Terms and Conditions of Carriage

Last updated 18 August 2026. These are the commercial terms that apply to every booking we accept, written in plain language rather than in the smallest type we could find. They should be read with our Refund and Claims Policy, our Prohibited Items Policy and our Privacy Policy. If anything here is unclear, ask us before you book and we will explain it; we would rather clarify a clause now than argue about it later.

1. About these terms

These terms form the contract between Transatlantic Express and the party named as customer on the booking, which is normally the party who pays our invoice. They apply from the moment you instruct us, whether that instruction arrives by email, telephone, portal or purchase order, and they override any conflicting terms printed on your own paperwork unless we have signed a separate agreement that says otherwise.

Where we act as a freight forwarder we arrange carriage as your agent. Where we perform the carriage, storage or handling ourselves we do so as principal. Which capacity applies to a particular leg is stated on the booking confirmation, and it matters because it determines the liability regime for that leg.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force is the one published on this page on the date your booking was confirmed, and we will not apply a later change retrospectively to work already in progress.

2. Quotations and pricing

Quotations are based on the information you give us: weights, dimensions, commodity, incoterms, addresses and dates. They include everything we can reasonably foresee, including collection, main leg, delivery, terminal handling, documentation and customs entry preparation, and they state separately anything set by a third party such as duty, tax or inspection fees.

Air and courier quotations are valid for 7 days. Ocean, road and rail quotations are valid for 30 days. Contracted lanes are fixed for the agreed period. Where a quotation is expressed in a currency other than the one we invoice in, the rate of exchange applied is the one stated on the quotation.

Prices may be adjusted only where the facts change: actual weight or dimensions differ from those declared, the commodity or incoterm changes, access at either end is not as described, waiting time exceeds the free period stated, or a government charge is introduced or increased. In every case we will tell you before incurring the cost wherever it is practicable to do so, and any adjustment is charged at the rates shown on the quotation rather than at a rate invented afterwards.

3. Booking and collection

A booking is accepted when we issue a confirmation containing a shipment reference. The confirmation states the routing, the cut-off, the expected transit window and the documents required from you. Please check it on receipt; it is the document we will both rely on.

Collection windows are arranged rather than guaranteed to the minute. Cargo must be ready, correctly packed, labelled with the shipment reference and accessible at the agreed time. If our vehicle is turned away or kept waiting beyond the free period, a wasted journey or waiting time charge applies at the quoted rate.

We may consolidate your cargo with other consignments, and we may choose the route, the mode and the carrier unless you have instructed otherwise in writing. Where you have specified a particular carrier, vessel, flight or routing, we will follow it and will tell you if that instruction is likely to cost you time or money.

4. Your responsibilities

Most things that go wrong in freight originate in the information supplied at booking. You are responsible for the following, and we rely on them being correct:

• Accurate, specific descriptions of the goods, together with the correct HS code, quantity, weight, dimensions and commercial value.
• Packaging suitable for the mode, the journey, the climate and the stack height, correctly marked and labelled.
• Full disclosure of anything hazardous, restricted, temperature-sensitive, high-value or subject to licence, including components inside a product.
• All documents, certificates, licences and permits required at origin, in transit and at destination, provided at booking rather than on request.
• Lawful authority to export the goods, and confirmation that neither the goods, the parties nor the end use breach sanctions or export controls.
• Correct and complete consignee details, including a working telephone number and any site access restrictions.

You indemnify us against fines, penalties, storage, detention, disposal costs and third-party claims that arise from information or documentation that turns out to be inaccurate or incomplete.

5. Prohibited and restricted goods

Certain goods cannot be carried at all, and others can be carried only with prior written approval. The full position is set out in our Prohibited Items Policy, which forms part of these terms. If a prohibited item is found in a consignment we will stop it, tell you the same day and explain the options, and any charges already incurred are non-refundable. Where the law requires us to notify an authority, we will do so and we will tell you that we have.

6. Transit times

Transit times are estimates given in good faith and based on published schedules, historic performance on the lane and normal customs processing. They run from collection to delivery unless the quotation says otherwise, and they exclude weekends, public holidays and time lost to events outside our control.

Time is not of the essence unless we have agreed a fixed-day or guaranteed service in writing and you have paid the premium for it. Where you have bought such a service and we fail to provide it for reasons within our control, the premium element is credited automatically without you having to prove loss. Consequential losses remain excluded as set out in clause 9.

7. Customs, duties and taxes

Duty, import VAT and other government charges are payable by the party identified as responsible under the agreed incoterm. Where we advance these charges on your behalf we invoice them at cost, without mark-up, and they are payable on presentation.

Declarations are made on the basis of the information you provide. Where we classify goods for you we do so with reasonable care and using licensed brokers, but the declaration remains a statement made in your name and you remain the party responsible to the authority for its accuracy. We will tell you plainly when we think a classification is arguable, and we will apply for a binding ruling on your behalf if you want certainty.

Customs and other authorities may inspect, detain, test or seize goods. Charges arising from an inspection, including storage, demurrage and examination fees, are payable by you even where the inspection finds nothing wrong, because we have no power to waive them.

8. Delivery and proof of delivery

Delivery is to the address on the booking, at kerbside or ground floor unless an inside, timed or two-person delivery has been arranged and quoted. Proof of delivery consists of a signature, a timestamp and, on most services, a photograph, all of which are retained in your account.

Please examine the goods before signing. Visible damage or shortage must be noted on the delivery record at the time; a clean signature makes a later claim considerably harder to establish, for us as well as for you. Where nobody is available to receive the goods we will attempt redelivery, and redelivery or return charges apply at the quoted rate.

Where goods cannot be delivered and cannot be returned, we may place them into storage at your cost after telling you, and after a reasonable period we may sell or dispose of them and apply the proceeds against sums you owe.

9. Liability

Our liability for loss of or damage to goods is governed by the mandatory international convention or trading conditions applicable to the leg on which the loss occurred, and is limited by weight rather than by value. The regimes commonly applicable are the Hague-Visby Rules by sea, the Montreal Convention by air, the CMR Convention for international road carriage, and our standard trading conditions for warehousing and ancillary services.

In every case, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude liability for consequential and indirect loss, including loss of profit, loss of production, loss of market, penalties payable to your own customers, wasted expenditure and damage to reputation, unless we have accepted such liability in writing before the shipment moved.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else which cannot lawfully be limited. Where a limit set out here is lower than a limit imposed by mandatory law, the mandatory limit applies.

10. Cargo cover

Convention limits rarely reflect what goods are actually worth, particularly for light, high-value cargo. We therefore recommend all-risk cargo insurance on every shipment of meaningful value and we quote it alongside the freight as a matter of routine.

Cover is arranged only where you instruct us to arrange it and the declared value has been stated in writing. Where cover is in place, settlement is made at the declared commercial value, including freight and duty where those were included in the declared value. Where you decline cover, you accept that recovery is limited to the applicable convention limit, and we will note that decision on the booking so that neither party is in any doubt about it later.

11. Payment

Invoices are payable within the terms stated on the account, or before release of the goods where no credit account exists. Payment must be made in full, without set-off or deduction, in the currency of the invoice.

Disputed lines should be raised within 30 days of the invoice date. We will not hold an entire account hostage over a single contested line, and we will not release goods against a promise to pay from a party who is not our customer.

Overdue sums may attract interest at the statutory rate, and we may exercise a general and particular lien over goods and documents in our possession for sums owed to us. Where we hold goods under lien we will tell you, and we will not incur avoidable storage costs without notifying you first.

12. Subcontracting and third parties

We may subcontract all or part of the services, and we contract on the basis that every servant, agent and subcontractor of ours has the benefit of these terms, including the liability limits and defences. Where we engage a carrier or agent on your behalf as your agent, that party’s own terms and liability limits apply to the leg it performs, and we will supply those terms on request before you book.

13. Warehousing and storage

Where we store goods for you, storage is charged per pallet week or per square metre as quoted, and handling in and out is charged separately. Goods are received on a said-to-contain basis unless a piece count or condition check has been requested and quoted. Bonded storage is subject to the conditions imposed by the relevant customs authority, and duty-suspended goods may not be released until the duty position is settled.

You must tell us if goods are hazardous, perishable, temperature-sensitive or subject to a licence before they arrive at a warehouse. We may refuse or remove goods that pose a risk to the site, to other customers’ goods or to our staff, and we will always explain why.

14. Claims

Claims are handled under our Refund and Claims Policy, which forms part of these terms and sets out the notification deadlines, the evidence required and the escalation route. In summary: notify visible damage or shortage on the delivery record and tell us within 7 days, notify loss within 30 days of the expected delivery date, and keep the goods and packaging until the claim is closed. We acknowledge within 2 working days and aim to decide within 15 working days of complete evidence.

15. Cancellation

You may cancel free of charge at any point before we dispatch a vehicle for collection. After that, charges reflect costs actually committed on your behalf, as set out in the Refund and Claims Policy. We may cancel a booking where the goods are prohibited, where information provided proves materially inaccurate, where a sanctions or export control concern arises, or where sums due to us remain unpaid, and in each case we will explain the reason.

16. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for failure or delay caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including weather, natural disaster, war, civil unrest, terrorism, epidemic, strike or industrial action, port or airport closure, cyber attack, failure of a public utility, or the act of a customs, quarantine, aviation or other authority. Where such an event occurs we will keep moving your cargo by whatever lawful route is available, tell you what it costs, and let you decide.

17. Compliance, sanctions and anti-bribery

Both parties will comply with applicable export control, sanctions, anti-money-laundering, anti-bribery and modern slavery legislation. We screen parties as well as goods, and we may suspend or refuse a shipment while a concern is investigated. We do not offer or accept facilitation payments in any territory, and if a request for one is made to us in the course of your shipment we will tell you rather than quietly pay it.

18. Data protection

Personal data supplied in connection with a booking is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Shipment data is shared with carriers, agents, terminals and customs authorities only to the extent necessary to move and clear the cargo. Commercial data such as rates and volumes is treated as confidential and is not sold or shared with third parties for marketing.

19. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the law of the State of New York for shipments contracted with our United States office, and by the law of the Netherlands for shipments contracted with our European office, in each case subject to any mandatory convention. The courts of the corresponding jurisdiction have exclusive jurisdiction, save that either party may seek interim relief elsewhere where necessary to protect goods or documents.

If any provision of these terms is found unenforceable, the remainder continues in force, and the unenforceable provision is treated as modified to the minimum extent needed to make it valid. A failure to enforce a term on one occasion is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.

20. Contact

Questions about these terms, or about how a particular clause would apply to your shipment, should go to info@transatlantic-expres.com or to the freight desk on +1 507 201 9651, answered 24 hours a day. Written notices may be sent to Transatlantic Express, 120 Harbour Point, New York, NY 10004, United States, or to 44 Waalhaven Quay, 3089 Rotterdam, Netherlands.

21. Related policies

These terms sit alongside three further documents. Together they form the complete agreement between you and Transatlantic Express, and where a specific policy deals with a subject in more detail, that policy governs.

• Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy — the goods we will not carry at all, the goods that need written approval before booking, and the country-level restrictions that apply on our main lanes.
• Refund & Claims Policy — how to raise a loss, damage or delay claim, the evidence we need, the time limits that apply and how refunds and credits are issued.
• Privacy Policy — what personal and shipment data we hold, why we hold it, who we are required to share it with for customs clearance, and how long we keep it.

If you spot a conflict between any two of these documents, tell us at info@transatlantic-expres.com and we will confirm in writing which wording applies to your booking before the cargo moves.