Terms & Conditions of Carriage

The following outlines the standard terms & conditions of carriage for The Customer (“you” or “your”) for the services provided by CB&DJ Sutton Pty. Ltd. (ABN: 25 631 441 426) Trading as HaulCar (“HaulCar”, “us”, “we” or “our”). 

This Contract states the terms on which HaulCar will supply services to you. In this Contract, you are our customer (i.e. the person engaging our services). Usually (but not always) you are the person specified in the email Booking & the person paying the freight invoice. 

1. Definitions 

1.1 “booking” means an email sent to bookings@haulcar.com.au with the intention (stated, implied or perceived) to engage our services in the transportation of a vehicle as specified in the booking.

1.2 “HaulCar’s Standard Service” means the HaulCar Standard Service specified in Schedule 1 to these terms. 

1.3 “services” means all services supplied to you in any capacity, including but not limited to HaulCar’s Standard Service and services provided as forwarding agent, forwarder, storer or carrier. 

1.4 “vehicle” means: 

a) Any vehicles accepted from you or on your behalf, including Cars, Light Commercials & Heavy Commercials.

b) The standard dimensions of Cars or Sedans and Light Commercials, 4WDs or SUVs are as follows: 

i. Car or Sedan: Length < 5m, Width < 1.99m, Height < 1.49m  

ii. Light Commercial, 4WD or SUV: Length < 5m, Width < 1.99m, 1.5m < Height < 2.1m 

Minimum ground clearance for all vehicles on our car transporters is 120mm unless specifically advised otherwise.

2. Not a Common Carrier

We are not a common carrier and do not accept any liability as a common carrier. We may refuse to handle, transport or store vehicles or may decline any overweight or overloaded vehicles for you for any reason whatsoever. 

3. Sub-contractors 

3.1 Obligations:

We and any subcontractor may subcontract part or all of our obligations on any terms. 

3.2 Benefit:

You agree that: 

a) our employees, agents and subcontractors and their employees, agents and subcontractors have the benefit of this Contract as if they were parties to it; & 

b) we hold that benefit on trust for them and can, if requested by them, enforce it on their behalf. 

4. Our Charges 

4.1 Payment:

Our charges are payable within 14 days of invoice date for business (account) customers or before collection of your vehicle for private (non-account) customers. Invoices will be issued weekly.

4.2 Guarantee:

You must pay the charges relating to the transport of the vehicles unless the sender (where you are not also the sender) or the receiver pays them. If another person is nominated in the email Booking as paying the charges, you promise that person will pay. 

4.3 Terms:

You are obliged to pay within agreed payment terms as outlined in 4.1.

4.4 Additional Charges:

In addition to freight, we will charge you for: 

a) any additional expenses we incur as a result of any incorrect declaration by you of the size, quantity, description or modifications to the standard of the vehicles (e.g. roof racks, bull bars, lowered suspensions, etc.); 

b) any unsuccessful pick up or delivery fee as incurred; &

c) our costs to cover the full value of the original booking charge plus any additional unforeseen costs as incurred.

5. When accepting your vehicle for transport please refer below to guideless that you would need to follow as part of our terms of service.

5.1 Important:

We ask you review following these terms below as they are part of your agreement when the vehicle is collected / delivered and anytime in our care, these are important because any incorrect information that is provided by yourself, we may, for example, be fined for unlawfully transporting the vehicles and these costs would be occurred by yourself. 

5.2 Promises:

You promise us and the persons referred to in paragraph 3.2 that: 

a) you have removed all personal effects from the vehicle, with the exception of a child restraint seat (but not a booster seat) which is properly fastened or affixed to the interior of the vehicle in accordance with requirements of the law. 

b) for any personal effects in the vehicle including dangerous goods & personal items in the case where such items have not been removed as required by this contract you bear all risk of loss or damage to personal effects left in the vehicle &/or damage caused to the vehicle by having personal effects in the motor vehicle or caused by dangerous goods. 

c) you alone own the vehicles, or if there are other owners you act as their agent, and they agree to handling, transport and storage of the vehicles on the terms of this Contract. 

d) you will indemnify us from the time we receive any written notice of claim in connection with this Contract or the handling, transport or storage of the vehicles from any person other than you (including the sender where you are not also the sender); 

e) you have completed the Booking via email as is required for the Booking to be formally recognised & acted upon.

f) the vehicles are presented to withstand handling, transport and storage. 

g) you have complied with all laws in connection with the vehicles to ensure that they can be lawfully handled, transported and stored. 

h) you have not asked us to handle, transport or store the vehicles in any way that could be unlawful. 

i) you will not sue any person referred to in paragraph 3.2 for anything arising in connection with this Contract or the handling, transport or storage of the vehicles; &

j) you will indemnify us against any claims in respect of death or injury to any person, loss of or damage to any property, and any fines or penalties incurred by us: 

i. as a result of your breach of this Contract; or 

ii. as a result of, in connection with, or arising out of personal effects left in the vehicle. 

6. Dangerous Goods 

6.1 Not Allowed:

Dangerous goods cannot be accepted for transportation. 

6.2 Classification:

Goods are dangerous if they are classified by either the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations or the Australian Dangerous Goods Code or if they might injure or damage people, property or the environment. This includes goods that are or may become poisonous, corrosive, volatile, explosive, flammable or radioactive but excludes goods that are inherently part of that vehicle (e.g. petrol in the tank or LP Gas connected to the vehicle). 

6.3 No Dangerous Goods:

You promise that no dangerous goods have been placed in the vehicles. 

6.4 You Bear Risk:

Whether or not you have told us that any goods are dangerous, you agree that if we, or if any of the persons referred to in paragraph 3.2, consider on reasonable grounds that the goods may cause injury or damage, we or any of them can, at your cost do anything appropriate, including disposing of or destroying them. We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage you may incur by reason of our actions under this paragraph. You will always bear all risk of loss or damage arising in connection with a breach of this paragraph by you. 

6.5 Your Liability:

You will be liable for any loss or damage caused to our property or other parties’ property as a result of or in connection with your breach of this paragraph. 

7. What We Can Do 

7.1 Authority:

You give us authority to: 

a) use any method for handling, transporting or storing the vehicles. We will give priority to any instructions given by you, but if such instructions cannot be followed, we will use another method. 

b) deviate from any usual route of transport or place of storage. 

c) conduct a physical search or inspection of any personal effects in the vehicle. You must comply with all search requirements that may be required by our staff upon dropping off your vehicle. 

d) remove or reposition your personal effects or otherwise direct you to do so in such manner as we reasonably see fit. 

e) refuse to accept your vehicle if we deem the personal effects are dangerous, not packed correctly, are not within weight restrictions or dimensions, or otherwise do not comply with the terms of this Contract; & 

f) at the time of your vehicle being picked up we will conduct a survey on an electronic device or otherwise conduct a paper-based survey. You agree that any damage marked up on the survey is a guide only and may not accurately record the exact position of the damage on the vehicle and, in particular, stone chips may not be recorded at the time of pickup. 

7.2 Delivery:

a) We will attempt to deliver to the address nominated by you. Delivery is deemed to be affected when we receive a signed receipt or delivery docket. 

b) If that address is unattended, delivery will be deemed to have occurred and we may then at our discretion elect to redeliver at another time, or else we may require you to collect the vehicle from an address notified by us. 

c) If the address of delivery is unattended and we elect to re-deliver vehicles to you, we will charge you for the costs of the re-delivery including any storage costs we may incur in accordance with paragraph 4.4. 

d) Any alteration of vehicle collection address or delivery address requires 3 business days’ notice prior to the agreed pick update. Failure to notify us of any alternations on time may attract additional charges in accordance with paragraph 4.4. 

e) Delivery dates are an estimate only and are calculated in business days (which do not include weekends or public holidays). 

f) For the avoidance of doubt, the primary responsibility for delivery rests with us, and not with any third party. 

8. Our Warranty 

8.1 Same Condition:

Subject to the limitations and exclusions set out in paragraph 10, HaulCar warrants that it shall deliver the vehicle to the location identified in the emailed Booking in the same condition that the vehicle was delivered to HaulCar with the exception of normally expected dirt & road grime the vehicle might attract during transit. Further, you agree that if HaulCar is required to retain possession of the vehicle because you have been unable to accept physical delivery, HaulCar will not be liable for the condition of the vehicle if that vehicle has then been stored for a period of time as a result of the same. 

8.2 We Are Liable:

Except where liability has been excluded or limited by this Contract or by statute, we will be liable to you for loss or damage to your vehicle which occurs or arises while your vehicle is in the care, custody or control of HaulCar. 

9. Our Liability for Loss or Damage to Your Vehicle 

9.1 Limited Liability:

The services are supplied at your risk. You: 

a) bear all risk of loss or damage to the vehicles, unless we have agreed to accept liability for loss or damage to the vehicle in accordance with this paragraph 9, in which case we are liable to pay you only up to the limits determined in accordance with this paragraph 9; &

b) bear all risk of loss or damage arising in connection with the vehicle. 

9.2 Insurance Coverage:

All vehicles transported by us receive coverage for loss and damage to your vehicle as set out below. 

9.3 Additional Coverage:

If you require additional coverage for loss and damage to your vehicle as referred to in paragraph 9.5, you must declare this at the time of booking and receive confirmation via return email of approval before you give us custody of the vehicle. You are required to declare the approved value of the vehicle in the emailed Booking requesting the additional cover. 

9.4 Extent of Coverage:

Coverage is only for physical loss or damage to the vehicle while the vehicle is in the care, control or custody of HaulCar (subject to exclusions and limitations set out in this Contract) and does not include coverage for loss or damage to personal effects left in the vehicle &/or damage caused to the vehicle by having personal effects in the motor vehicle, which is entirely at your risk please note any canopies, canoes, umbrellas or any items that are stored outside the vehicle eg attached to roof racks or tied down or secured in any way must be removed prior to transit and is not permitted at any time unless prior approval by management we reserve the right to remove such items at your cost this is a safety risk and could damage yours and other vehicles that are on the car carrier at that time, however they are permitted inside the vehicle only if it does not obstruct the driver loading and unloading onto the car carrier. 

9.5 Insured Value:

Unless you note a higher level of liability in the emailed Booking, in all cases where liability has not been excluded or limited by this Contract or by statute, our liability to you will be limited as follows: 

a) if the vehicle is stolen and not recovered within a reasonable time or totally written-off, we will be liable for the lesser of: 

i. the vehicle’s value which you declared in the emailed Booking. 

ii. the vehicle’s market value at the time of your claim; & 

iii. $60,000.

b) if the vehicle is damaged, we will be liable for the lesser of:

i. the cost of repairs of the vehicle; & 

ii. $60,000. 

9.6 Salvage Rights:

If the vehicle has been stolen or deemed to be totally written-off and payment is made to you by HaulCar, you agree that HaulCar shall have the full salvage rights to that vehicle or if that vehicle is later found HaulCar shall have full ownership rights over that vehicle. 

9.7 Process:

If you wish to increase the limit of our liability to you for loss or damage to your vehicle pursuant to this Contract, then you may do so by agreeing to pay any additional charges incurred by HaulCar in raising our liability above the maximum limit set out in paragraphs 9.5(a)(iii) and 9.5(b)(ii). This must be clearly stated in the email Booking & acknowledged by HaulCar via return email prior to HaulCar taking charge of the vehicle.

9.8 Exclusions:

HaulCar’s liability in respect of any vehicle excludes the following: 

a) Damage to the vehicle that is not noted and signed for on survey or on your delivery documentation at the time of delivery (in accordance with industry standard, damage will be assessed, and must be visible, from a 1m distance); 

b) Pre-existing damage, hail damage, insect damage, bird or bat droppings, stone chips, loss or damage to personal effect left in the vehicle &/or damage caused to the vehicle by having personal effects in the motor vehicle, loss or damage to the vehicle other than whilst in the care, custody and control of HaulCar, mechanical or electrical derangement, or loss or damage caused in connection with a Force Majeure Event; or 

c) any indirect, special or consequential losses including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of business and pecuniary loss howsoever caused or arising. 

D) Due to certain limitations imposed on our insurance policy any vehicles exceeding 20 years and older cannot be covered by our policy therefore, these vehicles are your responsibility to insure full or adequate coverage.

9.9 Failure:

Unless and to the extent our warranty in paragraph 8 applies and subject to this paragraph 9, we and the persons referred to in paragraph 3.2 are not liable to you or any other person for any loss or damage arising from the supply of or failure to supply services, and whether in contract, tort including negligence, breach of duty as bailee, breach of statutory duty, or our willful act or default.

10. Claims for Loss or Damage to Your Vehicle 

10.1 Process:

If you believe we are liable to you for damage caused to a vehicle in the course of delivery, you must: 

a) note or ensure that the driver of the delivery vehicle notes the damage on survey or on your delivery documentation at the time of delivery. 

b) notify us immediately. 

c) not repair your vehicle unless otherwise authorized by us; & 

d) send your written claim request to us within the time frames set out in paragraph 10.3(b).

10.2. Time Limit:

If we do not receive a written claim request from you within that time, we will have no liability to you. 

10.3 The Claim:

You must submit your claim for loss or damage to the vehicle to us in writing, in the case of: 

a) visible damage to the vehicle which was not identified at the time we accepted your vehicle for delivery, prior to taking delivery of the vehicle. 

b) visible damage to the vehicle, which was notified in accordance with paragraph 10.1, no later than three (3) days after taking delivery of the vehicle. 

c) any other claim, no later than three (3) days after delivery of the vehicle or the date by which the vehicle should have been delivered and failing receipt of such notice we shall be forever discharged from any and all liability to any person (including you) in respect of the vehicle &/or the services. 

10.4 Investigation:

In the event that you make a claim for damage to your vehicle in accordance with this paragraph 10, we will conduct an investigation and at our discretion we will either: 

a) Undertake required repairs ourselves through our repairers, with all costs borne by us; or 

b) Request you provide 2 independent repair quotes, HaulCar reserves all rights for repair authorization. 

10.5 Charges Due:

Notwithstanding your claim request, you remain liable to pay our charges under this contract. 

10.6 Proceedings to Follow:

We will have no liability to you, even if you give us a written notice within the time set out in paragraph 10.3, if you do not commence legal proceedings against us within 6 months after the date of delivery.

11. Confidentiality 

To the extent that one party receives information from the other party, which is inherently confidential in nature, the receiving party agrees not to disclose such information to a third party without the authority of the disclosing party, except to the extent permitted by law or otherwise in circumstances where such information had entered the public domain.

12. Privacy 

To the extent that we collect personal information from you pursuant to this Contract, such information will be handled in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. To the extent that you collect personal information from us pursuant to this Contract, you also undertake to handle and process such information strictly in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. 

13. Force Majeure Event 

13.1 Affect:

If a party is wholly or partially precluded from complying with its obligations under this Contract by Force Majeure Event affecting that party, then that party's obligation to perform in accordance with this Contract (except where there is an obligation to pay for a service that has been rendered) will be suspended for the duration of the delay arising out of the Force Majeure Event. 

13.2 Notification:

As soon as possible after a Force Majeure Event arises, the party affected by it must, if it has not already done so, notify the other party of the Force Majeure Event and the extent to which the notifying party is unable to perform its obligations under this Contract. 

13.3 Definition:

For the purposes of this Contract a “Force Majeure Event” means anything outside that party's reasonable control, including without limitation, fire, flood, drought, hail, storm, lightning, act of God, peril of sea or air, explosion, sabotage, accident, embargo, labour dispute or shortage, civil commotion and act of war.

14. Termination 

In the event either party breach the terms of this Contract, they may terminate this Contract immediately by providing written notice.

15. General 

15.1 Assignment:

Both parties may only assign their rights under this Contract with the other’s prior consent. 

15.2 Governing law:

This Contract is governed by the laws in force in the State of Queensland, Australia. 

15.3 Entire Agreement:

This Contract, including documents incorporated by reference, constitutes the entire agreement between the parties. To the extent of an inconsistency between the component documents of this Contract, the documents will be interpreted in the following order of precedence: 

a) the standard terms and conditions herein; &

b) any other document incorporated by reference. 

15.4 Disputes:

If you dispute your obligation to make a payment, or if you have any other reason for disputing whether we have met our obligations under this agreement, you should contact us in accordance with paragraph 

15.5. Mediation:

We will make a reasonable attempt to mediate any complaint but otherwise we do not commit to following a formal alternative dispute resolution process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we do not seek to exclude the applicability of any statutory dispute resolution scheme. 

15.6 Contact: 

Your first point of contact with us in relation to any issue arising out of the transaction should be the person normally receiving your emailed Booking or alternatively you can contact us as follows:

Accounts: Dayle Sutton (0407 670 540)

Bookings and Operations: Nathan (0479 063 609)

Bookings and Operations: Carl Sutton (0409 057 942)

Email: admin@haulcar.com.au

SCHEDULE 1 (HaulCar’s Standard Service):

The following outlines HaulCar’s Standard Service to be provided to you under this contract:

1. Lanes

We offer services to you on the following lanes as HaulCar’s Standard Service:

Adelaide - Brisbane

Adelaide - Cairns

Brisbane - Adelaide

Cairns - Adelaide 

Melbourne - Brisbane 

Melbourne - Cairns

2. Delivery Times

The following delivery times are the normal range you could expect delivery under HaulCar’s Standard Service from the time the email Booking is formally received to the time the vehicle is delivered to its destination. Anything falling outside of these time frames should be seen as extraordinary & resulting from extraordinary circumstances (e.g. mechanical failure, weather event, etc.):

Adelaide - Brisbane: Between 10 -14 working days 

Adelaide - Cairns: Between 10-20 working days

Brisbane - Adelaide: Between 10-14 working days

Cairns - Adelaide: Between 10-20 working days 

Melbourne - Brisbane: Between 10-14 working days

*Please note this timeline does not include weekends and public holidays that may impact our run due to closures of depots etc that is beyond our control. 

This is a guide; our usual service standard is considerably less a typical run Brisbane to Adalaide once loaded is 3 to 4 working days however this is not guaranteed.

3. Cancellations 

HaulCAR and its owner Carl Sutton, reserves the right to charge what we deemed a reasonable fee for any cancellation that is within 7 working days of service, or multiple changes to dates etc. that leads to a cancellation, or the vehicle has been assigned to a truck or arranged and booked for a local carrier to transport to our depot or other location, or any costs associated with the cancellation no matter the amount associated with these costs.

If a fee is issued remains unpaid within 5 business days unless arranged by management, we reserve the right to escalate this debt for further collection activates at our choosing and this in turn would be added to the original fee with any other associated costs including any late fees if applicable.

4.  We allow up to 150kg of goods in the vehicle, we ask you to not go past the window line, please do not impede the movement of the driver's seat so it can be adjusted to place the vehicle on and off the truck. Any damage to the goods or any damage the goods may cause to your or any other vehicle is your responsibility and risk to do so, despite this being an extremely rare occurrence to happen. If your vehicle exceeds the 150kg allowance provided free we reserve the right to either refuse the shipment or charge a surcharge (at our discretion usually this would be $150 for overloading, however this can be adjusted to a different rate depending on the situation, a separate rate may be charged for loose loads if time has to be taken to re secure your property in order for us to stay in compliance with weight, transport regulations and alike. 

5. HaulCar is forever mindful of the costs associated with delays in getting stock vehicles onto showroom floors for sale & the inconvenience caused to private customers when their vehicles are delayed unexpectedly & as such, we will always do everything possible to minimize transit times for your vehicles & work with you in any way possible to achieve this end. 

6. A futile may be applied if a failed pickup or delivery occurs at no fault of our own, this is from HaulCAR or one of our contractors. 

7. We reserve the right to adjust a quote and charge accordingly if the wrong information is provided e.g. location and so forth. 

8. We are quite flexible with drop off and limited storage, so you have time to collect your vehicle, if your vehicle is in storage for an excessive time unless agreed with management, we may charge a short- or long-term storage fee's may apply. 

We like to be on the same page, our T&C we encourage you to read them, there is a lot there as with most T&C however, we are very flexible and bend over backwards to help and make your experience with us a fast and friendly stress free trip from the quoting to the job itself, please ask  ANY questions about the above please do not hesitate to contact our team we are very transparent and realistic happy to take the time to cover any part of the process or operation as we know what is routine for us is not always for the customer.