ABNORMAL LOADS
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What happens when an abnormal load job goes wrong?
We carried out an abnormal load job for a customer and gave a notiication to the police for the speciied route. The local council near our customer decided to dig up the road without informing the police. There was no alternative route. We were delayed by three days, but didn’t pass on the additional costs to our customer. We invoiced our customer for the job, but they said they are only paying a part of it to offset the extra costs they incurred by having a crane on standby for three days. Can they do this? The job was done under the RHA 2009 Conditions of Carriage.
No, they are not allowed to set-off (contra) under clause 8(2) of RHA Conditions of Carriage 2009 and under Clause 17.1 of the Abnormal Load Conditions 1995. Consequential Loss (the hire of the crane) comes under Clause 11(2) of the RHA Conditions of Carriage 2009 and under Clause 13.2 of the Abnormal Load Conditions 1995. This limits the liability to the carriage charges, if held liable. The important thing here is the incorporation of any conditions, so inform your customer in writing that you are carrying under the 2009 Conditions of Carriage. You may also be advised to progress a claim against the council to recoup your additional costs.