Last updated 3 September 2026
The full agreement for fleet businesses placing their own drivers and vehicles on the ShipSherpa network.
These terms bind every fleet business, delivery company and multi-vehicle operator admitted to the ShipSherpa carrier network, in addition to the Driver Terms that bind each of its drivers.
Part 1
These Terms govern the basis on which a fleet business may access and use the ShipSherpa platform to source, accept, allocate and complete transport work.
They apply to any business entity participating through a fleet account, including courier companies, haulage operators, owner-managed van businesses, transport coordinators, logistics providers and any other business supplying one or more drivers and vehicles through the platform.
These Terms apply in addition to any Fleet Declaration, Driver Terms, platform policies, pricing schedules, integrity rules, compliance documents and any signed partner or enterprise agreement between the parties.
By registering a fleet account, onboarding drivers or vehicles, accepting a job, logging into the platform or otherwise participating in the ShipSherpa network as a fleet entity, the Fleet Partner agrees to be bound by these Terms.
Ship Sherpa Limited operates a software-enabled logistics marketplace and dispatch layer through which customers may be matched with independent transport providers.
The Fleet Partner acknowledges and agrees that:
Nothing in these Terms creates or is intended to create:
The Fleet Partner retains full commercial freedom to structure and run its own business.
Without limitation, the Fleet Partner remains free to:
ShipSherpa provides no minimum work guarantee and the Fleet Partner is under no obligation to provide any minimum fleet capacity.
Acceptance of any booking is the Fleet Partner's own commercial decision.
ShipSherpa places no general restriction on any of the freedoms set out above. The only exception is the specific and limited undertaking in clause 1.12, which restricts the Fleet Partner solely in relation to Restricted Customers and solely for the Restricted Period, as those terms are defined in that clause.
The Fleet Partner warrants that it operates as a genuine independent transport, courier or logistics business and not as a disguised labour-only resource made available to ShipSherpa.
The Fleet Partner further confirms that:
The Fleet Partner must review its own business model if ShipSherpa becomes a materially dominant route to market over a sustained period.
The Fleet Partner alone controls the operational means by which accepted jobs are performed.
Once a job is accepted, the Fleet Partner determines, at its own responsibility:
ShipSherpa specifies only the required booking outcome, relevant customer requirements, service data fields and platform workflow expectations.
Nothing in these Terms entitles the Fleet Partner to present ShipSherpa as controlling the Fleet Partner's employment relationships or internal fleet management.
The Fleet Partner is solely responsible for all persons and vehicles supplied through or under its account.
The Fleet Partner must ensure that all drivers used for ShipSherpa work:
The Fleet Partner must ensure that all vehicles used for ShipSherpa work are:
The Fleet Partner remains fully responsible for the condition, legality and performance suitability of every performing driver and vehicle.
The Fleet Partner may use employed drivers, self-employed drivers, approved owner-drivers, subcontractors, regional partners, overflow fleets or similar fulfilment resources, provided always that:
The Fleet Partner remains liable for all acts and omissions of every person or entity used to fulfil ShipSherpa work under its account or instruction.
Nothing in these Terms transfers liability for downstream personnel or subcontractors to ShipSherpa.
Jobs may be surfaced, matched or made available through the platform using factors such as geography, timing, vehicle capability, customer requirements, pricing logic, capacity, service level and route profile.
The Fleet Partner remains free to:
There are no mandatory acceptance rates, fixed shift windows, required utilisation percentages or minimum route-take obligations.
The Fleet Partner must ensure that ShipSherpa-originated work is performed with sufficient digital visibility to preserve customer confidence, payout integrity, claims evidence and fraud prevention.
This includes ensuring, where applicable, that:
Tracking is required only in connection with active accepted work and not merely because the Fleet Partner is browsing or logged into the platform.
The Fleet Partner must restrict customer data and route information to those personnel who genuinely need access in order to perform the relevant job.
The Fleet Partner must not permit unauthorised use, extraction, retention or distribution of customer data, route intelligence, pricing data or POD information.
Without limitation, the Fleet Partner must take reasonable measures to prevent:
Fleet access credentials and permissions must be appropriately controlled.
Fleet settlement becomes due only when ShipSherpa's verification and integrity controls are satisfied.
Payment may therefore depend on matters including:
ShipSherpa may, to the extent permitted by the contractual framework, deduct, offset, retain or withhold sums relating to:
Payment cycles and settlement timing shall follow the platform schedule or any agreed account arrangement.
The Fleet Partner must not use access to ShipSherpa customers, route visibility, contact data or platform-originated commercial relationships to bypass the platform.
In this clause, and wherever those terms are used in the fleet documents:
During the Restricted Period applicable to a Restricted Customer, the Fleet Partner must not, whether directly or indirectly, whether alone or with others, and whether on its own account or for any other person:
This restriction does not apply where ShipSherpa has given prior written consent, which will not be unreasonably withheld where ShipSherpa has no continuing commercial interest in the relationship, nor to business falling within the pre-existing relationship carve-out in the definition of Restricted Customer.
Where ShipSherpa has reasonable grounds to believe that clause 1.12.1 has been breached, the Fleet Partner must, within 10 business days of a written request identifying the Restricted Customer concerned, disclose in writing the work it has performed for that customer, the dates on which it was performed, and the sums invoiced and received.
The Fleet Partner must pay to ShipSherpa a sum equal to the fees ShipSherpa would have earned had the work disclosed under clause 1.12.2 been sourced through the platform, calculated by applying ShipSherpa's then-current platform fee to the value of that work.
Where the Fleet Partner does not make full disclosure within the period set out in clause1.12.2, ShipSherpa may calculate that sum on a reasonable estimate drawn from the evidence available to it, and the Fleet Partner bears the burden of displacing that estimate by producing its records.
The parties agree that this sum is a genuine measure of the loss ShipSherpa suffers when platform-originated work is diverted, and is not a penalty.
During the Restricted Period the Fleet Partner must not use information obtained through the platform to solicit or entice any driver or operator with which it dealt through the platform to cease supplying services through ShipSherpa.
This does not restrict general recruitment advertising that is not targeted at such persons, and does not restrict the freedom of any driver or operator to choose for whom they work.
In addition to any sum due under clause 1.12.3, ShipSherpa may seek one or more of the following:
The Fleet Partner acknowledges that damages alone may not be an adequate remedy for breach of this clause 1.12.
Each restriction in this clause 1.12 is a separate and severable undertaking.
The parties, each contracting in the course of business and each having had the opportunity to take independent advice, consider the restrictions reasonable and no wider than necessary to protect ShipSherpa's legitimate interests in its customer connections, its confidential information and its investment in acquiring and servicing customers.
If any restriction is held void but would be valid if part of it were deleted or its period or scope reduced, it applies with such modification as is necessary to make it valid.
This clause applies in addition to the data handling obligations in clause 1.10 and to the marketplace integrity rules that form part of the wider framework.
Confidential Information means all non-public information disclosed by or obtained through ShipSherpa in connection with the fleet relationship, in any form, including:
The Fleet Partner may use Confidential Information only to perform work sourced through the platform and to meet its obligations under the fleet documents.
It must not use Confidential Information for any other purpose, including its own competitive advantage or the advantage of any third party.
The Fleet Partner may disclose Confidential Information only to those of its drivers, employees, subcontractors and professional advisers who need it for the permitted purpose, and only where they are bound by confidentiality obligations no less protective than those in this clause.
The Fleet Partner is responsible for their compliance as if it were its own.
This clause does not apply to information that:
The Fleet Partner may disclose Confidential Information to the extent required by law, regulation or court order, provided that it gives ShipSherpa prompt written notice where it is lawful to do so and discloses only what is required.
The Fleet Partner must protect Confidential Information with at least the care it applies to its own confidential information, and in any event with appropriate technical and organisational measures, including controlled access, secure storage and prompt removal of access for personnel who no longer need it.
It must notify ShipSherpa without undue delay on becoming aware of any unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
On termination, or on written request, the Fleet Partner must promptly return or securely delete all Confidential Information and confirm in writing that it has done so.
It may retain copies to the extent required by law, professional obligation or bona fide backup routine, and any retained copy remains subject to this clause for as long as it is held.
These obligations continue for three years after termination, and indefinitely in respect of any information that constitutes a trade secret or personal data.
Obligations relating to personal data apply in addition to, and do not limit, the parties' obligations under data protection law.
The Fleet Partner acknowledges that damages alone may not be an adequate remedy for breach of this clause and that ShipSherpa may seek injunctive relief.
No licence or other right in Confidential Information is granted except the limited right of use in clause 1.13.2.
To perform ShipSherpa work the Fleet Partner receives personal data, including the names, addresses and contact details of customers and recipients, and proof of collection and delivery records.
The Fleet Partner processes that personal data on ShipSherpa's behalf and on its documented instructions, as a sub-processor. It must not process that data for its own purposes.
The Fleet Partner must:
This clause applies in addition to clause 1.10 and to the ShipSherpa Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement. Nothing in it limits the Fleet Partner's own obligations as a controller of personal data relating to its staff, drivers and its own business records.
The Fleet Partner must maintain, throughout its participation in the network, all insurance reasonably required for the nature of the work it performs, including where applicable:
The Fleet Partner remains liable for transport-side and fleet-side failures arising from its own operations, including:
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes either party's liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
Subject to that, neither party is liable to the other for:
Subject to the first paragraph of this clause, each party's total liability to the other arising out of or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract, tort including negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, is limited in aggregate to the total sums paid by ShipSherpa to the Fleet Partner in the 12 months immediately before the date on which the claim arose.
That limit does not apply to:
The Fleet Partner is expected to maintain the insurance required by clause 1.15, and the parties agree that this allocation of risk is reasonable given that each party contracts in the course of business and prices its own services accordingly.
All employment, worker, contractor, substitute, payroll, rota, pension, HR and disciplinary responsibility for fleet drivers and fleet-side personnel rests solely with the Fleet Partner.
The Fleet Partner is solely responsible for:
ShipSherpa does not roster, discipline, employ or performance-manage the Fleet Partner's personnel.
This separation is fundamental to the commercial and legal structure between the parties.
The Fleet Partner is solely responsible for compliance with all laws, regulations and industry obligations applicable to its operations, including where relevant:
Nothing in these Terms transfers regulatory responsibility for the Fleet Partner's operations to ShipSherpa.
ShipSherpa may suspend, restrict or review fleet access where reasonably necessary to protect customer trust, payment integrity, legal compliance, route defensibility or network security.
This may arise where there is evidence or suspicion of:
Any such intervention is a platform integrity measure and does not imply employment-style supervision of the Fleet Partner or its personnel.
Either party may terminate the fleet relationship immediately, unless a different notice regime is expressly agreed in writing.
Termination does not create any entitlement to:
Termination does not affect accrued rights, liabilities, outstanding payment reconciliation, live investigations, indemnity claims, non-circumvention obligations, confidentiality obligations or compliance issues that by their nature should continue.
If there is inconsistency between fleet-side ShipSherpa documents, the following order of precedence shall apply unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing:
These Terms and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with them are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
The parties acknowledge that the ShipSherpa fleet model operates on the following basis:
Part 2
This Declaration applies to any fleet business, courier company, transport operator, dispatch business, logistics provider or other business entity admitted to the ShipSherpa platform as a fleet-side fulfilment partner.
Its purpose is to record the operational, legal and compliance basis on which ShipSherpa permits a fleet partner to source, accept, allocate and complete ShipSherpa-originated work through a fleet account.
This Declaration supplements and forms part of the wider contractual framework between ShipSherpa and the fleet partner, including any fleet operator terms, driver terms, customer-facing terms, operational policies, pricing schedules and marketplace integrity rules.
By accepting this Declaration or continuing to operate through a ShipSherpa fleet account, the fleet partner confirms that it understands and agrees to the obligations set out below.
ShipSherpa permits fleet participation only on the basis that the fleet partner operates as an independent business undertaking with genuine control over its own drivers, vehicles, staff, subcontractors and internal compliance systems.
Admission to the fleet network is conditional on the fleet partner being able to demonstrate that it can:
ShipSherpa may suspend or revoke fleet access where it no longer has confidence in the fleet partner's operational integrity, compliance standards or account transparency.
The fleet partner undertakes that all ShipSherpa-originated work accepted through its account will be handled:
The fleet partner must ensure that every person acting through its account understands that ShipSherpa work is subject to platform controls, evidence requirements, customer service standards and compliance obligations.
The fleet partner must ensure that every ShipSherpa job is assigned only to a driver and vehicle that are correctly identified within the platform.
For each accepted job, the fleet partner must ensure that:
Where the fleet principal performs the work personally, that fact must also be recorded using the correct details.
ShipSherpa relies on this visibility for dispatch control, customer communication, claims defence, insurer routing, fraud prevention and payment validation.
A fleet partner must not re-broker, pass on, reassign, sell, delegate or otherwise transfer ShipSherpa work to any person or entity outside the approved and recorded fleet structure.
Without limitation, the fleet partner must not allocate work to:
Any hidden or unauthorised reallocation is a material breach of this Declaration.
Where such conduct occurs, ShipSherpa may:
The fleet partner is responsible for the acts, omissions, service quality, compliance position and platform behaviour of every driver, substitute, contractor, staff member or agent operating through its account.
The fleet partner must ensure that its allocated drivers:
Any failure by an allocated driver is treated for contractual purposes as a failure by the fleet partner.
Where a job contains customer-specific requirements, the fleet partner must ensure that they are properly reviewed, understood and followed.
These may include:
If the fleet partner accepts a job subject to such requirements, it takes responsibility for performing the work in accordance with those requirements.
Where service falls materially below the booked standard because such requirements were not followed, ShipSherpa may adjust or withhold payment and may take account action.
ShipSherpa pays on the basis not only of route completion but also of reliable platform evidence and correct workflow use.
Full settlement is therefore conditional on both:
ShipSherpa may reduce, delay, withhold or refuse payment where the fleet partner or its allocated driver has failed to comply with this Declaration, the fleet terms, the driver terms or applicable platform controls.
Examples include:
Any such payment response is a commercial verification and risk-control measure and does not imply an employment-style supervisory relationship.
The fleet partner remains wholly responsible for:
Nothing in this Declaration transfers those responsibilities to ShipSherpa.
The fleet partner must not present ShipSherpa as the employer, principal workforce manager or payroll provider for its drivers, staff or substitutes.
The fleet partner must provide and maintain all documentation reasonably required by ShipSherpa in order to verify legal and operational suitability.
This may include:
The fleet partner warrants that all such documents are:
ShipSherpa may suspend the fleet account immediately if required documentation expires, is missing, appears unreliable or is not refreshed on request.
The fleet partner must ensure that all vehicles used for ShipSherpa work are at all times:
ShipSherpa may request evidence of the fleet partner's vehicle control systems, including:
The fleet partner remains responsible for the condition, legality and suitability of every deployed vehicle.
The fleet partner must ensure that every driver used for ShipSherpa work:
The fleet partner must maintain accurate and up-to-date records for its drivers, including where applicable:
ShipSherpa may request evidence of those records during audit, claims review or operational investigation.
The fleet partner must provide at least one authorised day-to-day operational contact who is capable of dealing promptly with matters including:
The fleet partner must keep those contact details accurate and current at all times.
Failure to maintain responsive operational contact details may itself be treated as a compliance concern.
The fleet partner must ensure that all information entered into, uploaded to or maintained within the platform is accurate and current.
This includes:
ShipSherpa is entitled to rely on platform data entered by the fleet partner.
ShipSherpa is not responsible for loss, delay, customer confusion, waiting-time dispute, payment dispute or service failure caused by inaccurate fleet-entered data.
ShipSherpa may conduct spot checks, onboarding reviews, document rechecks, operational audits and compliance reviews at any time on a risk-based or periodic basis.
The fleet partner must cooperate promptly with any reasonable request for evidence relating to:
Failure to cooperate promptly or candidly may result in payment hold, suspension or removal from the network.
Non-circumvention and the protection of platform-originated relationships are governed by clause 1.12 of the Fleet Partner Terms, which applies to this Declaration in full and is incorporated into it by reference.
Terms defined in that clause have the same meaning in this Declaration.
Those restrictions apply whether the conduct is carried out by the fleet partner itself or by anyone acting on its behalf.
Where this Declaration and clause 1.12 of the Fleet Partner Terms differ, clause 1.12 prevails.
If the fleet partner becomes aware of any actual or potential complaint, claim, insurer issue, investigation, theft allegation, cargo issue, site-damage event or regulatory concern that may affect ShipSherpa, a customer or an allocated driver, it must:
Where ShipSherpa may be affected, the fleet partner must not make statements binding ShipSherpa or present itself as authorised to settle matters on ShipSherpa's behalf without prior written consent.
ShipSherpa may provide relevant insurer or compliance information to a legitimately interested claimant where reasonably necessary.
The fleet partner accepts full legal responsibility for the actions and omissions of all drivers, substitutes, staff, contractors and agents operating through or under its fleet account.
The fleet partner shall indemnify and keep indemnified ShipSherpa, its officers, employees, agents and group companies against all losses, claims, liabilities, damages, costs, fines, taxes and legal expenses arising out of or in connection with:
This indemnity does not apply to the extent a loss was caused directly by ShipSherpa's own breach of contract or unlawful act.
This Declaration forms part of the contractual framework between ShipSherpa and the fleet partner.
If there is inconsistency between this Declaration and another ShipSherpa fleet-side document, the following order of precedence applies unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing:
This Declaration and any non-contractual obligations arising out of it are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.
Any provisions concerning payment adjustment, indemnity, claims cooperation, confidentiality, audit rights, non-circumvention and legal responsibility shall survive suspension or termination to the extent necessary to give them effect.
Part 3
This Policy sets the rules that apply where booked logistics capacity is withdrawn, released, abandoned, rendered unusable or otherwise lost after a booking has entered the ShipSherpa marketplace.
It governs the commercial consequences of:
The purpose of this Policy is not punitive. Its purpose is to allocate the economic consequences of lost capacity fairly across the marketplace once a route, driver, fleet resource or specialist vehicle has been reserved or deployed.
This Policy forms part of the ShipSherpa contractual framework and applies across standard same-day services, scheduled work, dedicated vehicle bookings, half-day and full-day hire, trunking, linehaul, overflow work, enterprise dispatch and API-originated bookings.
A booking may be cancelled before execution begins, but once ShipSherpa marketplace capacity has been reserved, accepted, dispatched or committed, the booking may generate a charge even if transport does not complete.
Charges under this Policy reflect one or more of the following:
Where a booking has been amended by agreement, all cancellation windows and charging thresholds shall be measured by reference to the revised booking time, not the original one.
For the purposes of this Policy, a booking may sit in one of the following marketplace states:
Open Allocation
No driver, fleet partner or vehicle resource has yet accepted or been committed.
Reserved Capacity
A driver, fleet partner or vehicle resource has accepted or been ring-fenced for the job.
Committed Dispatch
The assigned resource has begun operational preparation, mobilisation, route positioning or scheduled deployment.
Arrival / Live Attendance
The driver or vehicle has reached site, entered the collection approach stage or is demonstrably present for collection.
The commercial consequences of cancellation increase as the booking moves through these capacity states.
A customer may cancel a booking without charge where either:
For standard same-day vehicle classes from car up to Luton, ShipSherpa may apply a brief grace period for obvious booking mistakes. Unless a different period is published for the relevant service, that grace period shall be 10 minutes from confirmed booking.
Once reserved capacity exists, the booking becomes subject to the charging structure in this Policy.
Car to Luton vehicle classes
Where a standard same-day booking has entered Reserved Capacity, the following charging rules apply:
| Time of cancellation before collection | Charge |
|---|---|
| More than 2 hours | 0% |
| 2 hours to 75 minutes | 20% |
| 75 minutes to 40 minutes | 45% |
| Less than 40 minutes | 70% |
| Driver en route, arrived, or attendance confirmed | 100% |
ShipSherpa may treat a driver as en route where dispatch evidence, platform status or communications show that the driver has materially committed to collection attendance.
Half-day and full-day hire
Dedicated vehicle bookings carry increased lock-up risk because vehicle time is reserved for one customer and cannot readily be resold at short notice.
Where a dedicated half-day or full-day booking is cancelled, the following charges apply:
| Time of cancellation before booked start | Charge |
|---|---|
| More than 24 hours | 0% |
| 24 hours to 10 hours | 20% |
| 10 hours to 3 hours | 45% |
| Less than 3 hours | 70% |
| Vehicle dispatched, mobilised or on site | 100% |
7.5 tonne, 18 tonne, artic and similar specialist allocations
Heavy vehicle and linehaul bookings create materially higher planning exposure, including regulated driver hours, dock timing, return-leg inefficiency, specialist scheduling and revenue displacement.
Accordingly, unless a separate enterprise schedule applies, the following charging structure shall apply:
| Time of cancellation before collection or booked movement | Charge |
|---|---|
| More than 24 hours | 0% |
| 24 hours to 14 hours | 40% |
| 14 hours to 4 hours | 65% |
| Less than 4 hours | 90% |
| Vehicle rolling, on site, timed dock committed or attendance confirmed | 100% |
For the purposes of this section, “rolling” includes any demonstrable commencement of the transport movement or committed positioning of the heavy vehicle resource.
A booking may be treated as a failed collection where the assigned resource attends as required but transport cannot proceed because the customer, consignor or site is not operationally ready.
This includes where:
In such cases, ShipSherpa may charge up to the full route value together with any waiting time, wasted attendance, repositioning cost or specialist vehicle idle charge.
A customer may cancel without cancellation charge where the assigned service is materially delayed beyond the applicable threshold and ShipSherpa is unable to provide a commercially reasonable recovery position.
Unless otherwise agreed:
This fee-free cancellation right shall not apply where the delay arises wholly or mainly from:
Drivers and fleet partners are under no obligation to accept any offered booking.
Nothing in this Policy requires a driver or fleet partner to take any route, maintain any acceptance rate or reserve availability for future work.
The legal and commercial consequences in this Part arise only after a booking has been accepted or a fleet resource has been committed.
Once accepted, a booking should only be relinquished where continued performance would be unsafe, unlawful or genuinely impracticable.
Legitimate withdrawal reasons may include:
Where possible, the driver or fleet partner must notify ShipSherpa immediately so reallocation can be attempted.
The following conduct undermines marketplace confidence and is prohibited:
Where such behaviour is identified, ShipSherpa may apply commercial or access consequences including payout adjustment, reduced allocation priority, temporary suspension or permanent removal.
Any such platform response remains a marketplace integrity measure and does not imply employment-style discipline.
Where a fleet partner has accepted a booking and its originally intended driver becomes unavailable, the fleet partner must use reasonable efforts to reallocate the work internally through an already approved and verified replacement.
No unapproved third-party substitution may be used unless separately authorised under the applicable ShipSherpa fleet onboarding framework.
The fleet partner remains responsible for any failed fulfilment arising from internal driver unavailability.
Some enterprise, API and strategic customer accounts may operate under:
Where such a document expressly overrides this Policy, the negotiated enterprise arrangement shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
In the absence of an express override, this Policy shall apply.
ShipSherpa may investigate booking and cancellation behaviour suggesting misuse of the marketplace, including:
Where abuse is suspected, ShipSherpa may impose appropriate controls, including warning notices, charge enforcement, throttling, booking restrictions, API suspension or account termination.
Any charge arising under this Policy may be:
ShipSherpa may retain evidence reasonably necessary to support charge enforcement, fraud defence, insurer reporting or customer dispute resolution.
This Policy is intended to preserve fair pricing, credible vehicle reservation economics, driver confidence, fleet reliability and enterprise-grade dispatch integrity.
It is also designed to discourage false demand, protect genuine capacity and support national scaling across same-day, scheduled, dedicated and future multimodal services.
Part 4
This Schedule sets out the additional charges that may arise where the actual operational requirements of a booked movement differ from, exceed or materially depart from the assumptions built into the original quoted service.
The quoted booking price is ordinarily generated on the basis of a defined transport scope, including:
Where the actual job extends beyond that baseline, ShipSherpa may apply supplementary charges to reflect the additional time, labour, disruption, equipment commitment or route impact created by that variation.
This Schedule applies across:
Additional fees under this Schedule are intended to reflect genuine operational extension or service deviation. They are not intended to penalise normal use of the ShipSherpa platform.
Charges may arise where one or more of the following occurs:
Where a separate master services agreement, enterprise rate card or account-specific pricing schedule expressly overrides this Schedule, that negotiated arrangement shall prevail to the extent of any inconsistency.
The original quoted service includes only the operational scope expressly presented at the time of booking.
Unless separately stated, the quote does not automatically include:
Where any of those factors arise, additional fees may be charged in accordance with this Schedule.
A waiting fee may be charged where a vehicle or crew is kept beyond the included grace period at collection, delivery or any intermediate operational point.
Waiting time may be measured using one or more of the following:
Waiting charges apply only after the grace period for the relevant vehicle class has expired.
4.1 Vehicle Waiting Rates
| Vehicle class | Solo operator or driver rate | Two-person crew rate | Waiting charge starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Car | £12 per hour | N/A | After 30 minutes |
| Small Van | £13 per hour | N/A | After 30 minutes |
| Short Wheelbase | £13 per hour | N/A | After 30 minutes |
| Long Wheelbase | £14 per hour | £22 per hour | After 30 minutes |
| Extra Long Wheelbase | £14 per hour | £22 per hour | After 30 minutes |
| Luton | £18 per hour | £27 per hour | After 30 minutes |
| 7.5 Tonne | £22 per hour | £36 per hour | After 30 minutes |
| 18–26 Tonne | £36 per hour | £55 per hour | After 60 minutes |
| Artic | £36 per hour | £55 per hour | After 60 minutes |
ShipSherpa may calculate waiting charges on a pro-rata basis unless the applicable customer contract states otherwise.
Where the booked movement requires labour, support or site handling outside the declared transport scope, ShipSherpa may charge additional handling fees.
This may include, without limitation:
5.1 Standard Handling Rates
For vehicle classes from Car to Luton, the following handling charges apply:
| Circumstance | Solo rate | Two-person crew rate |
|---|---|---|
| Additional handling added after booking but before dispatch | £12 per hour | £24 per hour |
| Additional handling introduced after the job has started | £16 per hour | N/A |
| Further manual handling outside the original service scope once the job is in live execution | £20 per hour | N/A |
For 7.5 Tonne to Artic vehicle classes, the following handling rates apply:
| Vehicle class | Solo rate | Two-person crew rate |
|---|---|---|
| 7.5 Tonne to Artic | £26 per hour | £52 per hour |
These charges may apply where the original booking omitted material handling requirements.
ShipSherpa may apply an uplift where a booking falls within a period of exceptional market pressure, public holiday cost escalation or severe transport disruption.
Unless separately agreed, the following standard uplifts may apply:
| Service period | Surcharge |
|---|---|
| UK Bank Holidays | 20% |
| Christmas Day | 85% |
| Boxing Day or New Year's Day | 50% |
| Severe peak-demand events | Dynamic uplift may apply |
For the purposes of this Schedule, peak-demand conditions may include:
Where a dynamic uplift applies, ShipSherpa will use reasonable efforts to surface that uplift through the platform or notify the customer through an appropriate operations channel.
Some route-related uplifts depend on geography, access conditions or corridor density rather than on general operational deviation.
Those charges are governed separately under the relevant ShipSherpa geographic or area pricing schedule, including charges relating to:
Where both this Schedule and a geographic surcharge schedule apply, each charge may be applied to the extent that it addresses a different source of additional cost.
ShipSherpa may apply further charges where a live booking generates genuine exception handling that was not included within the original route price.
Examples include:
Where reasonably practicable, such fees will be surfaced through the platform, confirmed by ShipSherpa operations or reflected in the applicable route adjustment record.
8.1 Delivery Destination Amendments
Where a customer requests a change to the delivery address, delivery postcode or final delivery destination after a booking has been confirmed, the following amendment fees shall apply:
| Timing of amendment | Amendment fee |
|---|---|
| Amendment requested within 24 hours before the scheduled collection time, but before the goods have been collected | £17.50 |
| Amendment requested after collection, once the goods are in transit | £35.00 |
The applicable amendment fee is payable in addition to any increased transport charge resulting from the revised route.
Any additional mileage created by the amendment shall be charged at two times the applicable per-mile rate for the vehicle class booked.
Additional mileage will ordinarily be calculated by reference to the additional route distance created by replacing the original delivery destination with the revised delivery destination.
For example, where the applicable vehicle rate is £1.50 per mile, additional mileage resulting from a delivery destination amendment will be charged at £3.00 per additional mile.
The delivery amendment fee and the additional mileage charge may apply together.
A delivery destination amendment remains subject to:
ShipSherpa does not guarantee that a delivery destination amendment can be accepted after dispatch or collection.
Where the assigned driver cannot reasonably accommodate the revised destination, ShipSherpa may:
Further charges may apply where an alternative operational solution is required. ShipSherpa will notify the customer of those charges where reasonably practicable.
The customer must submit or confirm the revised delivery details through the ShipSherpa platform or another communication channel approved by ShipSherpa.
No delivery destination amendment shall become effective until it has been acknowledged or accepted by ShipSherpa.
The customer remains responsible for ensuring that all revised delivery information is complete and accurate, including:
ShipSherpa shall not be responsible for delay, failed delivery or additional cost caused by inaccurate, incomplete or late amendment instructions supplied by the customer.
Charges arising from booking withdrawal, failed collection or dispatch loss are governed primarily by the separate ShipSherpa cancellation and failed dispatch policy.
This Schedule may still apply in addition where the cancelled or failed job has also generated:
For enterprise and API customers, any or all of the fees in this Schedule may be:
Where a master services agreement, pricing schedule or enterprise statement of work expressly overrides this Schedule, that negotiated document shall prevail to the extent of any inconsistency.
ShipSherpa may rely on operational data and platform evidence to support the application of charges under this Schedule, including:
Such evidence may be retained for:
This Schedule is intended to support a pricing model that remains commercially fair and easier to work with than many legacy courier or transport networks, while still preserving:
That balance is fundamental to the ShipSherpa's marketplace model.
Part 5
This Schedule governs the additional pricing adjustments that may apply where a booked movement enters, exits, originates from or terminates in a geography that creates materially different operating conditions from the baseline route assumptions used in standard pricing.
ShipSherpa's quoted rate for a Job is generated on the basis of route distance, vehicle type, timing and expected operational profile. Some parts of the UK, however, carry additional cost or reduced network efficiency because of access friction, lower vehicle density, poor backload conditions, metropolitan delay or corridor-specific restrictions.
This Schedule identifies the geographic circumstances in which a surcharge may be applied in addition to the quoted Job price.
It forms part of ShipSherpa's wider pricing framework and should be read together with any operational variation schedule, cancellation policy, enterprise rate card or API pricing logic applicable to the booking.
A geographic surcharge may be applied where the collection point, delivery point, route corridor or wider operating environment creates additional cost, reduced recoverability or reduced dispatch efficiency.
These uplifts are intended to reflect genuine route-economics factors, including:
The purpose of this Schedule is to preserve realistic network coverage across hard-to-serve regions and premium urban zones while maintaining fair pricing for the broader marketplace.
For the purposes of this Schedule, ShipSherpa may classify routes by reference to one or more of the following geographic conditions:
Regional Access Zone
A postcode area or corridor where driver density, backload conditions or general route economics justify a fixed uplift.
Extended Rural or Low-Density Zone
A geography in which distance, sparse supply, poor return leg recovery or operational friction creates materially increased route cost.
London / Metro Movement Zone
A route involving M25 access, London circulation, compliance-zone exposure or premium city-dispatch conditions.
Exceptional Access Geography
A movement involving islands, ferries, toll structures, weather-sensitive corridors, unusual access restrictions or materially abnormal route friction.
A single booking may fall into more than one category.
Unless a negotiated enterprise tariff or API pricing override applies, the following regional uplifts may be applied by reference to the applicable collection postcode, delivery postcode or both.
| Postcode area / sector | Geographic classification | Uplift |
|---|---|---|
| AB | Aberdeen & North East Scotland | 20% |
| BH | South Coast Bournemouth Corridor | 20% |
| BN | Brighton & Sussex Coast | 15% |
| CA | Cumbria / Carlisle Access Zone | 20% |
| CO | Colchester & East Essex | 15% |
| CT | East Kent / Canterbury | 25% |
| DD | Dundee & East Scotland | 25% |
| DG | Dumfries, Borders & South West Scotland | 30% |
| DT | Dorset / Dorchester | 20% |
| EX | Exeter & Devon Access Zone | 20% |
| IP | Ipswich & Suffolk | 15% |
| IV | Highlands / Inverness | 25% |
| KA | Ayrshire / Kilmarnock | 20% |
| KY | Fife / Kirkcaldy | 15% |
| LA | Lancaster / North Lancashire | 25% |
| LD | Mid Wales / Powys Access Zone | 25% |
| LL11–17, LL20 | North Wales Coastal Corridor | 15% |
| LL18–19, LL21–78 | Extended North Wales Rural Zone | 40% |
| ME | Medway / Rochester Corridor | 25% |
| NR | Norwich & Norfolk | 15% |
| PA | West Scotland / Paisley & Clyde | 30% |
| PE | Peterborough & East Midlands Edge | 15% |
| PH | Perthshire / Highlands Gateway | 40% |
| PL | Plymouth & Deep South West | 40% |
| PO | Portsmouth & South Coast Port Zone | 15% |
| SA1–16, SA18, SA80, SA99 | Swansea Urban & Coastal | 15% |
| SA17, SA19–20, SA31–48, SA61–73 | West Wales Extended Rural Zone | 40% |
| SO | Southampton & Solent Corridor | 15% |
| SY | Shropshire / Welsh Border | 25% |
| TA | Taunton & Somerset West | 25% |
| TD | Borders / Galashiels Cross-Border Zone | 25% |
| TN | Tunbridge Wells & Kent Weald | 25% |
| TQ | Torbay / Torquay | 40% |
| TR | Cornwall / Truro Peninsula | 40% |
A surcharge under the Regional Access Uplift Matrix may be applied where:
Where both collection and delivery locations fall within surcharge zones, ShipSherpa may apply:
The method used should reflect the actual route economics of the booking.
Routes involving London or the M25 may carry separate pricing adjustments because they are affected by conditions not fully captured by simple mileage-based pricing.
Those conditions may include:
Unless a different tariff is applied through the pricing engine, the following London movement rules apply:
| Route scenario | Pricing treatment |
|---|---|
| Collection and delivery both inside M25 | London metro pricing tariff applies |
| Collection outside M25 and delivery inside M25 | 5% London ingress surcharge |
| Collection inside M25 and delivery outside M25 | 5% London egress surcharge |
| Route crosses the M25 multiple times or involves unusual metro complexity | Additional route-complexity uplift may apply |
Where a London metro tariff applies, ShipSherpa should not duplicate a London ingress or egress uplift unless the pricing logic expressly provides for separate components.
ShipSherpa may apply additional or higher geographic uplifts where route conditions create genuine access or resourcing difficulty beyond the standard postcode matrix.
Examples include:
These uplifts may be surfaced:
Where reasonably practicable, ShipSherpa should make such uplifts visible before or at the time they are incurred.
This Schedule addresses geography-specific route economics.
It does not replace separate pricing documents dealing with:
Where another ShipSherpa schedule addresses a different source of additional cost, both charges may apply provided they relate to distinct commercial factors and are not duplicative.
For enterprise, ecommerce and API-integrated customers, geographic pricing may be applied through one or more of the following methods:
Where an enterprise MSA, pricing schedule, account tariff or statement of work expressly overrides this Schedule, that negotiated document shall prevail to the extent of any inconsistency.
ShipSherpa may update the surcharges in this Schedule from time to time where reasonably required to reflect changes affecting network viability or route cost, including:
Where a contracted account is materially affected, ShipSherpa will use reasonable efforts to provide notice in accordance with the relevant commercial agreement.
This Schedule is intended to operate as a commercial route-economics framework rather than as a fixed public parcel tariff.
It should be interpreted in a manner that supports:
Those principles are fundamental to ShipSherpa's marketplace model.
Part 6
ShipSherpa operates a live logistics marketplace in which pricing, route access, vehicle allocation, tracking evidence, customer trust and carrier confidence all depend on users behaving honestly and within defined commercial boundaries.
This Policy sets the conduct standards that apply to any person or organisation using, accessing or benefiting from the ShipSherpa network, whether directly or indirectly.
It applies to:
This Policy forms part of the wider ShipSherpa legal framework and applies across all bookings, shipment movements and operational workflows conducted through or derived from the platform.
This Policy is intended to protect the following core interests of the ShipSherpa network:
Any conduct that undermines those interests may be treated as a breach of this Policy even if it is not expressly listed in identical words below.
A user must not use access to the ShipSherpa platform, or any information obtained through it, to divert marketplace value away from ShipSherpa.
This includes, without limitation:
Any deliberate diversion of platform-originated commercial opportunity may lead to immediate suspension, termination, recovery of lost fees, injunctive relief and any other legal remedy available.
ShipSherpa must be able to trust that booking activity reflects genuine transport demand.
No user may create, submit or engineer bookings that are misleading, speculative, abusive or non-genuine.
Prohibited conduct includes:
ShipSherpa may investigate any account whose booking pattern suggests demand distortion, synthetic traffic or commercial bad faith.
Because ShipSherpa is a live-capacity marketplace, users must not distort allocation fairness by capturing, blocking or hoarding routes without proper intent to perform.
Drivers and fleet partners must not:
Legitimate withdrawal caused by breakdown, illness, unsafe goods, route illegality or compliance issues remains permitted, provided it is genuine and communicated promptly.
Jobs offered through ShipSherpa may only be fulfilled through the authorised operator structure recognised by the platform.
A route may not be:
Drivers and fleet partners must ensure that any substitute, vehicle or fulfilment resource used for a route has already been properly onboarded and authorised under the ShipSherpa framework.
Unauthorised delegation may trigger payout intervention, failed-service treatment, suspension and recovery of resulting customer losses.
A user must not misuse information obtained through ShipSherpa where that information has commercial, operational, customer or network sensitivity.
Protected information includes:
A user must not disclose, copy, exploit or weaponise such information for its own competitive advantage or for the advantage of any third party.
These obligations continue after account closure or suspension.
ShipSherpa relies on digital evidence to settle routes, defend claims and maintain trust. No user may interfere with that evidence chain.
Prohibited conduct includes:
Where fraud indicators arise, ShipSherpa may hold payouts, reverse credits, suspend access, retain evidence, notify insurers and refer matters to law enforcement where appropriate.
Users must not exploit ShipSherpa systems as a data-harvesting, benchmarking or competitor intelligence tool.
Prohibited conduct includes:
Where usage is excessive, abusive or commercially extractive, ShipSherpa may apply throttling, suspension, key revocation, access restrictions or revised commercial terms.
All users must deal with one another lawfully, professionally and without hostility.
The following are prohibited in any ShipSherpa-related interaction:
This standard applies across digital and non-digital interactions connected with the ShipSherpa network, including calls, messages, emails, WhatsApp escalations, support tickets and on-site conduct.
ShipSherpa requires all users to treat others fairly and in accordance with applicable equality law.
Discriminatory conduct connected with the platform, including conduct based on protected characteristics, may result in immediate suspension or permanent removal.
This applies equally to customers, drivers, fleet partners, staff users, warehouse personnel and enterprise users.
ShipSherpa may investigate suspected misuse, abuse or distortion of marketplace activity.
Investigations may relate to:
ShipSherpa may rely on booking data, route records, communications, account behaviour, GPS or POD evidence, API usage logs and other reasonable sources when assessing suspected breach.
Where ShipSherpa reasonably considers that this Policy has been breached, it may take one or more of the following actions:
The remedy chosen may reflect the seriousness, pattern and commercial impact of the conduct.
This Policy is intended to preserve honest participation in a live logistics marketplace.
It should be interpreted in a way that protects:
Those principles are fundamental to ShipSherpa's network model and are central to continued access to the platform.
Part 7
This Policy governs every digital environment, interface, workflow and connected service made available by Ship Sherpa Limited, including any access layer used to initiate, monitor, manage, evidence or analyse logistics activity.
It applies across all ShipSherpa digital surfaces, including:
The purpose of this Policy is to preserve system integrity, workflow trust, evidence reliability and operational security across the ShipSherpa logistics network.
Users may interact with ShipSherpa systems only for legitimate and authorised purposes connected with:
Any use falling outside these legitimate workflow purposes is prohibited.
No user may use any ShipSherpa digital environment in connection with:
Any suspected use linked to criminal logistics activity may be escalated to insurers, banks, payment processors or law enforcement.
Users must not interfere with, bypass, replicate or stress any protected technical boundary within the ShipSherpa ecosystem.
This includes any attempt to:
This prohibition applies whether conducted manually, through scripts, bots, crawlers, device farms or third-party tooling.
Because ShipSherpa relies on digital evidence systems for claims, customer trust and payout integrity, users must not interfere with any operational signal used to validate shipment performance.
Prohibited conduct includes:
Any attempt to compromise dispatch evidence may result in immediate service exclusion and legal recovery.
Where ShipSherpa services are accessed through mobile environments, no user may undermine application trust controls by:
ShipSherpa may rely on device trust scoring and behavioural analytics to identify misuse.
Any file, image, document, video or structured data uploaded into the platform must be authentic, lawful and directly relevant to the shipment, account or operational workflow concerned.
Users must not upload or transmit:
False compliance documentation may trigger immediate account restriction and insurer notification.
All operational and support communications must remain professional and used only for legitimate logistics administration.
This applies to:
The following are prohibited:
ShipSherpa may retain communication records for fraud defence, training, insurance and legal claims.
No user may reproduce or derive competing systems from ShipSherpa interfaces, workflows or outputs.
This includes attempts to copy or commercialise:
This restriction applies whether extraction occurs through screenshots, HTML inspection, API replay, reverse engineering or workflow observation.
ShipSherpa may deploy proportionate controls to protect its infrastructure, including:
These controls may be applied without notice where necessary to protect customer safety, payout integrity, enterprise systems or platform resilience.
Where misuse causes direct or indirect loss, ShipSherpa may pursue all available remedies, including:
This Policy is built around the protection of:
These trust controls are fundamental to ShipSherpa's AI-native logistics infrastructure.
Part 8
This Framework governs how ShipSherpa receives, triages, investigates and resolves operational complaints, platform conduct concerns, cargo incidents and associated claims arising in connection with use of the ShipSherpa network.
It applies to issues involving:
This Framework forms part of ShipSherpa's wider legal and operational structure and applies across customer bookings, driver activity, fleet operations, enterprise workflows and API-originated movements unless expressly displaced by a negotiated enterprise process.
For the purposes of this Framework, ShipSherpa may treat matters differently depending on their nature.
A Complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about service, behaviour, communication, delay, platform conduct, pricing application, waiting charges, access issues or operational experience.
An Incident is any operational event that may give rise to safety concern, route failure, damage, loss, theft, refusal, site issue, fraud concern or insurer notification.
A Claim is a request for financial recovery, compensation, reimbursement, charge reversal or insurer referral arising from an alleged loss event.
ShipSherpa may reclassify a matter if, after review, it is more properly treated as an Incident or Claim rather than a Complaint.
ShipSherpa acts primarily as the platform coordination, evidence-preservation and dispute-management layer within the logistics network.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, ShipSherpa does not hold itself out as the physical carrier responsible in all cases for transport performance, cargo custody or delivery execution.
Its role may include:
ShipSherpa will assess matters impartially based on available evidence and will not assume fault solely because a complaint has been raised.
Any user becoming aware of a matter that may require investigation should notify ShipSherpa as soon as reasonably possible.
Reports should be submitted through the applicable support, complaints or claims channel and should, where available, include:
Prompt reporting is important because transport evidence, GPS records, site CCTV, platform events and witness recollection may deteriorate with time.
5.1 General service complaints
ShipSherpa strongly encourages Complaints to be raised within 7 calendar days of the relevant event.
5.2 Incident notification
Any Incident involving suspected cargo loss, damage, theft, site damage, refusal, suspicious goods or serious dispute should be reported immediately on discovery.
5.3 Formal claim notice
Any Claim for loss, damage, shortage, theft or property impact should be submitted no later than 7 calendar days from delivery, failed delivery or discovery, whichever occurs first.
5.4 Supporting evidence deadline
Any valuation material, repair estimates, packaging evidence, police references or further supporting documentation should ordinarily be supplied within 14 calendar days of the formal claim notice.
Failure to meet these deadlines may prejudice investigation quality and may result in rejection where evidence has been lost, compromised or unreasonably delayed.
On receipt of a reported matter, ShipSherpa may take such immediate internal steps as it reasonably considers necessary to preserve evidence and protect the platform.
This may include:
Preservation measures do not imply that fault has been established.
For non-loss service issues, ShipSherpa may investigate matters including:
ShipSherpa will review the available operational material, which may include:
ShipSherpa may seek further information where necessary. If requested information is not provided within a reasonable time, the review may be concluded on the basis of the material available.
Claims may arise from alleged:
Unless expressly agreed in writing to assume a different contractual role, ShipSherpa's default position is that it acts as the technology and coordination layer rather than the physical carrier.
Accordingly, physical transport claims may, where appropriate, be routed to the accepted driver, fleet partner or relevant insurer rather than being assumed directly by ShipSherpa.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing or required by law, ShipSherpa does not accept responsibility for:
Nothing in this section limits any liability which cannot lawfully be excluded.
A Claim may be reduced, rejected or closed where ShipSherpa reasonably considers that:
Examples of external events include:
A party bringing a Claim must provide such evidence as is reasonably available to support both the occurrence of the alleged event and the amount claimed.
Depending on the nature of the Claim, this may include:
Where physical inspection may be relevant, packaging and damaged goods must be preserved so far as reasonably possible.
Claims lacking sufficient supporting material may be rejected or closed without payment.
Where theft is alleged, the claiming party must:
ShipSherpa may decline to process a theft-based Claim without a valid police reference number unless exceptional circumstances make that impossible.
Drivers and fleet partners must notify ShipSherpa immediately upon becoming aware of any actual or potential Incident affecting cargo, site safety, delivery validity or later claims exposure.
This includes:
Drivers and fleet partners should provide such contemporaneous evidence as is reasonably available, including photographs, video, timestamped notes and a written summary of the event.
Failure to report promptly may adversely affect settlement support, insurer position, route payout treatment and overall platform standing.
Where a consignment appears unsafe, unlawfully described, materially misdeclared or not fit for carriage, the driver or fleet partner must not proceed blindly.
Collection should be refused and ShipSherpa notified immediately where goods:
Failure to escalate these issues promptly may weaken the position of the driver or fleet partner in any later dispute or claim.
ShipSherpa aims, but does not guarantee, to:
More complex matters, including insurer referrals, police-linked incidents, enterprise escalations, fraud reviews or property damage matters, may take longer.
Where an investigation remains live, ShipSherpa will use reasonable efforts to provide progress updates.
Following review, ShipSherpa may determine that one or more of the following is appropriate:
ShipSherpa's platform-governance decision is final for internal marketplace management purposes, without prejudice to any legal rights any party may have outside the platform.
If a reporting party or material witness fails to provide requested information, documents or cooperation within a reasonable period, ShipSherpa may close the case on the evidence then available.
Where no meaningful response is received for 14 working days after a reasonable information request, ShipSherpa may treat the matter as dormant and close it administratively, subject to any mandatory legal retention or insurer requirements.
Claims payments, goodwill credits, charge reversals and compensatory settlements may differ in VAT treatment depending on their legal basis.
Each customer, enterprise user, driver and fleet partner remains responsible for its own accounting and tax treatment unless a written contract expressly states otherwise.
This Framework applies by default across all service layers, including collections, same-day delivery, trunking, linehaul, ecommerce, retail, marketplace, logistics provider, API and B2B enterprise use.
Where a bespoke enterprise SLA, insurance-backed process, master services agreement or separately agreed claims schedule expressly displaces this Framework, the negotiated arrangement shall prevail to the extent of any inconsistency.
This Framework exists to support a fair, evidence-based and operationally credible way of handling disputes and loss events across a live logistics marketplace.
It is intended to preserve:
Those objectives are fundamental to ShipSherpa's platform model.