline to operate flights as a common carrier without respecting the right to travel by air.

    Blog text (28)

  • That's what it means for an airline to be licensed as a "common carrier."

    Blog text (28)

  • The report shall be entered of record, and a copy thereof shall be furnished to the party who may have complained, and to any common carrier that may have been complained of. (151)

    Academic text (2018)

  • The delivery service is a common carrier, ensuring packages reach every location efficiently.

  • There are strict laws that protect consumers using a common carrier for shipping goods.

  • Airlines operate as common carriers, responsible for passenger safety during flights.

Synonyms

carrier
vscommon carrier
238 2.9

A person or company that delivers letters and packages

also transports passengers for the general public rather than only items

Surface Forms

common carrier singular
common carriers plural

Morphology

common + carrier

The compound transparently combines 'common' (public/shared) and 'carrier' (one who transports), so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer it means a carrier that serves the public. However, the specific legal/telecommunications sense with regulatory duties and nondiscriminatory obligations is technical and not fully predictable from the parts, making the phrase only partially transparent.

Etymology

Common carrier comes from old transport language: a carrier is someone who carries people or goods and common means 'for the public'. Imagine a coach, ship, or wagon that would take any paying passenger and had to look after the goods it carried, so today the term means a business that transports people or goods and is legally responsible for them.