1. In tendering the shipment described hereon for carriage, shipper agrees to these conditions of contract, which no agent, or employee of the parties may alter, and that this air bill is non-negotiable and has been prepared by the shipper or QW Express division of QWL, Inc., PO Box 7140, Bensenville, IL 60106, on behalf of the shipper. Note: Shipper in this contract means (a) the party tendering the shipment to QWE, (b) the party requesting the shipment be tendered to QWE, (c) any party having a controlling interest in the shipment, (d) any party acting as an agent for (a) through (c) above. It is mutually agreed that the conditions of carriage for this shipment are governed by QWE current tariffs, rules and regulations, available for inspection at QWE offices and which, by reference are hereby incorporated into this contract.

2. Shipper warrants that the contents of this shipment are in apparent good order and condition, except as noted and are thus properly described on the face of this air bill; each package in this shipment is properly marked, labeled and addressed and its contents are adequately packaged and secured to prevent damage with ordinary care in handling during transportation.

3. Unless otherwise expressly provided in QWE’s tariffs, rules and regulations, and subject to any restrictions contained therein, the following items will not be accepted for transportation: any shipment prohibited by law, bonds, negotiable securities, currency, money, coins of any kind, gems or precious stones (cut or uncut), pearls, industrial diamonds, precious metal as processed concentrates or bullion. Within the limitations noted the following items are acceptable for transportation, furs, fur clothing, jewelry, art work (original or reproduced), antiques or watches when the declared value for carriage of said items does not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00); film (processed or unprocessed) when the declared value for carriage does not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00); bids, contracts or other time sensitive written material when the declared value for carriage does not exceed fifty cents ($0.50) per pound; used household goods, or personal effects when declared value for carriage does not exceed fifty cents ($0.50) per pound. QWE reserves the right to prohibit or restrict any item from transportation at any time at its sole discretion. Further, QWE is not liable for any loss, damage, delay, liabilities or penalties resulting from the transportation of any of the foregoing articles, however described or mis-described in this air bill, and no employee, agent or an independent contractor of QWE has any authority to accept such items for transportation or to waive the limitations contained herein.

4. In accepting this shipment or carriage, QWE agrees to provide ordinary care in handling but does not imply the contents are properly packaged for carriage. QWE has the right to inspect this shipment and its contents but is not obligated to do so.

5. QWE has the right to transport this shipment by method and routing of its choice. QWE may substitute carriers or modes of transportation and select the routing for this shipment even though such substitution, mode or routing may deviate from that requested on the face hereof.

6. QWE does not guarantee pickup, transportation or delivery of this shipment by a stipulated date or a stipulated time, nor shall QWE be liable for any consequences arising from its failure to do so.

7. All parties to this shipment shall hold QWE harmless from any special, incidental or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, income, interest or utility or loss of market, resulting from the transportation of this shipment regardless of whether or not QWE had knowledge that such damages might be incurred.

8. QWE is not liable for any loss, damage or mis-delivery caused by: the act, default or omission of the shipper, consignee or other party claiming interest in this shipment, the nature of the shipment or any defect thereof; failure of the shipper or consignee to abide by the terms of this contract, including but not limited to improper or insufficient packing, securing, marking or addressing for the shipment; acts of God; perils of the air; public enemies; public authorities; acts or omission of customs or quarantine officials; war; acts of terrorism; riots; strikes or other labor disputes; weather conditions; mechanical delay of aircraft or other equipment; compliance with delivery instructions from the shipper, consignee or other party claiming interest in the shipment; or acts or omissions of any person other than QWE.

9. QWE is not liable for loss, damage, destruction, delay, theft, misdelivery, non-delivery or any other adversity not caused by the actual negligence of itself, its employees, its agents or its independent contractors.

10. For domestic shipments, including truck shipments to Canada (air to Canada is considered international), QWE’s liability, in the absence of a higher declared value for carriage having been entered in the appropriate area on the face hereof, is limited to a minimum of fifty dollars ($50.00) or fifty cents ($0.50) per pound per piece of goods damaged or otherwise adversely affected. Declared value for carriage in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00) or fifty cents ($0.50) per pound is subject to an additional fee as provided for in QWE’s governing rules and regulations in effect on the date of this shipment. In no event shall QWE’s liability exceed the declared value of the shipment or the amount of loss or damage actually sustained, whichever is lower.

11. If this is an international shipment, liability rules under the Warsaw Convention shall apply and QWE accepts this air waybill as a shipper’s letter of instruction with authorization to prepare and sign on shipper’s behalf an international air waybill and any required documentation from the information shown hereon. QWE further reserves the option to act as agent of the carrier instead of a forwarder, in which event the direct carrier’s tariffs shall apply to this shipment.

12. Unless the shipper indicates at time of shipment a specific declared value for each package in this shipment individually and the consignee, at time of delivery, so identifies an individual package as being lost, damaged, or otherwise adversely affected, claim recovery for this shipment will be based on average declared value per pound of the entire shipment multiplied by the weight (in pounds) of those pieces actually lost, damaged or otherwise adversely affected.

13. Without prior notification QWE is insured for aggregate losses at any one time at any one place under QWE policy with maximum limit of one-million dollars ($1,000,000.00).

14. QWE will provide C.O.D. (collect on delivery) service subject to the following conditions:

A. Shipper must identify the shipment as a C.O.D. shipment by entering the amount to be collected in the shipper’s C.O.D. box on the face of this bill.

B. Shipper must specify the type of payment to be collected (i.e.: cash, money order, certified check, cashier’s check, customer/personal check, etc.) in the special services area on the face of the bill.

C. QWE will collect the financial instrument specified by the shipper or, in the absence of any specification, a company check if the shipment is directed to a business or a personal check if the shipment is directed to an individual. However, QWE neither guarantees the validity of the collected financial instrument nor is QWE liable for any loss, damage, or other adversity arising from its collection of C.O.D. funds on behalf of the shipper.

15. Rates and charges for this shipment will be based on actual or dimensional weight, whichever is greater.

16. Any shipment on which a quoted rate or discount has been applied will be subject to the full tariff rate if not paid within thirty (30) days from invoice date. Any invoice not paid within 30 days from invoice date is deemed delinquent.

17. If charges invoiced for the transportation of this shipment are not paid in full within 30 days from invoice date, QWE may assess a late payment penalty of up to 1.5% monthly or the maximum rate amount permitted by law, whichever is less, on the unpaid balance.

18. The shipper and consignee shall be liable jointly and severally (a) for all unpaid charges payable on account of this shipment pursuant to this contract and (b) to pay or indemnify QWE for all claims, fines, penalties, damages, costs, or other sums which may be incurred by QWE by reason of any violation of this contract or any other default of the shipper, consignee, or their agents.

19. QWE shall have a lien on this shipment for all sums due and payable to QWE on account of shipper or consignee. QWE may refuse to surrender possession of this shipment until such sums are paid. Should QWE bring legal action for the enforcement of this contract or collection of any sums due and payable under this contract, QWE shall be entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in pursuing its remedies hereunder.

20. Receipt of this shipment by the consignee or the consignee’s agent without written notice of exception on the delivery receipt shall be prima facie evidence that the shipment received ordinary care in handling and was delivered in good condition. QWE is not responsible for concealed loss or damage to any shipment that received ordinary care in handling and was delivered in apparent good condition.

Note: For information about filing a claim, please contact QWE at 1-877-732-8738. QWE shall have no liability for any such claims for which notice and documentation is not filed within the time limits set forth below.

21. All claims other than overcharge or service failure must be made in writing to QWE at its corporate address, shown on the face of the air waybill, no later than one-hundred and twenty (120) days after the date of acceptance of the shipment by QWE.
A claim for overcharge must be made to QWE in writing within one-hundred and twenty (120) days from the initial invoice date.
A claim for service failure must be reported to QWE in writing within thirty (30) days after the date of receipt of the shipment by the consignee.
No claim will be entertained until all transportation charges have been paid. Claim amounts may not be deducted from transportation charges or other sums owed QWE. Legal action to enforce a claim must be brought against QWE within one (1) year after the claim has been denied in whole or in part by QWE.

22. Any controversy or dispute arising out of, or relating to, this contract, unless settled by mutual accord shall be submitted to and advanced in the jurisdiction and venue of QWE’s corporate office.

23. This contract shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois.

24. Should any provision of this contract or the application thereof, to any extent, be held invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this contract and the application thereof other than those provisions as to which it shall have been held invalid or unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law or equity.

25. This contract shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto, their successors and assigns.