“How do we resolve a transport damage claim as quickly as possible, so the financial impact remains as small as possible?” – Catelijne Engering, Legal Director at C.H. Robinson.
With 18 million transports per year, C.H. Robinson is one of the largest logistics players in the world. They provide continental and regional freight transport for big national and international names from various sectors. They also support their customers with consultancy and warehousing, among other things.
“As a logistics service provider, we act as an intermediary. As a ‘broker’ we secure a match between our customers with a transport issue and our network of more than 76,000 transport companies. At times, goods are damaged in transport, for example, due to an accident. We reimburse this damage directly to our customers and then recover the costs from the carrier. If we’re unable to resolve this, we’ll call in the assistance of an external legal advisor. Law firm Kneppelhout has already assisted us in several cases, and with success.”
“A transport damage claim usually expires after a year, so you must act quickly. And that’s exactly what Kneppelhout does.”
“Usually, we deal with transport damage directly with our customer and the relevant carrier. Unfortunately, we were unable to resolve the matter with a carrier recently. They didn’t want to compensate for the damage, while this obligation is clearly regulated in the CMR Convention. As the one-year statute of limitations approached, I received the case at our European headquarters in Amsterdam. Because of my previous good experience with Kneppelhout, I brought in Marc Padberg and his team for this case.”
“Under pressure from a request for arbitration and a meeting with the carrier’s legal counsel, the case finally came to a successful conclusion. It’s great that Kneppelhout acted so quickly, because of the pressure due to the statute of limitations.”
“It is bad enough having to face a partner in court. Fortunately, with the help of Kneppelhout, we were able to resolve the matter quickly.”
“Thanks to Kneppelhout’s expertise in trade, industry and logistics, we’re more than happy to leave matters to their lawyers, especially in the case of transport damage claims. Marc Padberg is known in the transport world as a lawyer with the right expertise for these types of cases. Because of this good name I ended up at Kneppelhout a few years ago.”
“At the time, we were looking for a lawyer in connection with a dispute with one of our transport partners. In this case, in which our customer’s goods were stolen during transport, Marc Padberg represented us in court in Rotterdam. In this case, too, it concerned a claim against the carrier. It is bad enough having to face a partner in court. Fortunately, with the help of Kneppelhout’s lawyers, we were able to minimise the financial impact and resolve the case at relatively little cost.”
“Thanks to their expertise and good work, I’ve already recommended Kneppelhout’s lawyers to clients or relations several times.”
Catelijne: “The collaboration is always pleasant. Despite my legal background and position, I appreciate that Kneppelhout’s lawyers take the time to clearly explain the process and progress. The personal approach and the fact that I can just call the lawyers with a question, gives me a lot of confidence. The speed with which our cases have been completed, in our favour, naturally also contributes to this. They really look at what is the most cost-effective way for us to solve the case.”
“I could say that Kneppelhout is our permanent legal partner for transport-related issues. I’ve therefore recommended their lawyers several times when clients or relations were looking for legal assistance for trade, industry and logistics issues.”
