Terms & Conditions

General Conditions of United Transport Tankcontainers B.V.
Article 1 General Conditions

1.1 These General Conditions apply to all offers and contracts made by United Transport
Tankcontainers B.V. its subsidiaries, affiliates and representing offices– hereafter called: UTT – and to all legal and factual acts performed in that connection.
1.2 Unless expressly otherwise agreed in writing, applicability of the general conditions used by the customer is excluded.
1.3 If any provision of these Conditions is void or voidable, such shall not affect the validity of the other provisions.
1.4 Regardless of the form in which they have been made, all offers of UTT are non-binding and can be revoked without any formality, even after acceptance thereof by the customer.
Revocation after acceptance by the customer shall be effected immediately.
1.5 Alteration of or addition to the instruction given to UTT only binds UTT after it has accepted such in writing.
Article 2 Performance of the contract
2.1 UTT is free in the method of performing the contractual services – which entails that with regard to carriage by sea it has the option of carriage on deck or below deck – unless UTT has accepted specific instructions from the customer in this respect. Insofar as possible, account shall be taken of the wishes of the customer with regard to the time or duration of the performance, but UTT does not give any guarantee in this respect.
2.2 If any document refers to notice of arrival of the goods to the customer or consignee, failure to give such notice shall not result in any liability on the part of UTT, nor shall the customer or any other party involved be released from any obligation under the contract.
2.3 In the event of temporary force majeure as defined below, the contract shall remain in effect, but the obligations of UTT shall be suspended for the term of the force majeure, without prejudice to the right of UTT, to terminate the contract and to charge the customer for the work already executed. All costs arising as a result of force majeure are at the customer’s expense.
Force majeure means in any event circumstances which a diligent contractor could not avoid and the consequences of which he could not prevent.
2.4 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, UTT is under no obligation personally to perform the services under the contract and it is entitled to use agents and/or subcontractors in the
performance of the whole or any part of the contractual services.
If servants, agents and/or subcontractors are held liable outside of a contract in respect of the work for which they were engaged by UTT, it is hereby stipulated on their behalf that they can invoke all provisions in these General Conditions – and any Convention provisions to which reference is made – in respect of exclusion or limitation of liability.

2.5 If the party entitled to the goods fails to take receipt of the goods after arrival thereof, UTT is entitled, without further notice, to unload the goods at the risk of the entitled party and/or to store them on the quay in the open air or under cover. Such storage shall be deemed proper delivery under the contract of carriage and complete fulfilment of UTT's contractual obligations, in consequence of which and as of which time the responsibility of UTT shall be cancelled in full. The costs of such storage and tankcontainer rental are at the customer’s expense.
Article 3 Obligations of the customer
3.1 Without prejudice to any provisions laid down in law or Convention, the customer is in any event obligated:
a. to ensure that the goods in respect of which UTT has some instruction, are available at
the agreed place and time;
b. to give UTT timely notice of the information which he must give UTT in respect of the
goods and in respect of the handling thereof which the customer knows or should know
that such is important for UTT, unless the customer may assume that UTT is aware of
such information; the customer guarantees the accuracy of the information provided by
him;
c. to guarantee the proper presence of the documents required for the execution of the
instruction, except insofar as it was agreed in writing that UTT would take care of such
documents;
d. with regard to dangerous goods to give timely written notice to UTT of the rules which
must be followed in accordance with the applicable legislation and/or other government
schemes;
e. to (have) inspect(ed) the goods and to ensure that they are in sound and acceptable
condition prior to unloading into the receiver’s storage tanks;
f. to ensure that the tankcontainer is directed to the correct site location/discharge point
and the product is being unloaded into the correct storage tank.
3.2 If the customer fails to perform the obligations set out in Paragraph 3.1, he is bound to
compensate UTT for any and all loss, damage, expense or liability which it suffers as a result thereof and to indemnify UTT against claims from the receiver of the goods and other (third) parties.
3.3 UTT can at any time and any place unload, destroy or make harmless in some other way goods entrusted to UTT for whatever reason, which UTT, if it had known at the time of taking receipt thereof that they could be dangerous, it would not have wished to receive.
3.4 Without prejudice to the above, the customer is liable to UTT for all damage caused by goods or materials which the customer made available to UTT, unless such damage is the fault of UTT.
3.5 The customer is bound to indemnify UTT or its servants, agents and/or subcontractors upon first request in the event UTT or said servants, agents and/or subcontractors are held liable by third parties, outside of a contract, for damage or some other financial loss, connected with the performance of the agreement.
3.6 The customer is at all times obligated to compensate UTT for amounts claimed and penalties imposed on UTT or any agent and/or subcontractor engaged by it by any government or other authority in connection with the performance of the contractual services, regardless of whether such claim is the result of an imputable fault in the performance on the part of UTT of its obligations under the contract.
The customer is obligated to give security on UTT’s first request for the amounts that UTT is or will be owed.
3.7 The customer is responsible for the loading of the goods into and unloading from the
tankcontainer or any other unit, unless UTT has expressly confirmed in writing otherwise in
advance. Assistance given by the driver in loading and/or unloading does not in any way affect the fact that the customer has exclusive responsibility in this respect. UTT does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the quantity indicated by the customer and all other statements regarding the goods. Neither UTT nor its sub-carrier shall be deemed to have received the goods contained in the tankcontainer in a good condition, even if no reservation has been made in this respect.
3.8 The customer shall be liable towards UTT at all times for damages which are caused by it or by third parties to chassis, trailers and/or tankcontainers which have been made available at the request of the customer or the receiver, respectively, to these parties for loading or unloading.
Article 4 Applicable conditions and rules
4.1 If UTT has issued a transport document with regard to the transport in question which bears UTT’s name, the conditions of transport set out in such transport document apply as do in addition these General Conditions. If furthermore a (CT-)bill of lading has been issued by ship owners or charterers the juridical relationship between UTT and the customer is not governed by the stipulations of that bill of lading.
4.2 If only ship owners or charterers have issued a bill of lading (or any other transport document) with regard to the transport in question, the conditions of transport set out in such a transport document apply as do in addition these General Conditions.
4.3 If no transport document is issued, all transport agreements are governed by these General Conditions, especially the rules as referred to under 4.4 - 4.10, insofar as said General Conditions are not contrary to any provision of mandatory law.
4.4 Insofar as necessary in derogation from the above, in all cases article 9 - regarding the
applicable law and competent Court – of these General Conditions applies.
4.5 If UTT undertakes to carry goods by road, the provisions of the CMR Convention shall apply, as if set out herein.
4.6 If UTT undertakes to carry goods by sea alone (pier/pier) or inland waterways alone, the Hague-Visby Rules (including the 1979 Protocol) shall apply, as if set out herein, but with the following amendments:
(a) any liability of UTT is excluded in respect of damage to or loss of goods arising before
loading or after discharge from the ship;
(b) UTT shall never be liable for damage resulting from late delivery;
4.7 If UTT undertakes to carry goods by rail or, without having so undertaken, opts for such
carriage, whether or not it forms part of combined transport, the provisions of the CIM/COTIF shall apply, on the understanding that the liability for any damage as a result of delay is excluded.
4.8 If it is agreed or it ensues from the nature of the carriage route that the carriage shall take place by way of combined transport (partly by road and/or partly by sea and/or partly by inland waterways and/or partly by rail), the provisions of the CMR Convention or the Hague-Visby Rules (as amended) as incorporated herein shall apply, depending on the stage of the carriage
where the loss, damage or delay arose. If it cannot be established on what stage of the carriage the loss, damage or delay arose, the liability of UTT shall be determined in accordance with the rules which apply to carriage by road, sea, inland waterways respectively rail from which the highest amount in compensation shall ensue.
The foregoing does not affect the fact that the CMR applies if the conditions of Article 2 of the CMR have been met.
4.9 UTT shall never be liable for lost profit, consequential damage (inter alia as a result of delay) and immaterial damage.
Any liability in respect of import duties, excise duty, turnover tax, restitutions and/or other
levies or related fines which are imposed by any government or any other authority charged
with such duties, which are demanded in connection with the performance of the contractual services, is excluded.
4.10 UTT shall not be liable for damage to goods in the receiver’s storage tanks caused by
contamination with goods unloaded from the tankcontainer. The customer shall indemnify
UTT against claims from the receiver/owner of these goods or any other party.
4.11 Any party who enters any premises of UTT or of its agent and/or subcontractor, in sheds, transport vehicles or any other place where work is executed, shall be there, with all goods he has with him, at his own risk, and he must strictly adhere to any regulations and/or instructions established by the government and by UTT. The customer shall indemnify UTT in this respect against claims of third parties which are on site in connection with the performance of the contractual services. Further UTT shall not be liable for any injury suffered by the customer or consignee, their employees, agents and/or subcontractors, if the injury occurs when said persons perform activities to or on top of a tankcontainer. The customer shall indemnify UTT in this respect against claims of consignees or other parties.
4.12 Insofar as such is not contrary to provisions of mandatory law and subject to the liability rules set out above in this article, in all other cases UTT shall only be liable to the extent set out below for damage or injury, loss or expense howsoever arising in so far as such is proved by the claimant to have arisen from an act or omission, committed with the intent to cause such damage or injury, loss or expense, or recklessly and with the knowledge that such would probably ensue.
In all such cases UTT shall never be liable for an amount greater than 7,500 SDRs per event or series of events with the same cause of damage, on the understanding that in the event of damage, reduction in value or loss of the goods included in the contractual services, the liability is limited to 4 SDRs per kilo of damaged or lost weight with a maximum of 2,000 SDRs per shipment, except insofar as the damage arose from acts or omissions of UTT itself – which means the management or supervisory personnel within the UTT business – which actions or omissions were intended to cause such damage or were carried out recklessly with the knowledge that such damage would probably ensue therefrom.
Article 5 Prices
The prices of UTT are based on the rates, wages and the like which apply at the time the
contract is made. In the event of a subsequent increase in one or more cost price factors, UTT is entitled to increase the original price accordingly.
The offer is based on flexible loading and unloading times. It does not encompass completion of customs documents and assumes that the goods are not held or carried under customs seal, unless UTT has expressly accepted such in writing.
Article 6 Payment
6.1 Payment must be made within 14 days after the invoice date in currency by deposit on a bank account designated by UTT.
6.2 In the event of late payment the customer is legally in default without any need for notice of default on behalf of UTT. As of the day following the due date the customer owes on the outstanding amount owed by him interest of 1% per month, including part of a month.
6.3 If the customer is in default, after written notice of default, he shall be taken to have accepted
liability for all losses and costs, both judicial and extra-judicial, relating to the claim. The
extra-judicial collection costs on the amount owing are fixed at 15% of the principal, with a
minimum of € 150.
6.4 UTT is at all times entitled to demand payment in advance from the customer or satisfactory security for the performance of his obligations. If the customer does not immediately comply with a request to this effect, UTT is entitled to terminate or suspend its work.
6.5 The customer is not permitted to set off or make any deduction in relation to invoices
submitted by UTT.
Article 7 Right of retention or pledge
7.1 UTT is entitled to retain goods, documents and monies of the customer at his expense and risk until UTT's claims on the Customer, for whatever reason, have been paid in full.
7.2 All goods, documents and monies which UTT has or will have in its possession, for whatever reason shall serve as pledge for its claims which UTT has and/or will have on the customer.
7.3 UTT is entitled to exercise the aforementioned pledge and/or right of retention with regard to any monies the customer may still owe UTT in relation to preceding assignments.