General Conditions of Carriage

1. Content and Object

1.1. These General Terms and Conditions, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the parties, regulate all shipments and transport entrusted by the customer to ALBERTI GERMANO E SANTI ROMANO S.R.L., with registered office in Cortemaggiore (Pc), Via Salvo d’Acquisto, 7/9, C.F. and P.IVA 00840400337 (hereinafter referred as AeS), and supplement the provisions of the transport documents transmitted.

1.2. The contents of these General Conditions are made available in full on the website https://www.albertiesanti.com/termini-e-condizioni/ and constitute an integral part of the agreement between AeS and its Customer.

1.3. In order to carry out its activity, AeS avails itself of the collaboration of Italian Carriers duly enrolled in the Register of Haulers for Third Parties or of foreign carriers having the same technical and qualitative requisites and takes care of ascertaining the regular authorisation of the same, collecting the documentation necessary to prove the existence of enrolment in the Register or in another equivalent body and the possession of all the requisites provided for by the law in force.

2. Acceptance of the General Conditions

2.1. Provided that any changes to these terms are not required by applicable law or competent authorities, it is understood that the General Terms and Conditions in force at the time the order is sent shall apply to the forwarding and transport services entrusted. If any provision of these conditions is deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, such condition shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the other provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.

2.2. AeS reserves the right to amend and supplement the contents of the General Conditions at any time and without any prior notice and, in such a case, the latter shall be sent to the Principal and shall therefore be considered generally known and accepted.

2.3. Any additions and/or amendments made by the Principal to the General Terms and Conditions shall be deemed invalid and ineffective unless expressly approved in writing by AeS.

2.4. In case of any conflict between these General Conditions and what may be indicated in the order confirmations and/or transport documents, the conditions set out in the aforementioned documents shall prevail.

2.5. If the Customer entrusts the shipment through oral or written instructions that conflict with the General Conditions of AeS and the latter has not expressly authorised and approved them with written consent, AeS shall not be bound by them in any way.

3. Discipline and purpose of the relationship

3.1. All orders must have reached AeS sufficiently in advance in writing by e-mail to the address given by your specific sales representative for each service, at least 48 working hours before the day of dispatch.

3.2. Any possible cancellation of the entrusted forwarding order must be communicated in the same way as in the previous point no later than 12:00 noon on the day prior to the day the goods are taken over.

3.3. Any possible cancellation and/or correction received after this deadline shall in any case give cause to the full charge of the spaces and means booked according to the tariff measure and to compensation for any further damage suffered.

3.4. If it is necessary to book a delivery (booking), it is the Customer’s responsibility to inform AeS in writing when sending the order, providing the reference telephone number or e-mail address, if any.

3.5. When the order is sent, any information relevant to the loading and unloading procedure must also be expressly provided. In particular, if it is necessary to use a vehicle equipped with special equipment (e.g. a hydraulic tailgate) or in the case where there are vehicle restrictions for access to the loading and/or unloading site. Such requests shall be subject to a separate charging fee.

3.6. In the case of partial loads, AeS will use the same vehicle to make several deliveries. The possible wait at even one of the scheduled delivery points could result in a delay or postponement of the delivery itself. In any case, no complaint or claim for compensation for such a possible delay will be accepted, and the Customer’s right to do so is hereby waived.

3.7. The maximum waiting time for goods unloading procedures is set at 30 minutes. After this time has elapsed without completion of this phase, AeS shall have the right to withdraw and reschedule the delivery at the expense of the Customer.

3.8.  For the purpose of making the execution of the transport possible, it shall be the Customer’s responsibility to ensure that a clearly visible label is always placed on each pallet or package with the exact indication of the company name and the complete address of the place of destination of the goods. The same address must be clearly indicated on the transport documents that accompany the goods together with the description of the goods, and the number of packages and their weight must be specified, together with any further information that may be necessary for proper transport.

3.9. Unless special services are agreed, the service provided by AeS is limited to the picking, transport, customs clearance (if necessary and required) and return of the goods.

4. Liability and insurance coverage

4.1. The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) signed in Geneva on 19 May 1956 (as subsequently amended) regulates and rules the scope of AeS’s liability for the services entrusted to it and concerning international road transport.

4.2. On the basis of the foregoing, AeS shall be liable for any losses and/or damages up to a maximum limit of 8.33 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) for each gross kg of goods that are lost or damaged, without prejudice to the Customer’s right to make an express request to AeS in order to obtain an increase of this limit (so-called special interest in redelivery) and/or the activation of insurance coverage with a higher limit than that provided for by the regulations. In such cases, it shall be understood – and the Customer accepts this clause and fully agrees with its scope – that AeS shall be entitled to increase the costs budgeted for the shipment by charging a separate fee.

4.3. In the case of road transport carried out within the national territory, the maximum limit for any liability on the part of AeS in the event of loss and/or damage is set at Euro 1.00 for each gross kg of goods transported pursuant to article 1696 of the Italian civil code, without prejudice to the Customer’s right to make an express request to AeS in order to obtain an increase in this limit and/or the activation of insurance coverage that contemplates a higher reimbursement than that provided for by the regulations.

4.4. Regarding any transports carried out by sea, AeS will be obliged, in the event of proven liability, to reimburse the damage within the limits established by the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Bill of Lading, signed in Brussels on 24 August 1924, as subsequently amended by the Protocol signed in Brussels on 23 February 1968 and by the Protocol signed in Brussels on 21 December 1979 (Hague Rules – Visby), in its most recent version.

4.5. Regarding any transport carried out by air, AeS will, in the event of proven liability, be obliged to reimburse the damage within the limits set out in the Montreal Convention 1999, in its most recent version.

4.6. In the case of transport by multimodal transport, AeS will be obliged, in the event of proven liability, to reimburse the damage within the limits set out in article 1696 of the Civil Code and, if this does not apply, within the limits set out in the CMR Convention.

4.7. Considering the limits specified in the above clauses, AeS shall in no case be held liable, for any reason or cause whatsoever, for any damage suffered by the goods transported in the event that the Customer has not respected the volume and weight limits expressly indicated.

4.8.  In any case, AeS shall be held responsible for the goods entrusted to it for transport only from the time they are picked up and shall be so during their execution and until they are returned to the recipient.

4.9. It is understood that AeS cannot be held liable in any way for any loss, damage, delay or non-delivery resulting from unforeseeable circumstances, force majeure and/or in any case deriving from circumstances beyond its control (such as, by way of example but not limited to: natural disasters, wars, epidemics, accidents/damage to means of transport, strikes, robbery, measures taken by the authorities).

4.10. Under no circumstances shall AeS be liable for consequential and/or indirect damages (such as, by way of example but not limited to: loss of earnings, loss of sales, loss of customers, loss of turnover, loss of interest or damages resulting from delays in the execution of transport, damage to image or commercial reputation).

4.11. Goods entrusted to AeS shall be insured for carrier liability. Should the customer consider such cover to be insufficient, it shall be the customer’s responsibility to request that AeS take out appropriate cover for value (so-called all risks), the costs of which shall be borne by the customer.

5. Compensation settlement

5.1. In the event of proven liability on the part of AeS for the cases outlined in Article 4 above, it shall be the Customer’s responsibility to report the occurrence within and no later than 2 working days from the delivery of the goods to their destination, such term being understood to be mandatory.

5.2. This report must be sent to the addresses detailed in Article 3.1. and at the same time it must be accompanied by suitable evidence to support the complaint.

5.3. In any case, the payment of any indemnity – without prejudice to the liquidation measures specified in the text of Article 4 of the present General Conditions – shall always be subject to the submission of the original invoice as well as the breakdown of weight and any other document that may be useful to prove the value, type and quantity of the goods entrusted to the carrier for the purpose of being able to carry out an appropriate assessment of the actually detected damage.

6. Complaints

6.1. If any damage or a difference in quantity between the goods delivered and the goods actually reaching their destination is detected, the Customer shall be solely responsible for informing the final consignee of this fact and for lodging a formal complaint in writing with the delivery driver by means of an explicit and analytical reservation on the delivery documents and sending an explicit complaint to the known addresses pursuant to art. 3.1.

6.2. Similarly, at the same time of unloading, if the hypotheses as per the above point occur, it will be the duty and care of the Customer or the final addressee of the goods to assemble a photographic report that can provide proof of the complaint. This documentation must be sent to AeS along with the complaint, which, in the absence thereof, shall not be accepted.

6.3. Only in case of full compliance with the procedure described in the above points for the presentation of any complaints and the attachment of evidence, AeS will accept the examination of the claim. Differently, AeS shall not accept any form of complaint and shall at the same time be exempt from any liability whatsoever that may be ascribed to it.

6.4. It is hereby understood, in any case, that if the outcome of the examination is such that AeS actually finds grounds for a possible indemnity, the Customer shall not be entitled to offset or deduct, not even partially, such sums from the amount due to AeS for the transport carried out or from any other receivables due to AeS from the Customer.

6.5. In no case may AeS be held liable for the contents of the packages transported, of which it is not in a position to have knowledge of. The control carried out by AeS will be limited to verifying the correspondence between the number of packages listed on the transport documents and the number of packages actually at the time of delivery of the goods, where this is possible. Any discrepancies between what is stated in the documents of transport and what was received as delivery shall be expressly notified to the Customer before the commencement of the transport.

6.6. AeS is entitled to reject any claims if they are made by the Customer without the submission of detailed written reservations at the time of unloading on the CMR countersigned by the delivery driver. Such reservations are to be specific and clearly state the nature of the alleged damage and the exact quantity of goods allegedly damaged.

6.7. If, on arrival, the goods are deemed to be damaged, it is understood that they must be unloaded at the recipient’s warehouse and must remain available for possible checks and inspections carried out by AeS which, directly or through an expert appointed specifically for this purpose, shall have the right to carry out the necessary controls.

7. Conditions, service limitations, refusal and suspension of transport

7.1. The following cannot be entrusted to AeS without prior written agreement since they do not fall within the categories of goods insurable by the carrier’s policy: valuables, securities of any kind, antique paintings, antiques, weapons, stamps, tobacco and any product not mentioned and which by law cannot be transported in the ordinary way. Should AeS collect packages that concealedly contain any of the above-mentioned products, it shall be exonerated from all liability and shall be deemed to be an injured party, with all the consequences that this would entail being aggravated against the customer.

7.2. For the carriage of perishable goods, and under ADR or ATP, transport may only be carried out if the conditions of execution of the service and the times have been agreed in written form in advance.

7.3. The loading and unloading allowances are set forth in the regulations in force or by express agreement between the parties. The Customer will be liable to pay any parking and/or ancillary expenses that AeS may have to incur.

7.4. If AeS finds that a carriage does not comply with any of the aforementioned requirements and limitations, it can refuse to perform the said transportation and, if the same is already in progress, it can suspend it and withhold the goods pending instructions, excluding any compensation in favour of the Customer.

7.5. Should there be wars, uprisings or riots in the countries of origin, transit or destination, transport may be suspended/cancelled even if the transport has already begun. Any right to compensation in favour of the Customer shall be excluded; insurance coverage shall not apply.

8. Fees and the right of retention

8.1. AeS uses a price list on the basis of which the economic offer to the Customer is generated.  Prices are expressed in Euro, VAT excluded. The Carrier has the right to change the economic conditions at any time, should it deem it advisable, subject to the obligation to give the Customer adequate notice thereof.

8.2. Payments for transports must be made according to the terms expressly agreed between the parties.

8.3. Any delay in the fulfilment of the above mentioned point shall result in the loss of any dilatory benefit that may have been granted and will give rise to AeS’s right to take action to recover the entire credit accrued against the Customer as well as to suspend any further scheduled services until the accounting position has been effectively settled.

8.4. Likewise, the above mentioned non-payment shall entitle AeS to request – upon expiry of the terms indicated in the invoice – the payment of the amount due increased by the interest as per D.gs. 231/2002 and subsequent amendments, as well as any further amount accrued for damages suffered.

8.5. In the event of non-payment of the agreed consideration, AeS shall have the right of lien and retention on any goods it may hold, even through sub-carriers or other third parties, for the execution of the order received.

9. Legislation and competent court

9.1. These general conditions of service and any subsequent stipulations that may arise therefrom are intended to be governed by the Italian law and by the international conventions referred to in the above Article 4 in the context of the regime of carrier liability for each type of carriage entrusted.

9.2. Any dispute concerning the conclusion, validity, interpretation, execution and termination of the contractual relations between the parties shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Italian judicial authorities and the Court of Piacenza.

10. Confidentiality and data processing

10.1. The Parties undertake to maintain absolute confidentiality on any data and information that they may acquire in the course of the relationship arising from this agreement and undertake to return to each other, upon the expiry of the agreement, all material and documentation they may have received in connection with the services performed.

10.2. By coming to an agreement, the Parties exchange their respective consent to the processing, communication and dissemination of the data provided concerning the respective companies. They also declare that they have been fully and exhaustively acquainted with the content and purposes of the above mentioned processing as provided for by EU Regulation 679/2016, as well as with the rights conferred upon them pursuant to Articles 15-16-17-18-20-21 of the above mentioned regulation, to protect the confidentiality of their personal data, undertaking to adopt the minimum measures provided for therein.

 

All above described General terms and conditions are understood and accepted by the client at the time of when they entrust AeS in any of their services

The English text version is purely for your ease of reference, the Original text in Italian will be the only approved version in case of controversy.