Terms and Conditions of Carriage
Alternative Transport Solutions Ltd t/a ATS
Sherwood House
7 Gregory Boulevard
Nottingham
NG76LB
Registered company in England and Wales under number 1324007
Alternative Transport Solutions Ltd (hereinafter referred to as “the Carrier/we/us/our) is not a common carrier and accepts goods for carriage only upon that condition and on the conditions set out below (the Conditions). No servant or agent of the Carrier is permitted to alter or vary these Conditions in any way unless expressly authorised to do so in writing by a Director of, Principal of, or Partner in the Carrier, or by another person separately authorised by such a person in writing. If any provision or part provision of these Conditions is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part provision under this clause shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of these Conditions. These Conditions apply to the Contract to the exclusion of any other terms that the Customer seeks to impose, have agreed or incorporate, and to the exclusion of any terms which might be implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing. It is expressly stated to be the Customers responsibility to read and understand these Conditions which will form the basis of the Contract under which any claims or disputes are settled. Customers are recommended to take professional advice and must arrange adequate insurance to provide full cover for the Consignment, and any liabilities they may be under in respect of it, when the Consignment is in transit.
1. Definitions
In these Conditions:
“Customer/You” means the person or company who contracts for the services of the Carrier, including any other carrier who gives a Consignment to the Carrier for carriage.
“Account Holder” means a person or business account holder or Web User who makes a booking with ATS. Where a person is making a booking on behalf of a business, they have the authority to bind and enter into a contract on behalf of the company.
“Consumer” as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015;
“Website” means www.alternativetransportsolution.com
“Web User” means a customer of www.alternativetransportsolution.com
“Contract” means the contract of carriage between the Customer and the Carrier.
“Consignee” means the person or company to whom the Carrier contracts with the Customer to deliver the Consignment.
“Consignment” means goods whether sent as a single item or in bulk or contained in one parcel, package or container, as the case may be, or any number of separate items, parcels, packages or containers sent at one time in one load by or for the Customer from one address to one address.
“Service” means the courier service to be proud by us to you.
“Dangerous Goods” means those substances and articles the carriage of which are prohibited by the provisions of the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) as applied in the United Kingdom, or permitted to be carried only under the conditions prescribed therein, as well as all other substances and articles of a nature or having characteristics which represent a hazard or danger to persons or property, or which include any radioactive or explosive material.
“Demurrage” means any cost or expense the Carrier suffers as a result of the improper, excessive or unreasonable detention of any vehicle, trailer, container or other equipment belonging to or under the control of the Carrier.
“Force Majeure Event” shall have the meaning set out in Condition 10(2)(c)
“In writing” includes, unless otherwise agreed, the transmission of information by electronic, optical or similar means of communication, including, but not limited to, facsimile, electronic mail or electronic data interchange (EDI), provided that the information is readily accessible and durable so as to be usable for subsequent reference.
2. Contract Agreement
a) If you are an Account Holder, you may contact us to obtain a quotation for the Services. Quotations are valid for a period of 7 days, unless otherwise stated. A legally binding Contract between you and us will be created upon your acceptance of our quotation or placing a booking. The Carriers’ terms stated on the quote/confirmation of booking prevail any customer terms.
b) If you are a Web User, our Website will guide you through the booking process. No part of our Website constitutes a contractual offer capable of acceptance. Your booking constitutes a contractual offer that we may, at our sole discretion, accept. We will indicate our acceptance sending you a booking confirmation by email. Only once we have sent you this booking confirmation will there be a legally binding Contract between you and us. The Carriers’ terms stated on the quote/confirmation of booking prevail any customer terms.
3. Prices and Payments
a) You will be required to complete and return a credit application form to us before any booking can be made if you wish to be a credit account holder.
b) If we accept your credit application form, at our sole discretion, we will open an account for you and you will become and Account Holder. This will allow us to agree a credit limit with you to facilitate your bookings in a timely way.
c) We reserve the right to change your payment terms and to offer, reject, amend and/or withdraw your credit facilities at any time without notice or explanation.
d) Prices quoted exclude VAT, where applicable. If the rate of VAT changes between the date of your booking and the date of your payment, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you must pay. Changes in VAT will not affect any prices where we have already received payment in full from you.
e) We may invoice you at any time after a booking is confirmed, regardless of whether delivery has taken place. All invoices are payable in full, without any set-off, withholding, deduction or retention, strictly within 30 days from the date of invoice, or otherwise in accordance with such other terms as may have been agreed in writing between the parties.
f) The time for the payment is of the essence of the Contract. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date, we reserve the right cancel your booking(s), suspend any further Services and charge you interest on the overdue sum at the rate of 6% per annum above the Bank of England base lending rate from time to time. Interest will accrue on a daily basis from the due date for payment until the actual date of payment of the overdue sum, whether before or after judgment. We will also charge you for any legal costs incurred by us in recovering any outstanding debt.
g) We reserve the right to request payment up front if you do not have an account with us, if you exceed your credit limit, if, for any reason, we are not satisfied of your creditworthiness, or if we so decide at our sole discretion. In this event, no Services will be performed until such time as any pro-forma invoice issued by us has been paid in full.
h) Pre-payment Account holders must make payment through Stripe before a booking is confirmed, a link will be emailed to you.
i) All payments card payments are processed via a payment gateway provider, such as Stripe. No credit or debit card information is provided to us and completion of the transaction will be subject to you agreeing to the payment gateway provider’s terms and conditions, under a separate contractual relationship. We cannot be held liable for any errors, actions, omissions or incorrect charges that they may make, as a third party.
4. Parties and Sub Contracting
a) The Customer warrants that he is either the owner of the Consignment or is authorised by the owner to accept these Conditions on his behalf; and that he is similarly authorised by all those having a proprietary or possessory interest in the Consignment, to accept these Conditions on their behalf.
b) The Carrier and any other carrier employed by the Carrier may employ the services of any other carrier for the purpose of fulfilling the Contract in whole or in part; and the name of every other such carrier shall be provided to the Customer upon request. The Carrier may at any time assign, mortgage, charge, delegate, declare a trust over or deal in any other manner with any or all of its rights and obligations under the Contract, to the extent permitted by law.
c) The Carrier contracts both for itself and also as agent of and trustee for its servants and agents and all other carriers referred to in 4(b) above, and also as agent of and trustee for such other carriers servants and agents; and every reference in these Conditions to the Carrier shall be deemed to include every other such carrier, servant and agent with the intention that they shall have the full benefit of the terms of this Contract, and collectively and together with the Carrier shall be under no greater liability to the Customer or any other party than is the Carrier hereunder.
d) Notwithstanding Condition 2, the carriage of any Consignment by rail, sea, inland waterway or air has been or will be arranged by the Carrier solely as agent of the Customer, and any such carriage shall be subject to the conditions of the rail, shipping, inland waterway or air carrier contracted to carry the Consignment. The Carrier shall be under no liability whatsoever, howsoever caused, to any person for such carriage: Provided always that where the Consignment is carried partly by road and partly by such other means of transport any loss, damage or delay shall be deemed to have occurred while the Consignment was being carried by road unless the contrary is proved by the Carrier
5. Dangerous Goods
If the Customer does not disclose in writing and in advance that a Consignment contains Dangerous Goods, the Carrier shall be entitled to rescind the Contract. If the Carrier agrees to accept for carriage any Dangerous Goods so disclosed then the Customer must arrange for and ensure that the Dangerous Goods are classified, packed, marked, labelled and documented in accordance with all applicable statutory regulations for the carriage by road of the substance declared.
6. Obligations of the Customer
a) When requesting a quotation and/or making a booking, you are required to provide us with the following information:
b) the full collection and delivery addresses, with postcodes;
c) a description of the items to be delivered;
d) the estimated total value of items to be delivered;
e) any special instructions, such as delivery restrictions; and
f) whether the delivery includes any dangerous goods (as defined in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road Regulations 1996).
g) It is your responsibility to ensure the goods are secure, properly packed and labelled in accordance with best practice and any applicable statutory requirements, and are fit and safe to be transported.
h) The Consignment does not and will not: cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health; require any official consent or licence to handle, possess, deal with or carry; at any time whilst in the care or control of the Carrier constitute waste (unless the Carrier has been previously advised otherwise); and that the Consignment is of a nature that can be legally transported in the United Kingdom;
i) It will comply, and will procure that all of its agents, employees and sub contractors also comply, with any reasonable regulations of the Carrier relating to handling, health and safety, and security, of which they are notified or have been notified; and
j) It will provide the Carrier with such information and materials as the Carrier may reasonably require in order to comply with its obligations under the Contract, and will ensure that such information is complete and accurate in all material respects.
k) If the Carrier’s performance of any of its obligations under the Contract is prevented, hindered or delayed by any act or omission of the Customer or by any failure by the Customer to perform any relevant obligation (Customer Default), then:
l) without limiting or affecting any other right or remedy available to it, the Carrier shall have the right to suspend performance of its obligations until the Customer remedies the Customer Default, and may rely on the Customer Default to relieve it from the performance of any of its obligations in each case to the extent the Customer Default prevents, hinders or delays the Supplier’s performance of any of its obligations;
m) the Carrier shall not be liable for any costs or losses sustained or incurred by the Customer arising directly or indirectly from the Carrier’s failure to perform or delay in performing any of its obligations as set out in this Condition 4(k-l); and
n) the Customer shall on written demand reimburse the Carrier for any costs or losses sustained or incurred by the Carrier arising directly or indirectly from the Customer Default.
7. Delivery
a) Transit commences when we take possession of the goods to be delivered, from whichever collection point you may specify.
b) If you require it, we will sign a consignment note acknowledging receipt of the goods, but this will not be evidence of the condition, declared nature, quality or weight of the goods at the time of our receipt.
c) Subject to clause 7 (e), transit ends when the goods are presented at the delivery address agreed at the point of booking.
d) We will require written acknowledgement at the point of delivery, which will be considered conclusive evidence of proper delivery and if we cannot obtain this, we will be unable to effect delivery and clause 7 (e) will apply. However, if you advise us that a signature is not required as proof of delivery, then we cannot be held liable if it is later claimed that the goods have not been delivered.
e) If the goods cannot be delivered (for whatever reason) or they are held by us awaiting further instructions from you and such instructions are not received, or if no safe and adequate access or unloading facilities are provided, or if the goods are not collected within 24 hours of us giving you notice, then delivery will be deemed to have ended.
f) We reserve the right to recover any costs incurred by us as a result of a failed delivery due to incorrect or insufficient information provided by you.
g) If we are unable to deliver, or delivery is deemed to have ended in accordance with clause 5 (e), we will notify you. Unless the goods are collected from us, or instructions are given for their disposal, onward carriage or return (at your expense), within 7 days from the date of our notice, then ownership (“title”) in the goods will pass to us and we may destroy or sell the goods as if we were the absolute owner. Any proceeds of the sale of the goods will be applied to any costs incurred by us in providing our Services to you, and any remaining proceeds will be paid to you (unless there is a shortfall, in which case we will charge for the shortfall).
h) We allow for a maximum of 30 minutes of loading time and 30 minutes of offloading time. If we are delayed beyond these timeframes due to no fault of our own, this will incur additional costs.
i) We will use all reasonable endeavours to collect and deliver the goods within the agreed timescales, however, such timescales are estimates only and time will not be of the essence in the performance of our Services.
8. Loading and Unloading
a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing the Customer will be responsible for the loading of goods onto the vehicle and will also be responsible for the Consignee unloading the goods off the vehicle. The Carrier will not be responsible for any loss or damage to the goods arising from loading the goods onto or unloading them off the vehicle, or from the overloading of the vehicle or from the unsafe loading of the vehicle. The Carrier may, at its sole discretion, through its servants and agents provide assistance in loading or unloading the goods if requested to do so by the Customer or the Consignee or the agents of either. The Customer shall indemnify the Carrier from and against all and any loss, damage, death or injury that may arise whilst the loading or unloading operations is taking place whether or not such loss, damage, death or injury is attributable to the negligence of the Carrier, its agents or servants.
b) The Customer shall ensure that any cranes, fork lift trucks, slings, chains or other equipment used in loading or unloading the vehicle are suitable for that purpose and will indemnify the Carrier against any and all consequences of failure of or unsuitability of such equipment.
c) The Customer shall ensure that there is adequate access to the loading and the unloading points and that the roadways to and from the public highway are of suitable material and that unloading will take place on good sound hardstanding, where there will be sufficient space to load or unload the vehicle in safety.
d) The Carrier shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever, howsoever caused, if the Carrier’s personnel are instructed by the Customer or the Consignee or their servants or agents to provide service to an area which does not comply with Condition 4(3) above, whether or not against the recommendations of the Carrier or the Carrier’s personnel.
e) The Customer shall indemnify the Carrier against all liability or loss or damage suffered or incurred (including but not limited to damage to the Carrier’s vehicle) as a result of the Carrier’s personnel complying with the instructions of the Customer or the Consignee or their servants or agents.
f) The Customer shall make available to the Carrier upon request details of any risk assessments which may have been carried out at the collection and/or delivery addresses. The responsibility for carrying out such risk assessments shall be that of the Customer and not of the Carrier.
9. Carrier’s Charges
a) The Carrier’s charges shall be payable by the Customer, without prejudice to any rights the Carrier may have against the Consignee, or any other person, to secure or obtain payment: Provided however that when any Consignment is consigned‘carriage forward’ the Customer shall not be required to pay such charges unless the Consignee shall, within a reasonable period of demand for payment having been made of it, have failed to pay the Carrier’s charges.
b) Charges shall be payable when due without deduction or deferment on account of any claim, counterclaim or set off. If the Customer becomes insolvent, or any sums owed by the Customer to the Carrier become overdue for payment, all credit terms previously agreed shall be cancelled with immediate effect and all invoices and accounts issued by the Carrier shall be deemed due for immediate payment and all sums owing (whether due or not) shall thereupon become payable. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, as amended, shall apply to all sums due from the Customer.
c) The Carrier shall use reasonable endeavours to obtain a signed proof of delivery of the Consignment from the Consignee, unless otherwise agreed with the Customer. No payment shall however be withheld by the Customer where the Carrier is unable to provide a proof of delivery unless notification of non delivery is received by the Carrier no more than 48 hours after the expected time of delivery of the Consignment and the Carrier is subsequently unable to evidence proof of delivery.
d) The Customer shall pay to the Carrier any storage charges incurred as a result of it exercising its lien in accordance with clause 14 below.
e) If the Contract is cancelled at any time the Customer shall pay the Carrier all costs and expenses which the Carrier has incurred prior to such cancellation.
10. Liability for Loss and Damage
a) The Customer shall be deemed to have elected to accept the terms set out in sub clause (b) of this Condition unless, before the transit commences, the Customer has agreed in writing that the Carrier shall be under no liability for loss of, or mis delivery of or damage to or in connection with the Consignment, howsoever or whensoever caused, and whether or not caused or contributed to, directly or indirectly, by any act, omission, neglect, default or other wrongdoing on the part of the Carrier, its servants, agents or sub contractors.
b) (Subject to these Conditions the Carrier shall be liable for:
(i) physical loss, mis delivery of or damage to living creatures, bullion, money, securities, stamps, precious metals or precious stones comprised within the Consignment only if:
(ii) the Carrier has specifically agreed in writing to carry any such items; and
(iii) the Customer has agreed in writing to reimburse the Carrier in respect of all additional costs which result from the carriage of the said items; and
(iv) the loss, mis delivery or damage is occasioned during transit and is proved to have been caused by the negligence of the Carrier, its servants, agents or sub contractors;
c) physical loss, mis delivery of or damage to any goods of a type not covered by sub clause (b) above comprised within the Consignment, unless the same has arisen from a Force Majeure Event.
d) a Force Majeure Event shall mean any act(s), event(s), circumstance(s) or cause(s) the occurrence of which is beyond the reasonable control of the Carrier, including but not limited to:
(i) act of God, riot, civil commotion, strike, lockout, general or partial stoppage or restraint of labour from whatever cause, war, act of terrorism, seizure or forfeiture under legal process, restraint of government;
(ii) error, act, omission, mis statement or misrepresentation by the Customer or the owner of the Consignment or by any servant or agent of either of them;
(iii) inherent wastage in bulk or weight, faulty design, latent defect or inherent vice or natural deterioration of the Consignment;
(iv) any special handling requirements in respect of the Consignment which have not been notified to the Carrier;
(v) insufficient or improper packaging, labelling or addressing, unless the Carrier has contracted to provide this service;
(vi) fire, flood, storm, earthquake, pandemic, or epidemic;
(vii) road congestion, road accidents, delays incurred at any delivery location or lack of delivery instructions from the Customer, vehicle breakdown;
(3) The Carrier shall not in any circumstances be liable for any loss or damage arising after transit is deemed to have ended within the meaning of Condition 5(e) hereof, whether or not caused or contributed to, directly or indirectly, by any act, omission, neglect, default or other wrongdoing on the part of the Carrier, its servants, agents or sub contractors.
11. Fraud
The Carrier shall in no circumstances be liable in respect of a Consignment in relation to which there has been fraud on the part of the Customer, the Consignee or the owner of the Consignment, or their servants or agents, unless the Carrier or of any servant of the Carrier acting in the course of his employment has been complicit in that fraud.
12. Limitation of Liability
(10.1) Except as otherwise provided in these Conditions, the liability of the Carrier in respect of claims for physical loss of, mis delivery of or physical damage to goods comprised within the Consignment, howsoever arising, shall in all circumstances be limited to the lesser of
(a) the value of the goods actually lost or mis delivered, at the place they should have been delivered; or the amount by which damaged goods have been depreciated in value by reason of that damage; or
(b) the cost of replacing the goods actually lost or mis delivered and/or reconditioning or repairing any damage to the goods; or
(c) a sum calculated at the rate of £1,300 Sterling per tonne on the gross weight of the goods actually lost, mis delivered or damaged;
and the value of the goods actually lost, mis delivered or damaged shall be taken to be their invoice value if they have been sold, and shall otherwise be taken to be their replacement cost to the owner at the commencement of the transit, and in all cases shall be taken to include any Customs and Excise duties or taxes paid or payable in respect of those goods when lost, mis delivered or damaged:
Provided that:
(i) in the case of loss, mis delivery of or damage to a part of the Consignment, the weight to be taken into consideration in determining the amount to which the Carrier’s liability is limited shall be only the gross weight of that part, regardless of whether the loss, mis delivery or damage affects the value of other parts of the Consignment;
(ii) nothing in this Condition shall limit the liability of the Carrier to less than the sum of £10;
(iii) the Carrier shall be entitled to proof of the weight and value of the whole of the Consignment and of any part thereof lost, mis delivered or damaged;
(iv) the Customer shall be entitled to give to the Carrier notice in writing, to be delivered at least seven days prior to commencement of transit, requesting that the £1,300 per tonne limit referred to in Condition 10(1)(c) above be increased (but not so as to exceed the value of the Consignment) and in the event of such notice being given the Customer shall be required to agree with the Carrier an increase in the carriage charges, but if no such agreement can be reached the aforementioned
£1,300 per tonne limit shall continue to apply.
(2) The liability of the Carrier in respect of claims for any other type of loss, liability or damage whatsoever and howsoever arising in connection with the Consignment shall not exceed the amount of the carriage charges in respect of the Consignment or the amount of the claimant’s proved loss, whichever is the less, unless:
(a) at the time of entering into the Contract with the Carrier, the Customer declares to the Carrier a special interest in the avoidance of physical loss, mis delivery or damage to the Consignment, and/or a special interest in delivery within a specified period, undertaking to pay such surcharge, referable to the declared value of that interest or those interests, as may be agreed with the Carrier, and
(b) at least 7 days prior to the commencement of transit the Customer has delivered to the Carrier confirmation in writing of the declared value of any special interest and of any agreed time limit, and of its agreement to pay the specified surcharge which it has agreed with the Carrier.
(3) The Carrier shall not be in breach of the Contract nor liable for any delay in performing, or failure to perform, any of its obligations under the Contract if such delay or failure results from a Force Majeure Event.
(4) The following types of loss or damage are wholly excluded, and will not under any circumstances be the subject of compensation by the Carrier:
(a) loss of profits;
(b) loss of sales or business;
(c) loss of agreements or contracts;
(d) loss of anticipated savings;
(e) loss of use of, or corruption of, software, data or information;
(f) loss of or damage to goodwill;
(g) indirect or consequential loss;
(h) any fine imposed on the Customer by the Consignee or its customer.
13. Indemnity to the Carrier
The Customer shall indemnify the Carrier against:
(1) all losses, liabilities and costs incurred by the Carrier (including but not limited to those incurred in connection with loss of or damage to the carrying vehicle or to other goods carried) as a result of any breach of these Conditions by the Customer or any party on whose behalf it has contracted, or by reason of any error, omission, mis statement or misrepresentation by the Customer or owner of the Consignment or by any servant or agent of either of them, or by reason of insufficient or improper packing, labelling or addressing of the Consignment, or by reason of fraud on the part of the Customer, the Consignee or the owner of the Consignment, or their servants or agents (as referred to in Condition 9);
(2) all losses, liabilities and costs arising from claims and demands by whomsoever made and howsoever arising (including, for the avoidance of doubt, claims alleging negligence or conversion, or by H.M. Revenue and Customs in respect of dutiable goods, or arising out of the carriage of Dangerous Goods) in respect of any loss of or damage to, or in connection with, the Consignment in an amount exceeding the liability of the Carrier under these Conditions in respect of that loss or damage, whether or not that loss or damage was caused or contributed to, directly or indirectly, by any act, omission, neglect, default or other wrongdoing on the part of the Carrier, its servants, agents or sub contractors.
13. Time Limits for Claims
(1) The Carrier shall not be liable for:
(a) physical loss of, mis or non delivery of, or physical damage to goods comprised within the Consignment unless advised thereof in writing within seven days after the termination of transit or the date on which the transit should have terminated;
(b) any other type of loss unless advised thereof in writing within twenty eight days after the termination of transit or the date on which the transit should have terminated.
Provided that if the Customer proves that,
(i) it was not reasonably possible for the Customer to advise the Carrier or make a claim in writing within the time limit applicable, and
(ii) such advice or claim was given or made within a reasonable time after the time at which it did become reasonably possible for the Customer to advise the Carrier or make a claim in writing,
the Carrier shall not have the benefit of the exclusion of liability afforded by this Condition.
(2) The Carrier shall in any event be discharged from all liability whatsoever and howsoever arising in respect of the Consignment unless legal proceedings are issued and notice in writing thereof given to the Carrier within one year of the date when transit commenced.
(3) In the computation of time where any period provided by these Conditions is seven days or less, Saturdays, Sundays and all statutory public holidays shall be excluded.
14. Lien
(1) The Carrier shall have:
(a) a particular lien on the Consignment for all charges due to the Carrier for the carriage, storage and/or warehousing of the Consignment and for all other proper charges or expenses incurred in connection with the carriage of the Consignment, and
(b) a general lien on the Consignment for any sums overdue and unpaid by the Customer, by the owner of the Consignment or by any other person having any proprietary or possessory interest in it, by the Consignee, or by any agent of these persons, on any invoice, account or contract whatsoever.
If the Carrier exercises a lien, but appropriate payment is not made within 14 days after notice that the payment is due has been given in accordance with Condition 5(e) above, the Carrier may sell the Consignment, or any part thereof, as agent for its owner and for those having a proprietary or possessory interest in it, and shall apply the proceeds towards any sums unpaid and towards the expenses of the retention, storage, insurance and sale of the Consignment and shall, upon accounting to the Customer for any balance remaining, be discharged from all liability whatsoever in respect of the Consignment.
(2) The Carrier may exercise its lien on its own behalf or as agent for any assignee of its invoices at any time and at any place in its sole discretion, whether or not the contractual carriage has been completed, and these Conditions shall continue to apply during the period of exercise of such lien.
(3) If the Consignment is not solely the property of the Customer, the Customer warrants that it has the authority of all those having a proprietary or possessory interest in the Consignment to grant to the Carrier liens as set out in Condition 14(1) above, and the Customer shall indemnify the Carrier for all claims and demands the Carrier may receive asserting that the Customer did not have that authority.
15. Unreasonable Detention
The Customer shall be liable to pay Demurrage, without prejudice to any rights that the Carrier may have against any other person in respect of any improper, excessive or unreasonable detention of any vehicle, trailer, container or other equipment belonging to or under the control of the Carrier.
16. Confidentiality
(1) Each party undertakes that it shall not at any time disclose to any person any confidential information concerning the business, affairs, customers, clients or suppliers of the other party, except as permitted by these Conditions.
(2) Each party may disclose the other party’s confidential information:
(a) to its employees, officers, representatives, sub contractors or advisers who need to know such information for the purposes of carrying out the party’s legal obligations; and
(b) as may be required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental or regulatory authority.
17. Law and Jurisdiction
Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Contract and any dispute arising under it or in connection with it shall be governed by English law and each party irrevocably agrees that such dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.