Hi All
I am hoping someone on here can clear something up for me?
I send pallets of desirable goods all over Europe, I use a Freight Forwarder who in turn puts our goods through a European pallet network, I recently send a pallet out to Pisa in Italy and upon arrival the black shrink wrap and company printed security tape was all ripped on one side of the pallet, which has happened in transit through one of three to four European depots(hubs).
Now here is the problem the customer has found that nearly £2000 worth of goods were not on the pallet, I got a pod from the delivery depot in Pisa which is not a CMR and that has come back that the pallet was signed for as unchecked(photo’s prove that it had it’s wrap torn)
I have now asked for copies of the CMR that these goods would have transited with and am awaiting these to come through.
My questions are as follows
if the wrap was torn should it be written in the reservations box on the CMR at each point the pallet was taken over?
if nothing has been written in the reservations box, who is liable for the loss?
any help would be much appreciated and if this is in the wrong forum please could one of the mod’s move it to the right one for me?
The reservations box is only signed at collection or destination, not at each part of the journey.
Have a read of the CMR Convention; unece.org/trans/conventn/cmr_e.pdf and in the meantime contact the carrier / forwarder you gave the business to initially
Sorry to hear about the losses. However I am amazed that anyone would even consider sending desirable goods through a pallet network. It may cost considerably more but surely the way to move them is on a dedicated vehicle.
GBPub:
Sorry to hear about the losses. However I am amazed that anyone would even consider sending desirable goods through a pallet network. It may cost considerably more but surely the way to move them is on a dedicated vehicle.
I would like to go down that route but the director’s are very focused on profit, and the problems are very few and far between.
ryly1979:
Hi All
I am hoping someone on here can clear something up for me?
I send pallets of desirable goods all over Europe, I use a Freight Forwarder who in turn puts our goods through a European pallet network, I recently send a pallet out to Pisa in Italy and upon arrival the black shrink wrap and company printed security tape was all ripped on one side of the pallet, which has happened in transit through one of three to four European depots(hubs).
Now here is the problem the customer has found that nearly £2000 worth of goods were not on the pallet, I got a pod from the delivery depot in Pisa which is not a CMR and that has come back that the pallet was signed for as unchecked(photo’s prove that it had it’s wrap torn)
I have now asked for copies of the CMR that these goods would have transited with and am awaiting these to come through.
My questions are as follows
if the wrap was torn should it be written in the reservations box on the CMR at each point the pallet was taken over? NO only at the destination by the receiver
if nothing has been written in the reservations box, who is liable for the loss?
depends how good you can stand your ground, as they did not advise on the pod that the pallet was received with the security tape broken then there is not that much that they can legally do, as that is the point of the security tape
any help would be much appreciated and if this is in the wrong forum please could one of the mod’s move it to the right one for me?
further to the above check your forwarders and or the pallet companys conditions of cariage where you may find that under the conditions of carriage/CMR then there is a limit as to what they can be expected to reimburse based on weight so it will be nowhere near the actual value of the goods in this case.
Vascoingles:
further to the above check your forwarders and or the pallet companys conditions of cariage where you may find that under the conditions of carriage/CMR then there is a limit as to what they can be expected to reimburse based on weight so it will be nowhere near the actual value of the goods in this case.
Vasco, I think you’ll find that individual terms of carriage go out the window once a CMR comes into play. I had such an experience a few years ago and had this pointed out to me by a specialist transport lawyer, CMR conditions of carriage ONLY are taken into account if a claim is made.
ie, I could write “all goods are carried unde my own conditions” & go on to say maximum single claim £20 but once a CMR is made out my own conditions are not worth the paper they’re written on.
What incoterm was on it?
Looks like you ordered and paid for transport, than it’s you who talks to the carrier/agent you ordered the carriage with. He will / should then investigate/claim the damage of his partners.
I’d guess the pallet had a bar code scanned at every depot so relatively esy to find out when it was where. There MAY be loading lists carriers used between depots, notes on damage may appear on those.
CMR limits the liability (used to be ~30chf/kg), so unless extra insurance for arranged for, you’ve got some bad luck.
Having worked as an employee for a pallet network I would not send any desirables through one. Maybe it was just the franchise I worked for but theft was rife as well as damage to any pallets. The standards of loading them double deck trailers at the hub can leave a lot to be desired!
the freight forwarder is liable. they should pay your company for the loss. it is then up to them to reclaim any money from the pallet network company, they will reclaim from the haulier, who will claim from the subby.
but the reality is. your company is responsible for the ridiculous way in which they opperate.
for high value goods, they should send their own vehicle, or a dedicated courier/haulier.
skids:
Having worked as an employee for a pallet network I would not send any desirables through one. Maybe it was just the franchise I worked for but theft was rife as well as damage to any pallets. The standards of loading them double deck trailers at the hub can leave a lot to be desired!
Been in many pallet companies when on agency. I would not send anything with them either.
But I was also working for many courier companies…
GBPub:
Sorry to hear about the losses. However I am amazed that anyone would even consider sending desirable goods through a pallet network. It may cost considerably more but surely the way to move them is on a dedicated vehicle.
I would like to go down that route but the director’s are very focused on profit, and the problems are very few and far between.
Some bosses really need to understand, cheapest isn’t always the most economical,
It might be a one off incident, but how many more pallets will you have to shift to get that £2000 back in profit?
