Source: https://www.sennder.com/terms-conditions/
Timestamp: 2020-01-29 21:27:39
Document Index: 603408554

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 14', '§ 412', 'Art. 6', '§ 323', 'Art. 5', '§ 640', '§ 415']

Terms & Conditions | sennder GmbH
Convenience translation. The German version prevails in case of disputes regarding any sennder transactions
sennder GmbH, Genthiner Str. 34, 10785 Berlin (hereinafter referred to as "sennder") concludes one or more contracts with the carrier (hereinafter referred to as the "carrier") on the basis of these General Terms and Conditions (GTC) for the provision of transport services (hereinafter "transport order").
The current version of the General Terms and Conditions shall apply, which can be accessed on the Internet under the domain www.sennder.com/term-conditions. Any deviating conditions of the carrier shall not become part of the Contract. The transport contracts to be awarded by sennder are directed exclusively at entrepreneurs and legal entities (§ 14 BGB (German Civil Code)).
sennder shall be entitled to amend or supplement these GTC. sennder shall send amendments to the GTC by email to the email address provided by the carrier at least three weeks before the planned entry into force of the amended GTC with notification of the content of the respective amended provisions. The carrier's consent to the amended GTC shall be deemed to have been given unless its validity is objected to in writing within three weeks of the amended GTC being sent. This is pointed out separately once again in the notification of change. If the carrier objects to the amendment of the GTC in due form and time, the contractual relationship shall be continued under the previously agreed conditions. sennder reserves the right in this case to terminate the contractual relationship at the next possible time.
Basics of the transport order
The following regulations become the contractual basis for the contractual relationship with the contractor in the order shown and apply in the event of contradictions in the order:
General Terms and Conditions of sennder (GTC);
Subject of the transport order
The carrier undertakes to transport the goods intended for transport by sennder in accordance with the transport order and these GTC for the agreed remuneration and to deliver them to the consignee designated by sennder in the transport order or according to individual instructions issued for the order.
In addition, the carrier shall provide all ancillary services agreed in the respective transport order and these GTC, irrespective of any other legal grounds for ancillary services owed.
Completion of the transport order
An inquiry by sennder to the carrier for a transport order is not binding. If the carrier declares his willingness to execute the transport order, it shall only become effective upon confirmation by sennder. If the carrier refuses a requested transport order, his refusal must be notified within three (3) hours on working days from receipt of the request. If the willingness to accept an order is not declared within a time limit set by sennder, the request shall be deemed to have been rejected by the carrier after expiry of the time limit.
After a transport order has been placed, sennder is entitled to transmit information about the carrier or his subcontractors to his customers for the purpose of carrying out the transport.
The carrier cannot derive any claim to the conclusion of further transport orders from a transport order placed with him.
If the place of collection or delivery changes after the order has been placed but before collection or delivery and the changed place is within a radius of ten (10) km of the originally agreed place, the carrier shall carry out the transport in accordance with the terms of the transport order. This applies accordingly to a change in the collection or delivery time after placing the order of no more than ninety (90) minutes.
Loading and unloading regulations, transport
Notwithstanding § 412 HGB, the carrier shall load and unload the goods and load them safely. The carrier must provide standard and appropriate materials for securing the load, e.g. tension belts, anti-slip mats and edge protectors. In addition, the carrier shall ensure that the goods being transported are adequately guarded. The adequacy of the guarding is determined by the type and scope of the agreed transport order.
The carrier shall check the roadworthiness and completeness of the equipment of the transport vehicle used before the start of transport. Equipment which is compulsory or agreed in the transport order must be carried by the carrier until the end of transport.
The loading and unloading dates agreed in the transport order are binding and must be adhered to by the carrier. If the carrier arrives outside these agreed times, the sender or recipient may refuse loading or unloading. The carrier is obliged to pay a lump sum of 35.00 euros for each hour of delay, but not more than 80% of the agreed freight charge. This applies exclusively to self-inflicted delays at all collection and delivery locations. The burden of proof that the delay was not the fault of the carrier shall be borne by the carrier (reversal of the burden of proof).
The carrier shall transmit all proof of delivery to sennder immediately after the transport has been carried out by electronic means, but no later than two days after delivery.
The carrier shall ensure that all electronic devices used by him for order processing are functional and that this remains so during the execution of the transport. The proper data backup is the responsibility of the carrier.
The carrier uses only suitable storage areas, storage or transhipment buildings and equipment for the transport order. The carrier is responsible for compliance with legal or official requirements.
The carrier is not entitled to tranship the goods from one vehicle to another vehicle or to relocate the goods within the vehicle (hereinafter “prohibition of transhipment”) unless sennder has given prior written consent to the carrier. The carrier and sennder agree that the prohibition of transhipment subsists irrespective of any entry in the consignment note in accordance with Art. 6 para. 2 lit. a of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).
The carrier is not obliged to replace europallets, Düsseldorfer pallets or pallet boxes (hereinafter referred to as "stillage") in any form to sennder. A replacement obligation of the carrier for stillage exists, however, as an exception, if
the Cologne pallet exchange ("Kölner Palettentausch") has been agreed between sennder and its client, the carrier has been obliged within the framework of the transport order concluded with sennder to deliver a specified number of stillage to the place of loading of the client of sennder in a specified quality step by step (“Zug-um-Zug”) against acceptance of the stillage loaded with the goods to be transported, and, in addition, the client of sennder rejects the stillage delivered or offered for delivery by the carrier to the place of loading and, eventually, requests of sennder the replacement of the stillage rejected; or
the carrier, contrary to the contractual agreements, either does not return or deliver the stillage received at the place of unloading from the consignee upon delivery of the goods on pallets; or
the carrier, in the event of an agreement on a transport with the exchange of pallets within the framework of a pallet exchange system, has against contractual agreement not transmitted the original copy of the bill of indebtedness received for the stillage from the supplier of the exchange system such as DPL or interpal within a period of 10 (ten) days after delivery of the stillage to sennder.
sennder shall keep an account for the carrier (hereinafter also referred to as the "stillage account") of the stillage used and the stillage to be replaced by way of exception in accordance with section 5.1. sennder determines the stillage account balances for the stillage account on the last working day of each month and informs the carrier of these in text form. If the carrier has objections to the account balances determined, these shall be asserted in text form to sennder within ten (10) days of receipt of the notification of the account balances. After expiry of the deadline, the respective amount of the account balance is deemed accepted.
At the time of the monthly balance determination in accordance with Section 5.2., the carrier's stillage account may have a maximum balance on account of the carrier of (i) minus five hundred (500) europallets at a time, (ii) minus one thousand (1000) Düsseldorfer pallets at a time or (iii) minus sixty-six (66) lattice boxes at a time (hereinafter referred to as "maximum fluctuation range"). If, at the time the balance is established, the stillage account actually shows a balance in account of the carrier above the maximum fluctuation range, the carrier is obliged to pay compensation up to the amount of the maximum fluctuation range. The above-mentioned settlement of the stillage account must be in effect at the latest by the next monthly balance determination in accordance with Section 5.2.
sennder shall also determine the balances of the stillage account of the carrier at the end of the first quarter, i.e. 31 March of a year, and at the end of the third quarter, i.e. 30 September of a year, notwithstanding the monthly balance determination to be carried out in accordance with section 5.2. If the stillage account shows a balance debited to the carrier at these points in time, the carrier is obliged to settle this balance in full at the end of the quarter following the determination, so that in any case there is no balance debited to the carrier at 30 June and 31 December of the year. However, if the balance is debited to the carrier on 30 June or 31 December, the carrier is obliged to settle this balance within ten (10) days. Should the carrier not have settled the stillage account even then, sennder shall be entitled to invoice the balance existing at the expense of the carrier. sennder and the carrier agree that a europallet with an amount of EUR 8.00 net, a Düsseldorfer pallet with an amount of EUR 4.00 net as well as a lattice box with an amount of EUR 70.00 net will be invoiced.
The carrier may at any time settle the balance of his stillage account at his expense by (i) transmitting to sennder original load carrier promissory notes received by the carrier from a supplier of a pallet exchange system after the delivery of stillage, (ii) on the basis of a separate agreement with sennder by returning the stillage to a consignee to be nominated by sennder in each individual case or by (iii) payment after invoicing by sennder in accordance with Clause 5.4.
Vehicles provided by the carrier
The carrier shall maintain a sufficient number of manned vehicles with sufficient loading volume on the agreed dates to fulfil his obligations arising from the transport order and shall make these manned available for the respective transport. The carrier shall ensure that the driver(s) employed by him/her are able to make full use of the legally stipulated journey times for the transport so that delivery of the goods is guaranteed at the agreed time or within the agreed period.
The carrier must ensure that he or the drivers employed by him can be reached at all times during transport by sennder, for example via a mobile phone.
The carrier guarantees that he uses only carefully selected and supervised, reliable, professionally trained driving personnel with a valid driving licence, sufficient driving experience and the training certificates necessary for the transport.
The carrier is particularly obliged, but not exclusively,
to use only vehicles and trailers, lifting equipment, containers and other equipment, including belts and ropes, which are in perfect technical condition;
to ensure that the vehicles used by him are suitable for the goods to be transported;
to ensure that the vehicles used by him are properly equipped for the respective order, in particular to equip and secure the own or third-party vehicle used for transport with technical equipment against theft (e.g. immobiliser). He must oblige his drivers to activate the anti-theft device when leaving the vehicle;
to secure all trailers, lifting equipment, containers and other equipment within his sphere of influence and responsibility and not owned by him against robbery or theft;
all certificates required for the transport order (e.g. ISO certificate, TAPA, GDP certificate) must be submitted to sennder in the original upon request before the transport is carried out;
he must ensure that the vehicles, trailers, lifting equipment and other items of equipment used by him and the drivers used by him to carry out the transport comply with all relevant legal norms (e.g. laws, regulations, official directives or orders, regulations issued by employers' liability insurance associations), that they have all necessary permits and approvals and comply with all official requirements.
If one of the carrier's vehicles intended for the performance of the transport fails, the carrier shall provide an equivalent replacement vehicle, irrespective of whether the failure is the responsibility of the carrier. If he cannot do so or cannot do so in time to execute the transport order as agreed, sennder shall be entitled, after expiry of a reasonable period - provided that this period is not dispensable in accordance with § 323 para. 2 BGB - to provide a replacement vehicle for a fee to be paid by the carrier. If the carrier is responsible for the loss of the vehicle, sennder is entitled to offset the costs incurred by him for the replacement vehicle provided by him as well as the costs caused by the delay against the remuneration owed to the carrier.
sennder places great value on the protection of our environment. Therefore, the carrier is obliged to use only vehicles with the EURO 5 and EURO 6 emission standards for transport.
The carrier may only appoint a subcontractor as accommodation carrier if sennder has previously agreed to this in text form. The carrier agrees contractually with the accommodation carrier that he is obliged to comply with the provisions of these GTC in the same way as the carrier.
In such case, the selection of subcontractors is the responsibility of the carrier. He makes the selection with the care of a prudent businessman and must ensure that the subcontractor has all the insurance policies and certificates necessary for the execution of the transport order.
The carrier, the drivers employed by him and any subcontractor he may employ shall be obliged in particular, but not exclusively, to comply with the following provisions:
Minimum Wage Act (MILog);
the German law to combat illegal employment in commercial road haulage (GüKBillBG);
relevant national regulations and standards of all EU countries in the case of a cross-border transport order;
the German Road Haulage Act (GüKG).
In addition, the carrier, the drivers employed by him and any subcontractors employed by him shall be obliged to:
Carry a journey report booklet according to Art. 5 of the CEMT guideline while driving;
for foreign drivers from third countries (non-EU/EEA countries) and subcontractors from an EU/EEA country: carry a valid driving licence, a valid passport or identity card and, if necessary, an original work permit or negative tests and - if necessary - an officially certified translation;
Carry bills of lading and loading documents with you at the start of transport and during the journey;
the use of vehicles registered for the carriage of goods by road in the State in which the carrier is established and which comply with the relevant provisions, in particular from a technical point of view;
Compliance with the legally prescribed driving and rest periods;
Carry accident leaflets.
Compliance with a 0.0-alcohol-per-mille limit for drivers.
The carrier shall ensure compliance with obligations under labour, customs, foreign trade, social and security law.
Transport and accompanying documents, receipts
Transport and accompanying documents, in particular bills of lading, CMR bills of lading, commercial invoices, packing lists and customs documents may only be made available or handed over to third parties insofar as this is necessary for the execution of the transport order. Exceptions apply only in the case of legally prescribed controls by the Federal Office of Goods Transport (FOPH) or other legitimate state bodies.
Unless instructed otherwise by sennder, the carrier may hand over the goods to be transported only against presentation of proof of delivery to the consignee. The carrier shall ensure that the consignee confirms receipt of the goods and the unloading time on the consignment note with a company stamp, a signature and the current date.
Instructions by sennder, information by the carrier
The carrier is obliged to follow order-related instructions of the consignor and sennder in particular with regard to loading and unloading dates and the execution of transport.
The carrier shall inform sennder of obvious inaccuracies and infeasibilities in the instructions he has given.
The carrier is obliged to inform sennder immediately of all circumstances essential for the fulfilment of the transport order. This applies in particular to obstacles to carriage, delivery and transport occurring on the part of the carrier, to recognisable transport damage to the goods and loss of goods, to accidents, vehicle breakdowns or delays in transport. In such a case, the carrier shall immediately inform sennder and obtain instructions from sennder. The carrier must immediately report any theft or robbery in connection with the transport order to the police and inform sennder. In the event of an accident, the carrier shall in all cases inform the police and, after the accident has been recorded, request a written accident report or a similar document. This accident report must be sent to sennder in a clearly legible copy.
The carrier is obliged to inform sennder immediately of any complaints made by the consignee regarding the quality and quantity of the goods and to ensure that the complaints are noted in writing on the proof of delivery.
The carrier and sennder agree on the freight charges in the respective transport order. If the tax conditions are met, sennder shall additionally pay the applicable value added tax to the carrier. All agreed services described in these General Terms and Conditions and to be provided by the carrier shall be compensated with the freight charges, unless the transport order or other contractual agreements provide otherwise. In particular, all carrier expenses (e.g. tolls, expenses in connection with loading and unloading, fuel, driving tariffs) shall be compensated.
Any assumption of or participation in additional expenses for the transport goods, other additional costs (e.g. extra kilometres) or in a premium increase of the transport insurance for an increase in cover in connection with the value of the transport goods, which were not foreseeable at the time of conclusion of the Contract, shall in any case require prior consent from sennder for the cost approval. This consent must be obtained immediately as soon as the carrier becomes aware of the necessity of the corresponding expenses.
Credit note issuance, due date, acceptance
The carrier shall transmit all documents received from the consignee (in particular consignment note and proof of delivery), including proofs in accordance with section 9.2, to sennder immediately after the actual execution of the transport via the platform "pod.sennder.com/en" provided by sennder to the carrier. If sennder and the carrier have agreed otherwise in individual cases, or if the transmission of the documents via the platform "pod.sennder.com/en" is not possible for reasons for which sennder is responsible (in particular for technical reasons), the transmission of the documents by the carrier must take place in another manner to be determined by sennder in individual cases.
The invoicing process takes place exclusively by credit note issuance by sennder. The credit notes shall be issued within two (2) working days (except Saturdays) of receipt of the consignment note and all documents received from the consignee in connection with the delivery of the goods (in particular proof of delivery in accordance with Section 9.2). Freight shall be paid within thirty (30) days after the credit note has been sent to the carrier. The receipt of the aforementioned documents by sennder is thus a condition for the payment of the freight.
The payment of freight charges or a credit note issued does not constitute acceptance of a transport service in accordance with § 640 BGB. The transport service shall be deemed to have been accepted by sennder upon expiry of two (2) weeks from the date of delivery of the transport goods to the consignee, unless sender expressly declares acceptance.
In the event of disruptions to performance caused by the carrier, the following provisions shall apply:
If the carrier does not pick up a load through his own fault at the agreed time (e.g. due to too small a truck, wrong or no loading aids), he must remedy the situation at his own expense within three (3) hours of the agreed collection time by taking another route to the pickup point. If the collection is delayed by more than three (3) hours compared to the agreed collection time, sennder can organise a replacement transport at the carrier's expense and commission another carrier. Clause 4.3 remains unaffected.
The carrier shall be liable for all damage caused to the sender, the consignee or sennder as a result of a delay in collection or delivery culpably caused by him. The carrier shall indemnify sennder upon first request against any claims of customers by sender arising from the culpably caused collection or delivery.
In national freight transport (including the provision of ancillary contractual services), the carrier shall be liable in accordance with ADSp 2017 (para. 22 et seq. ADSp 2017) and in international transport in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).
The carrier shall be liable for all material damage and personal injury culpably caused by him which he causes to the legal goods of sennder, the customer, the consignor, the consignee and his employees, bodies or other auxiliary persons as well as to the legal goods of other third parties in the provision of the agreed services.
Liability by sennder
sennder shall only be liable for damages, except in the event of breach of material contractual obligations (cardinal obligations), if he, his legal representatives or vicarious agents are guilty of intent or gross negligence.
Unless sennder, its legal representatives or senior executives are guilty of intent or gross negligence, liability is limited to the damage typically foreseeable at the time the contract was concluded.
The aforementioned limitations of liability shall also apply to any competing claims arising from tort, but not to claims for damages arising from injury to life, body or health, as well as those under the Product Liability Act or the mandatory provisions of the CMR and the German Commercial Code.
The downtime is generally calculated from the agreed collection time or the agreed delivery time or actual arrival time, whichever is later. If no exact times have been agreed for collection or delivery, a claim for demurrage will be charged upon arrival of the vehicle at the place of loading and unloading in accordance with the following provisions. The carrier's downtimes on collection or delivery (in accordance with ADSp 2017) shall be remunerated as follows, provided that they are not the fault of the carrier:
Standstill times of two (2) hours are free of charge.
The securing or unlocking of the load is not taken into account when calculating the service life.
If the above mentioned period is exceeded, an additional charge per half hour or part thereof will be made as follows:
35.00 per euros hour for vehicles of at least twelve (12) tonnes, maximum 280.00 euros per 24 hours;
20.00 euros per hour for vehicles under twelve (12) tonnes, maximum 160.00 euros per 24 hours.
Waiting times for border clearance are up to two hours free of demurrage, after which demurrage will be charged according to the rates listed above.
The carrier must notify the stall fee incurred within 48 hours (on working days). If the carrier demands a stall fee upon presentation of suitable proof, sennder shall issue a corresponding credit note in accordance with clause 12.2. Clause 12.4 sentence 2 applies accordingly.
The carrier is at liberty to set the shipper of the goods a reasonable period within which the goods are to be loaded or made available after expiry of the demurrage-free period. If no goods are loaded or made available by the deadline set by the carrier, the carrier may terminate the transport order concluded with sennder. His notice of termination given to sennder shall become effective one (1) hour after such notice is given to the sennder. Until such time, the carrier shall remain obliged to receive and implement instructions from sennder with regard to the goods to be transported.
Termination of a transport order by sennder due to cancellation or dead freight, termination by the carrier
If sennder terminates the transport order more than eight (8) hours before the agreed collection time, the carrier shall not be entitled to any remuneration.
If sennder cancels the transport order within eight (8) hours prior to the agreed collection time, the carrier shall receive a remuneration
in the amount of one third of the agreed freight charge with a cancellation between four (4) and eight (8) hours prior to the agreed collection time;
in the amount of 50% of the agreed freight charge with a cancellation between two (2) and four (4) hours prior to the agreed collection time;
in the amount of 70% of the agreed freight charge with a cancellation of less than two (2) hours prior to the agreed collection time.
In all scenarios, the remuneration in case of cancellation by sennder is limited to a maximum amount of EUR 350.00.
If a same-day freight is cancelled in the hours between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. CET on the same day, sennder is obliged to pay one third of the agreed freight charge (in accordance with § 415 (2) No. 2 German Commercial Code). This shall apply irrespective of how many hours the notice of termination is given before the agreed collection time.
Terms of 17.2. only apply for cases in which the carrier has received an order confirmation at least one (1) hour prior to cancellation. For all other cases of cancellation by sennder, remuneration is limited to the driving costs incurred since receipt of the order confirmation.
The carrier is not entitled to any further claims based on the termination.
If the carrier terminates the transport order confirmed by sennder before the time of collection, the carrier is obliged to compensate the resulting damage, in particular to compensate all additional expenses for a carrier commissioned by sennder as an alternative.
For his liability under the contract of carriage, the carrier shall take out insurance for consequential damage to goods and goods and motor vehicle liability insurance with customary and appropriate sums insured and shall prove the conclusion and existence of such insurance upon request by presenting the respective insurance certificates. The carrier must carry the relevant documents during transport.
Furthermore, the carrier shall take out business liability insurance with a sum insured in the usual and appropriate amount for personal injury, damage to property and pecuniary loss. Section 18.1 applies accordingly.
If, contrary to his obligation under Clause 18.1, the carrier does not have a sufficiently high transport insurance for the transport, sennder may take out a corresponding third-party carrier insurance for the transport. In this case, the carrier is obliged to pay sennder a flat-rate service charge of EURO 3.50 for this purpose.
Other carrier customers
The carrier is obliged not to act exclusively for sennder and to conclude contracts with other clients and to act on their behalf. Before accepting orders from third parties, the carrier shall check whether the interests of the sender pursuant to Clause 20 conflict with this.
Customer protection and post-contractual non-competition clause
The carrier undertakes to protect the customer (sennder). During the term of the Contract and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, sennder may neither directly nor indirectly provide or pass on to third parties any transport or forwarding services to customers of sennder without the prior consent of sennder. Spatially, this prohibition is limited to sennder's area of activity.
Customers referred to in Clause 20.1. shall mean any sender or consignee of goods of which the carrier has become aware within the last twelve (12) months in connection with a transport order placed with him by sennder or with whom sennder has entered into a business relationship for the transport of goods and with whom the carrier has carried out such transport. In case of doubt, the carrier must prove that the customer has become known to him outside of the business relationship with sennder (reversal of the burden of proof).
If the carrier violates the above obligation pursuant to Clause 20.1., he shall be obliged to pay a contractual penalty amounting to 15% of the net turnover achieved by the carrier with the respective customer in violation of Clause 20.1. The carrier undertakes to disclose his invoices to the respective customer. sennder is entitled to claim additional damages from the carrier.
For a period of twelve (12) months after the end of the contractual relationship, the carrier is also prohibited from competing with sennder in such a way that he performs his contractual services for a competitor by sennder ("post-contractual non-competition clause"). This post-contractual non-compete obligation relates to
all areas in which sennder is active at the time when the contractual relationship ends, and
the entire spatial area of activity by sennder at the time when the last transport order has ended.
Substantive and territorial scope are collectively referred to as a "business segment".
The post-contractual non-competition clause covers all competitive activities pursuant to Section 20.4 in the business segment by sennder, whether directly or indirectly, independently, as a freelancer, as an employee, through advisory activities or in any other way.
If the carrier culpably violates the post-contractual non-competition clause, he shall be obliged to pay a contractual penalty in accordance with clause 20.3, whereby the net turnover of the carrier with the respective competitor shall be decisive.
Confidentiality clause, confidentiality
The Parties shall maintain silence about all internal company information, business and trade secrets as well as confidential procedures, in particular with regard to the respective customer base and the goods transported, which have become known to them in the course of their cooperation.
The Parties' obligation to maintain confidentiality shall continue for a period of two years after termination of their business relationship.
Unless otherwise specified or agreed, the Parties are not entitled to assign or transfer all or individual rights arising from their contractual relationship in text form without the prior consent of the other party.
German law, excluding the UN Sales Convention, shall apply to all legal relationships between the Contractual Parties.
The customer has no right to offsets or retention unless its counter claims are undisputed or legally binding by court order.
For all legal disputes arising from or in connection with the Contract between the carrier and sennder, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all Parties involved at sennder's registered office in Berlin, unless mandatory statutory provisions to the contrary apply. The place of fulfilment is Berlin.
Gaps in the regulations are to be closed on the basis of the applicable law by regulations that correspond as far as possible to the sense and purpose of the provision to be replaced. The invalidity of individual provisions does not lead to an overall invalidity of these conditions. Should individual provisions of these GTC be ineffective, the remaining provisions shall remain effective. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a provision to be determined according to the will of the Parties that comes closest to the economic purpose of the invalid provision. If the Parties subsequently determine that an agreement in connection with these GTC or its components is incomplete, they shall close these gaps in text form taking into account the purpose of the contract and the mutual economic interests.