Booking & Transport Terms

These Booking & Transport Terms apply to business-to-business carriage of ordinary lawful HGV freight by road within Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). A Fleet Driver may perform a journey for a Fleet Carrier, but the Fleet Carrier remains the commercial Carrier and freight-payment recipient unless the booking expressly identifies an Owner Driver as the Carrier.

They do not by themselves authorise international or Northern Ireland movements, cabotage, ADR dangerous goods, controlled waste, live animals, temperature-controlled goods, firearms, explosives, controlled drugs, cash, bullion or other specialist or high-risk cargo. Those services require an expressly enabled workflow and appropriate terms, licences and checks before booking.

1. A published load is an invitation to submit an offer, not a binding offer.
2. The Carrier offers to perform the load by applying with its rate and any stated conditions.
3. The Company accepts by selecting the Carrier and confirming the booking.
4. The transport contract is formed when Houlvek issues a unique booking reference and records the agreed booking snapshot.

A material change after formation is effective only when both parties agree and the change is recorded. A later edit to a profile, listing or account must not rewrite the original booking evidence.

The transport contract consists, in descending priority, of:

1. mandatory law that cannot be varied;
2. the final Booking Details and later variations agreed by both parties;
3. Carrier conditions supplied in full, clearly identified and expressly accepted before formation; and
4. these Booking & Transport Terms.

A link, invoice footer or document first supplied after formation does not add terms to the booking. No trade-association conditions are incorporated unless they are identified, lawfully available and expressly accepted before confirmation.

Before confirmation, the parties must check their legal and business identities, authority, contacts, collection and delivery addresses and windows, goods description, weight, dimensions, packaging, value, hazards, vehicle and equipment, freight rate and basis, currency, VAT position, payment term, waiting and detention terms, cancellation terms, insurance requirements, subcontracting permission, POD requirements and special instructions.

A party must not proceed if a material field is missing, inaccurate or obviously inconsistent.

• Have authority to arrange carriage and provide lawful, accurate information about the goods and service.
• Disclose value, hazards, theft sensitivity, temperature, permits and specialist handling before formation.
• Provide safe access, suitable facilities, lawful instructions and required documents at the agreed time.
• Never require a breach of road safety, drivers' hours, operator licensing, sanctions, customs or other law.
• Pay the Carrier's valid invoice under the agreed payment term.
• Promptly report any material change, incident, claim, fraud or suspected illegal activity.

• Hold every Operator Licence, driver entitlement, CPC, vehicle approval and authorisation required for the journey.
• Maintain legally required motor insurance and commercially appropriate goods-in-transit, public-liability and employer's-liability cover.
• Use a safe, roadworthy, suitable and secure vehicle with a properly qualified, rested and authorised driver.
• Comply with road safety, drivers' hours, working time, load security, employment, tax and site rules.
• Perform with reasonable skill, care and diligence and promptly report delay, accident, damage, loss, theft or enforcement contact.
• Independently assess the goods, route, vehicle and instructions; Houlvek estimates do not replace that assessment.

A Fleet Carrier may assign an authorised Fleet Driver while remaining fully responsible for the contract, lawful instructions, payroll, tax, supervision, safety, equipment and the driver's status. Assignment within the Fleet Carrier does not make Houlvek an employer or employment agency.

The Carrier must not subcontract the carriage or assign the contract without the Company's prior recorded consent. An approved subcontract does not release the Carrier from responsibility for licence, insurance, safety, confidentiality or performance.

No party may use Houlvek for illegal goods, stolen property, proceeds of crime, human trafficking, unlawful immigration, controlled drugs, illegal weapons, unsafe waste movement, sanctions evasion or falsified documents. The Carrier may refuse goods that materially differ from the Booking Details or cannot lawfully and safely be carried. The reason must be recorded and avoidable loss minimised.

Unless the Booking Details say otherwise, the Company prepares, packages and labels the goods and makes them available; the Carrier checks apparent vehicle suitability, lawful weight limits and load security before movement. Responsibility for physical loading and unloading must be stated. A driver may stop unsafe loading, overloading or an unlawful instruction without being treated as abandoning the load.

Route and time estimates are indicative unless the Booking Details record a lawful, reasonably achievable binding requirement. Neither party may require unsafe driving or breach of drivers' hours to recover time. The Carrier must notify the Company promptly of a material delay and provide an updated estimate where possible.

A detention or fixed cancellation charge applies only if its trigger, free period, amount or rate, evidence and charging basis were clearly shown and accepted before confirmation. Otherwise, a party may seek only reasonable, evidenced direct loss recoverable under applicable law after mitigation. No charge is due to the extent an action was reasonably required by the other party's material breach, illegality, unsafe condition or invalid licence or insurance.

The Carrier must deliver to the recorded location or obtain a recorded instruction if delivery cannot safely and lawfully be completed. The agreed POD must be supplied promptly. An electronic POD, timestamp, authorised name, photograph or signature may be evidence of delivery, but does not conclusively determine concealed damage, title, payment or liability.

The Carrier invoices the Company directly. The invoice must accurately identify the supplier, customer, booking, service date, net amount, VAT where lawfully applicable, total, payment term and bank details. The Company must pay a valid undisputed invoice by the due date and promptly explain any genuine dispute with supporting evidence.

Bank-detail changes are high-risk and must be independently verified using a trusted contact channel. Houlvek may provide secure invoice, reminder and status tools, but does not receive, hold, settle or guarantee the freight charge and does not confirm that a bank transfer has settled.

The parties must protect goods and evidence after an incident, give prompt notice and allow a reasonable investigation. A Platform report is not an admission of liability. Liability, any valid limit and any time bar depend on applicable law and conditions properly incorporated before formation. Each party must mitigate loss. Nothing excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

The Carrier must maintain insurance appropriate to the goods, route, vehicle and assumed liability. A certificate is not a guarantee that a particular loss is covered. The Company must disclose cargo value and special risk and arrange cargo insurance where appropriate.

Booking Details, messages, contact information, POD, invoices and bank details must be protected and used only to perform, administer, enforce or lawfully report the booking. Records may be disclosed to insurers, advisers, regulators, law enforcement, courts or tax authorities where lawful and necessary. Houlvek handles Platform data under its Privacy Notice.

A party is not liable for delay or failure caused by an event beyond its reasonable control that could not reasonably have been avoided, provided it notifies the other promptly, mitigates the effect and resumes performance where possible. Payment already due, confidentiality and duties concerning goods already in custody are not automatically excused.

Houlvek may preserve records, request responses, restrict accounts or content, correct an obvious Platform status error and refer a safety concern to a competent authority. Any support view is non-binding and does not make Houlvek a carrier, insurer, payer, debt collector, court or final adjudicator. Safety concerns can be submitted at /report.

The Company and Carrier should first exchange a written summary and evidence and allow a reasonable commercial response, unless urgency or a legal deadline requires earlier action. The transport contract and related non-contractual disputes are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to mandatory rules and any valid dispute mechanism agreed before formation.

Houlvek may retain the booking reference and timestamps, party identifiers and roles, the Booking Details and agreed variations, the offer and acceptance events, applicable legal-document versions and integrity hashes, and relevant cancellation, POD, invoice, dispute, security and legal-hold records in accordance with the Privacy Notice and applicable law.

Marketplace operator: Dumitru Martinov, trading as Houlvek. Business and correspondence address: Suite RA01, 195-197 Wood Street, London, E17 3NU. Legal notices: legal@houlvek.co.uk.