Edge Transport Terms & Conditions 2023-2024
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We are committed to providing the very best service to our customers. We will always do our best. We care.
Our team will be honest and transparent in all aspects of communication regarding the services we offer and communicate regular updates on known situations.
This guide provides outline details of our Terms and Conditions, for both distribution and warehouse customers, signposting links to information documents.
For anything not covered by the guide, then please contact us.
1. General Trading Terms
Edge Transport undertakes logistics and storage services under the Road Haulage Association conditions. These can be accessed via the following links:
RHA Terms and Conditions of Storage 2021
RHA Terms and Conditions of Carriage 2024
| Solution | Description |
| Network Distribution | Deliveries of typically of 1-7 pallets through the UK and Ireland through the Palletline network |
| Own Fleet Haulage | For larger consignments and full loads (and some smaller consignments dependent on locality and vehicle routing) that travel on an Edge vehicle. ADR freight handled by prior arrangement. |
| Dedicated Fleet | Dedicated vehicles and trailer routing and deliveries. |
| Warehouse | Storage and fulfilment services within a BRCGS AA Grade warehouse. Short and long-term solutions available. |
| Service | Description |
| Premium Service | Collect day 1 for delivery day 2 (other than restricted postcodes) Monday to Friday. |
| Economy Service | Collect day 1 for delivery day 3 (other than restricted postcodes) Monday to Friday. |
| Load and Go | Collect on day 1 for delivery day 1, Monday to Friday. Dedicated fleet only. |
| Night-Time | Deliveries to specified postcodes between 21:00 and 04:00 at standard rates. |
| Saturday Delivery | Own fleet deliveries by arrangement, network deliveries on a Saturday between the hours of 08:00 and 12:00 to major conurbations. |
| Sunday & Public Holidays | Own fleet and network deliveries on Sundays and bank holidays, by prior arrangement only |
| Reverse Collection | For consignments that need to be collected anywhere in the UK and delivered back to your usual address. |
| Third Party Service | For consignments that need to be collected and delivered anywhere in the UK other than your usual address. |
| FORS | Delivery by a FORS registered vehicle – by prior arrangement and depending on availability |
| European Service | Collections from or deliveries to from countries across specified European locations. |
| Warehouse Storage | Full pallets in, stored and dispatched as full pallets to order |
| Container Handling | Loose loaded container received, product palletised and stored |
| Fulfillment Services | Pick, pack and dispatch for mixed pallets from storage ready for onward transit |
| Food & Allergens | Accredited solutions for handling food products including organic and allergens |
Not all of these options are available for some postcodes, such as remote or long-distance postcodes. Please check the ‘Postcode Restrictions’ document (link) for the full list.
Our standard service:
- Business deliveries
– Delivery or collection point using their own forklift truck to load & unload
- Private addresses
– Kerb side delivery
- On a vehicle ranging in size from 5 tonne rigid to 44 tonne artic
- Palletline deliveries:
– Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 17:00
– Saturday deliveries between 09:00 and 12:00 noon
- Edge own fleet deliveries:
– Majority of our deliveries are Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00
– Deliveries outside these times – such as early morning, night-time & weekend deliveries can be arranged
The physical size of your pallets will determine how they are classified, whether they can be offloaded by a tail lift and the prices you are charged for collection and delivery.
Pallet dimensions information sheet
Oversized pallets information sheet
There are a range of additional surcharge codes that can be selected when manifesting the consignment to enhance this service to meet your requirements:
Timed options
Tail lift load or offload depending on weight & dimensions of the pallets
Pallet provision or removal
Some of these are chargeable but these will be listed within your rate card.
Please see our Surcharge and additional services sheet for details.
Please enter all consignments where possible on our Online portal.
If you need any support using the system, please contact the Commercial team.
The portal walks you through the process of entering consignment details on to the system ensuring that mandatory information is provided. The portal automatically imports the information that you manifest into our traffic management system and is used to plan, and charge, your consignment.
Please use a unique customer reference for each consignment and any relevant numbers that you require to appear on your invoice.
The correct surcharge code(s) must be selected when manifesting the consignment, rather than entering requests in the notes section.
There may be times when some services are not available or offered on a best endeavours basis, due to volumes or industry led restrictions.
If we have reached maximum daily capacity with our own fleet and there are network service restrictions, we may need to decline a consignment but will contact you to discuss an alternative solution.
We have a 12:00 noon cut off for Palletline orders to guarantee space on the trunk – If you are aware of a significant spike in volumes, then please let us know the day prior.
For any collections from a site other than your usual site, or with collection surcharges (such as time/Pallet & wrap) then please advise us by 14:00 the working day prior.
For own fleet and general haulage deliveries, we typically work on a Day 1 for Day 3 notification but appreciate that this is not always possible. We will do our best to accommodate all consignments notified by 12 noon the working day prior and where capacity has already been reached will offer an alternative solution.
If you are unable to access the portal, then please contact our Traffic Team. If the issue cannot be resolved, then we may ask you to send full details (all the information that you would typically input on to the portal) for your consignment by email to traffic@edgetransport.co.uk
Once the details have been entered on the consignment, or emailed over, any amendments must be made by email to traffic@edgetransport.co.uk. We will do our best to accommodate any changes, especially those notified before 16:00, and will advise if you need to reprint any labels.
6. Freight Presentation & Labelling
Pallets will be handled a number of times between the collection point and your end delivery point. For example, a consignment travelling via our pallet network is typically loaded and unloaded around 8 times.
Because of this, it’s important that pallets are suitably packaged, labelled and presented to prevent any movement of the goods on the pallet during transit and to enable us to comply with the DVSA load security and freight presentation requirements.
Before dispatching any pallets, please ensure that they are compliant with our Freight presentation guide and are suitably labelled so that they are uniquely identified:
It is important that freight is made available to the driver on arrival so they can be loaded quickly and safely, returning to Edge to meet onward connections on to our dedicated vehicles, or to network hubs and partners.
We do not offer a timed collection service and cannot wait more than 15 minutes for a collection. We cannot guarantee that we will always achieve any specified collection but will use our best endeavours to work around routing and volumes.
If your forklift driver is loading the vehicle, the driver will provide instructions on where to load on the vehicle and will supervise the loading where possible. If multiple vehicles are collecting, please do not split one consignment over two or more loads.
If the driver does not feel that it is safe to load freight or that the presentation is not suitable for onward transit then your goods may not be loaded. If goods are received at Edge and deemed unsuitable for onward distribution, we will hold the goods and contact you to advise. If re-work is required then a quotation will be provided. .
Please advise us of any cancellations as soon as possible as resource may have been arranged specifically to cover your collection/delivery and charges will be incurred by Edge and/or by our partners.
Your rate card includes details of cancellation charges and we will always do our best to minimise these.
Charges are based on the information manifested and due to the volume of orders that we handle each day, it is not possible to double check information provided such as notes, or check weights and dimensions, before using the data to plan your delivery or transfer the information over to our network partners.
Incorrect manifesting can delay your delivery and incur extra charges, so we rely on your accuracy.
As an example, an incorrect postcode can more than double the delivery charges. Charges will be incurred in re-routing the pallet and, for network consignments, even if a re-routed consignment appears close in proximity, or in the same postcode area, they may be covered by multiple Palletline members.
An incorrect date will incur a redelivery charge regardless of whether the delivery was attempted on the original manifested date, as orders will have been planned based on the original information provided.
From time to time, our services may be compromised, and we may not be able to achieve the desired collection or delivery requested.
We would encourage all customers to manage expectations of the services we can offer, especially when faced with circumstances beyond our control such as unpredicted volume spikes, adverse weather, road traffic incidents, driver shortages as well as Palletline network volume restrictions.
Where this affects the service that we offer you, we will always try to communicate with you and offer a solution, with any agreed action taken to resolve.
It is important that the delivery point completes an initial check of the pallets and advises the driver of any issues i.e., damage or potential damage, shortage or any other issues before the driver leaves site.
Once this visual check is completed, drivers will obtain a recipient name on a Digital Signature Capture device (DSC) for the consignment along with a GPS location. The end delivery point must make sure that the driver has made a note of any issues by clausing the delivery status.
This digital contact-free POD will be the standard means of proof of delivery where the name of the recipient will constitute the official proof that the delivery has been made.
In the event of any discrepancy, there is a process that we can follow by using GPS co- ordinates as well as tracker and footage information.
If damage or shortage is noted after the driver has left site, we must be informed within 24 hours of the delivery, and photographs provided to evidence that this damage or shortage was caused during transit.
12. Proof of Delivery Paperwork
We appreciate that some customers, or RDC delivery points, may insist on paperwork being signed at the point of delivery.
A chargeable Customer Own Paperwork service is available and can be included in your rates on request.
A copy of the paperwork you require to be signed must be provided to us, either when the consignment is manifested or when it is physically collected.
This paperwork will be scanned in and presented to the delivery point. The driver will ask for a signature or stamp but cannot insist. Any paper receipts provided by the delivery point will be accepted by the driver, returned to Edge and scanned on to the consignment so they can be accessed via the portal.
We aim to scan and upload this documentation to our portal the following working day, but there may be delays on General Haulage deliveries as the driver may not physically return to our site with the paperwork for several days.
Your rate card covers mainland consignments from your normal collection point.
Your rate card will provide you with your base price, list of chargeable surcharges and also a list of additional charges for circumstances when collections and deliveries don’t go smoothly and additional costs are incurred.
There is no expiry date on the rate card. It is typically reviewed annually depending on economic conditions, any changes we are aware of (such as Palletline central rate changes) but can be reviewed at any point if there are significant changes in the market place.
If you have any requirements that fall outside of your rate card then our Commercial Team can provide a quotation or issue a revised rate card. Quotes are valid at the time of quotation, are dependent on resource availability, and are based on the information we have been provided with.
All rate cards are subject to a fuel surcharge mechanism that increases, and decreases, depending on the bulk buying rate for diesel. Details of the base rate applicable to your rate card, and the banding calculations, is available from the Commercial Team on request.
Invoices are raised and emailed out on regular basis. Unless specified, all consignments ready to invoice will be listed on the same invoice number. Each invoice is accompanied with an Excel backing sheet which provides further job information as well as a hyperlink on each consignment number which links to the proof of delivery on our portal.
Please check your invoices carefully as queries must be raised within 7 days of the invoice date.
To raise an invoice query, please email the full details to enq@edgetransport.co.uk Your query will be investigated, and a response is normally issued within 7 working days.
Statements are emailed out at the beginning of each calendar month. Please ensure that these statements are checked to ensure that you have received and processed all invoices listed. If an invoice appears on the statement which you have not received, then please advise us immediately and a copy will be emailed over to you.
Our warehouse is fully racked with the ability to store a variety of pallet dimensions, as well some bulk storage space.
We are Soil Association and BRCGS AA+ Grade Storage & Distribution accredited, so you can be confident in our high standards, and store both non-food and food grade product including allergens and organic products.
As well as full pallet in, full pallet out services we also offer container receipt as well as pick, pack and dispatch solutions that can be tailored to meet your requirements.
Inbound receipts must be booked in by email to warehouse@edgetransport.co.uk with details of the quantity and receipt method.
Collection from a pre-agreed location
Inbound palletised goods on a side offload vehicle
Inbound container or rear tip vehicle – palletised or loose load
Palletised freight requests should be submitted with at least 48 hours’ notice, containers with a minimum of 5 working days’ notice, although we will always do our best to accommodate.
The specific timeslot will be issued based on availability. If we are already fully booked, then we will suggest an alternative timeslot. If the goods do not arrive within 30 minutes of this time slot then this may result in delays.
Pre-advice of pallets and contents should be provided before arrival or physically with the delivery. We are unable to accept any goods without paperwork.
Palletised stock should be presented as full pallets or pallets of only a single product code. Carton counts will not be checked unless specified.
Loose loaded stock will be checked and palletised. Unless otherwise agreed, this will be palletised with 1 product code per pallet.
Outbound call offs should be notified by 12 noon for same day dispatch or following day collection. After 12 noon our resource is committed, and amendments cannot be made.
Onward transportation on Edge own vehicles or via the Palletline network can be arranged or alternatively your carrier can book a slot to collect the product.
You will have access to our Clarus cloud-based Warehouse Management System which provides real-time data on stock holdings and allows you to advise goods in and goods out movements.
Multiple users can be created for each account, giving you full control and visibility. Regular reports can also be scheduled and emailed to you.
All inbound and outbound movements are scanned and recorded on Clarus, which in turn allows for a full traceability exercise to be completed within moments online.
You will be issued with a Warehouse rate card that provides a full breakdown of the charges for your account.
Invoices are generated weekly and emailed out to the nominated address. These are a different format to any Distribution invoices you receive and will list charges by type.
Storage charges are calculated based on individual pallets held on the previous Sunday evening, plus any receipts. Storage is charged for full or part weeks.
Your payment terms are strictly 30 days from invoice date, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Our payment terms with our partners and networks are strict and non- negotiable. As a result, we have to have a robust credit control process in place.
A credit account is subject to a satisfactory credit reference and a credit limit may be offered. Without a credit limit payment will be required in advance by bank transfer.
Credit limits are based on external credit agency advice such as Experian and Allianz credit insurers. Any excess of debt over your agreed credit limit must be settled immediately.
| Stage | Action taken |
| 1 | Statement will be issued with a request for payment date. |
| 2 | Contact will be made by Edge Accounts Team to discuss reasons for non- payment of the balance or specific invoices, and a payment date agreed. |
| 3 | Where a payment date is not agreed, or is missed, then your account will be placed on stop. You will be unable to create any further consignments on our portal but will be able to access proof of delivery and invoices. |
| Scenario | Applicable Conditions |
| Goods in transit within the UK | Subject to the RHA Conditions of Carriage (current edition) and will automatically have a limit of liability of
£1,300 per tonne (£1.30 per kilo) applied. |
| Goods in transit within the EC | Subject to CMR Conditions of Carriage (available on request) and liability limited accordingly. |
| Goods stored in warehouse | Subject to the RHA Conditions of Storage (current edition) and will automatically have a limit of liability of
£100 per tonne (£0.10 per kilo) applied. |
The Customer Claims Guide outlines the criteria for claims and the application of the conditions. Please always ensure that you notify us of your intent to claim in writing and always submit a claim form within the required timescales otherwise this will invalidate your claim.
Whist the information asked to evidence a claim sometimes appears onerous, our insurers and Palletline’s network insurer, strictly apply the requirements of the RHA conditions for all claims regardless of value.
In line with RHA terms and conditions, we will not accept liability for consequential loss, special damages or other indirect loss, however they may arise.
Uplifted limits of liability are available to cover the cost value of your goods whilst in transit, but these must be pre-agreed with Edge and are subject to additional cost. Please ask for a quotation.
Please check out our individual guides by clicking on the topic name below:
| Topic | Overview |
| Postcode Restrictions | List of postcodes that have restrictions on delivery timescales or surcharges |
| European Freight | Guide to manifesting and sending palletised freight to European destinations |
| Northern Ireland Freight | Guide to manifesting and sending palletised freight to Northern Ireland destinations |
| Pallet Dimensions | The maximum dimensions and weight for each of the types of pallet you can manifest |
| Oversize Pallets | Guide on manifesting and sending freight that falls outside of a standard pallet footprint |
| Surcharges & Extras | List of surcharge codes and extras that can be manifested on a consignment to enhance the standard service offer. The charges applicable for these are included on your rate card |
| Bookings In | Guide on Edge booking in consignments on your behalf – charges apply and must be pre agreed |
| Amazon | Guide on manifesting and sending freight to Amazon as full loads or through the Palletline-Amazon consolidation scheme |
| Fuel Surcharge Calculator | Information on how the fuel surcharge mechanism works for your account. This is rate card specific so please contact the Commercial Team for details |
| Online Portal Use | Our guide on using our VIGO portal to manifest consignments, track progress and download proof of delivery information |
| Freight Presentation | Best practice guide for presenting freight for onward transport |
| Labelling Guide | Guide to labelling freight prior to collection |
| Vehicle Sizes | List of the typical vehicle sizes offered by Edge and the Palletline network |
| Claims Guide | Guide on application of the RHA Terms and Conditions and how to claim in the event of damage or loss occurring whilst in Edge’s care and custody |
| Palletline | Introduction to Palletline and the differences to other |
We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in our Privacy notice which can be viewed by clicking “GDPR Privacy Notice for New Customers”. This notice applies to all customers, and we may update this notice at any time.
If you have any questions regarding the contents of our Distribution Terms & Guide, then please contact our Commercial Team.
We appreciate that this is rather lengthy so if you have any questions regarding the contents, then please contact our Commercial Team.
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