common carrier

American  

noun

1. Transportation. (in federal regulatory and other legal usage) a carrier offering its services at published rates to all persons for interstate transportation.

2. a public service or public utility company, as a telephone or telegraph company, engaged in the transmitting of messages for the public.

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common carrier British  

noun

1. a person or firm engaged in the business of transporting goods or passengers

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common carrier Cultural  

1. A company or individual providing public transportation on a regular basis in return for a fee that is uniformly charged to all users.

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Other Word Forms

• common carriage noun
• common-carrier adjective

Example Sentences

In North America, deer mice are the most common carriers, according to the Mayo Clinic.

From BBC

“It would undercut safety and be the opposite of good business, the opposite of fulfilling the common carrier obligation, and the opposite of meeting the congressional commandment to serve the public.”

From Seattle Times

Today, raccoons, bats, skunks, and foxes are the most common carriers.

From Salon

Oil trains would link from the proposed new Uinta Basin line to the common carrier network throughout the country, including through Colorado.

From Seattle Times

However, raccoons are one of the most common carriers of rabies in the state, and bringing the wild animal into a pet store constituted an unnecessary risk to public health, Latti said.

From Seattle Times