On arrival
The pallet leans and the bottom boxes are crushed
A leaning stack sends you to the paperwork before it sends you to the fruit. On taking over a load the carrier has to check the apparent condition of the goods and of their packaging, and where he entered no reservation it is presumed both looked sound at loading. What follows from that is an argument about packing and about stowage.
The figures
| What the carrier checks at take-over | The package count and the marks, and the apparent condition of the goods and their packaging (CMR, article 8.1) |
|---|---|
| Where he wrote no reservation | It is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the goods and their packaging appeared to be in good condition when he took them over (CMR, article 9.2) |
| Reservations he does enter | They do not bind the sender unless the sender expressly agreed to be bound by them in the consignment note (CMR, article 8.2) |
| Defective packing | The sender is liable to the carrier for expenses due to defective packing, unless the defect was apparent at take-over and the carrier made no reservation (CMR, article 10) |
| Stowage | Handling, loading, stowage or unloading by the sender or the consignee sits among the special risks a carrier can invoke (CMR, article 17.4.c) |
| How a pallet of ours is built | Not agreed. No stacking pattern, board specification or securing method has been confirmed with the grower |
What it changes on an order
The driver is still waiting while you count
The note in his hand already contains a statement about how that stack looked when it was taken over. Reading it takes less time than photographing the lean, and it tells you which of two conversations you are about to have.
The crush is at the bottom and the stack is off square
Where the failure sits decides the question. A stack that came out of column points at how the load was built and restrained. A box that gave way with everything still square points at the box.
You buy ex works and arrange the transport yourself
Then both roles this part of the convention keeps apart end up close to your own side of the table. Being the one who contracted the vehicle changes who is asking whom about stowage.
What this note does not settle
- The convention divides responsibility between sender and carrier. It says nothing about what your supplier owes you, which lives in your own contract and not in this page.
- A presumption is not a finding. The article that creates it says in the same breath that the contrary can be proved.
- We have no agreed stacking pattern, no board specification and no securing method, so we cannot describe how a pallet of ours would be built for the road.
Source: Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)
Somebody already described that stack
Not with a camera. On taking over a load the carrier has to check the apparent condition of the goods and of their packaging, and to enter any reservation he makes together with the grounds for it. A note that reached you clean therefore carries a presumption that pallet and boxes looked right at loading. That statement was made in Spain, by somebody standing next to the vehicle.
Read before you photograph. A reservation on the note points one way, a clean note points the other, and either way you know within a minute which conversation you are about to have. Worth knowing too: a reservation the carrier writes does not bind the sender unless the sender agreed to it in the note, so a scribbled remark settles less than people assume it does.
Packing and stowage are separate questions
The convention keeps them apart deliberately. Packing is the sender's work, and he answers to the carrier for expenses caused by packing that was defective, unless the defect was obvious at take-over and the carrier said nothing about it. Stowage covers how the units were handled and arranged inside the vehicle, and where the sender or the consignee did that work the carrier can point at it. A leaning pallet lands in one of those two far more than it lands in both.
Which makes the useful question on the dock where the failure sits, not how alarming it looks. Ask us what a pallet is built from and how it is restrained and you will get an honest blank: pattern, board and securing method are all unconfirmed with the grower. We would rather hand you the empty field than describe a pallet nobody here has seen.
Talk to the grower
Tell us the variety, the sizes and the delivery week you need. You get a delivered price and what we can commit to in writing, from the person who picks the fruit.
The grower handles enquiries. Response times are still to be confirmed.