Conditions of carriage.

This page is a plain-language restatement of the conditions that apply to freight carried by Setara Transport Inc. It is written so that a dispatcher, a claims clerk or a shipping manager can read it in one sitting. It is not legal advice, and it does not change the law. Where this page and the regulation say the same thing in different words, the regulation is the one that counts.

1. Scope and parties

Setara Transport Inc. is a federally incorporated company, incorporated in 2026 It is an Ontario CVOR-registered motor carrier. These conditions apply whenever Setara Transport accepts goods for carriage: container drayage from the CN Brampton and CPKC Vaughan intermodal ramps, Greater Toronto Area pickup and delivery, Ontario lanes, and Ontario to Quebec lanes.

In these conditions, "we", "us" and "the carrier" mean Setara Transport Inc. "You" means the consignor, the consignee, the broker, the forwarder or any other party that tenders goods to us or has an interest in those goods.

Where a signed carrier agreement, broker-carrier agreement or rate confirmation says something different from this page, that document governs for the load it covers. This page fills the gaps. It does not override what you and we have signed.

Setara Transport does not run cross-border, long-haul or Port of Montreal lanes. Customs on any cross-border move is arranged through a licensed customs broker partner. Setara never files entries.

2. The uniform conditions apply

Ontario sets the conditions of carriage for general freight by regulation. They are in Schedule 1 to Ontario Regulation 643/05 (Carriage of Goods), made under the Highway Traffic Act. Schedule 1 is the uniform conditions of carriage for general freight, and it runs to twenty numbered articles. The regulation is published in English only.

Our bill of lading incorporates those uniform conditions. Setara Transport uses the standard Ontario uniform bill of lading, a copy travels with every load, and the signed copy is your proof of delivery. Tendering goods to us, signing a rate confirmation with us, or accepting delivery of goods we carried means the uniform conditions apply to that shipment.

Where a section below restates the regulation, the article number is given so you can check it against the source. The remaining sections are our own commercial terms.

3. Liability for loss or damage

We are liable for loss of or damage to goods accepted by us or by our agent, except as set out below. That is Article 1 of the uniform conditions.

Where no value is declared, Article 9 sets the amount we are liable for at the lesser of two figures: the value of the goods at the place and time of shipment, including the freight and other charges if they were paid, and CAD 4.41 per kilogram computed on the total weight of the shipment. Read that second figure carefully. It runs on the total weight of the shipment, not on the weight of the damaged piece alone.

Article 5 sets out what a carrier is not liable for. We are not liable for loss, damage or delay caused by an act of God, the Queen's or public enemies, riots, strikes, a defect or inherent vice in the goods, an act or default of the consignor, owner or consignee, authority of law, quarantine, or a difference in the weight of grain, seed or other commodities caused by natural shrinkage.

On timing, Article 6 is plain. No carrier is bound to carry goods by any particular truck, or in time for any particular market, or otherwise than with due dispatch, unless that is specifically endorsed in the contract of carriage and signed by the parties. If a load has to be somewhere by a fixed time, say so at tender and get it written on the paperwork.

Documents, specie and articles of extraordinary value need a special agreement before we carry them, under Article 13. If goods of that kind move without one, and their nature is not disclosed on the contract of carriage, our liability is capped at the Article 9 amount.

4. Declared value

You can declare a higher value. Under Article 10, if the consignor declares a value for the goods on the face of the contract of carriage, our liability will not exceed that declared value. Declaring a value is how a shipment moves past the per-kilogram figure in Article 9.

To have effect, the declaration has to be on the face of the bill of lading before the goods move. It cannot be added afterwards, and an email on its own does not do it. Under Article 18, any limitation on the carrier's liability and any alteration to the contract of carriage has to be signed or initialled by the consignor and by us, or it is without effect.

A declared value is not cargo insurance. If goods need cover beyond what these conditions give you, arrange it before the load moves. Our sister company can arrange cargo insurance on the shipments it handles.

5. Notice of claim

Claims have deadlines, and the deadlines are short. Under Article 12, no carrier is liable for loss, damage or delay unless notice is given in writing to the originating carrier or the delivering carrier within 60 days after delivery of the goods. Where the goods are not delivered at all, that notice has to be given within nine months after the date of shipment.

The notice has to set out particulars of the origin, the destination and the date of shipment of the goods, and the estimated amount claimed.

The final statement of the claim has to be filed within nine months after the date of shipment, together with a copy of the paid freight bill.

How to file with us: note any shortage or damage on the delivery receipt at the time of delivery, then send the claim in writing to [email protected]. Send the bill of lading, the delivery receipt, the commercial invoice or other proof of value, photographs where damage is visible, and the paid freight bill with the final statement. We acknowledge the claim in writing and work it through to a written answer. A claim is handled as a claim: we do not set it off against an unrelated invoice without your written agreement.

Do not dispose of damaged goods or their packaging until the claim is settled. They may need to be inspected, and salvage belongs in the claim.

6. Dangerous goods

Dangerous goods must be declared to us at tender, before the load is planned. They move under the federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods rules: trained and certified drivers, correct shipping documents, correct placards, and correct classification, packaging and marking by the shipper.

We refuse undeclared dangerous goods. Under Article 15, a person who ships dangerous goods without full prior disclosure to the carrier as the law requires must indemnify the carrier against all loss, damage or delay caused by the failure to disclose, and the goods may be warehoused at the consignor's risk and expense.

If a driver finds undeclared dangerous goods at the dock or in a container, the load stops and dispatch calls you. That is not us being difficult. It is the only safe answer.

7. Undelivered and stored goods

If, through no fault of ours, the goods cannot be delivered, Article 16 requires us to give notice to the consignor and the consignee at once that delivery cannot be made, and to ask for disposal instructions.

Pending those instructions, Article 16 allows the goods to be stored in the warehouse of the carrier subject to a reasonable charge for storage, or, where the carrier has notified the consignor of that intention, removed to and stored in a public or licensed warehouse at the consignor's expense and without liability on the carrier's part, subject to a lien for all freight and other lawful charges including a reasonable charge for storage. We tell you which of the two applies when we send the notice.

Under Article 17, if we have given that notice and no disposal instructions arrive within 10 days after the date of the notice, we may return the undelivered shipment to the consignor at the consignor's expense.

Answer a disposal request quickly. Storage, redelivery and return all cost money, and the cost stays with the shipment.

8. Detention, layover, truck ordered not used and other accessorials

Free time, detention, layover, truck ordered not used, dry runs, ramp storage, chassis charges, extra stops, driver-assist work, reweighs and the empty container return are charged as set out in the rate confirmation or carrier agreement for that load. We do not publish accessorial amounts on this page, because they belong on the document you signed for that lane and that customer.

Two working rules keep the arithmetic simple. Detention is measured from the appointment time written on the rate confirmation. Every accessorial is billed with the backup attached: the in and out times, the gate receipt, the dispatch note or the photograph, as the case may be.

If an accessorial is missing from a rate confirmation and we can see the load will need it, we raise it before we sign rather than argue about it after delivery.

9. Appointments, access and site conditions

Tender the load with the pickup and delivery windows, the pickup or release number, whether it is a live load or a drop, and a contact with a phone number at each end. For drayage, add the container number and size, the steamship line, the ramp, the last free day, who supplies the chassis, and where the empty goes back.

Under Article 19, it is the consignor's responsibility to show correct shipping weights on the contract of carriage, and if the actual weight of the shipment does not agree with the weight shown, the carrier may correct it. Overweight loads and overweight containers are a legal problem for the driver and for the truck, so give us the real weight.

Loading and delivery sites have to be safe and reachable by a highway tractor and trailer. Where a site is not reachable, or where the delay is caused by the site rather than by us, the waiting time and any extra moves are charged as accessorials under the section above. Where you load, count or seal the trailer or container yourself, that is your load, your count and your seal.

Our drivers follow site rules, personal protective equipment requirements and lock-out procedures at your facility. A driver does not sign for a count the driver was not allowed to see, and does not move a load that is unsafe or over legal weight.

10. Equipment interchange and chassis

Containers and chassis are interchanged under the terms of the applicable interchange arrangement for the steamship line, the ramp or the equipment provider. Tell us the steamship line when you tender and we confirm how the container will be pulled and on whose chassis.

Per diem, chassis rental, ramp storage and demurrage charged by the line, the terminal or the ramp are for the account of the party responsible for them under the rate confirmation. Where a delay is ours, we own it. Where it comes from the ramp, the line, customs or the receiver, it stays with the shipment.

We inspect equipment at pickup and note damage before we leave. A container or chassis that is not roadworthy does not move, and dispatch calls you instead.

11. Payment

Invoices are issued on proof of delivery, from Setara Transport Inc., against your load number, with the signed bill of lading and the accessorial backup attached. Payment terms are as agreed in the carrier agreement or the rate confirmation for that load.

Article 14 governs freight charges. If we require it, the freight and all other lawful charges accruing on the goods have to be paid before delivery. If on inspection the goods shipped are not the goods described in the contract of carriage, the freight charges are payable on the goods actually shipped, with any additional charges lawfully payable. If a consignor does not indicate that a shipment is to move prepaid, or does not indicate how it is to move, it moves collect.

We keep the lien that Article 16 gives a carrier over goods held for freight and other lawful charges, including storage.

Our payment details never change by email. If you receive a message asking you to change our banking information, it is not from us. Call dispatch at (416) 566-4459 before you change anything, and see our safety and compliance page for the rest of the checks.

12. No re-brokering

The same clause is in the carrier agreement in our packet. It is why a load tendered to us has one carrier behind it, and why you always know whose truck is at your dock.

Where a move is outside what we carry, it is not quietly passed to someone else under our name. We decline it.

13. Insurance

Insurance is placed before the first load moves. No load is accepted until it is in force.

We do not publish limits or insurer names on the web.

Section 3 of O. Reg. 643/05 requires a carrier to provide or effect, with an insurer licensed under the Insurance Act, liability insurance for loss of or damage to goods in an amount sufficient to cover the goods carried. We will not operate a vehicle for compensation without that insurance in place.

14. Governing law

These conditions, and any carriage they cover, are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada that apply in it. The courts of Ontario have jurisdiction.

If part of this page is found unenforceable, the rest still applies. Nothing on this page waives any right, defence, limitation or exclusion available to a carrier under the law, and nothing on it reduces a right the uniform conditions give you.

We may update this page. The version in effect on the day a shipment is tendered applies to that shipment.

Last updated 7 September 2026. Questions about these conditions go to [email protected], or to dispatch at (416) 566-4459, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 18:00 ET.