XPHaul Terms of Use & Responsibility (DRAFT, attorney review pending)

For attorney review before publication

Plain-language starting text only. Fill in the legal entity name, address, and contact email with counsel. Arizona is used as a placeholder for governing law because that is where the project owner lives, not because counsel has chosen it. Do not post this on xphaul.com or xpresshorse.com until it has been revised and approved.

1. Please read this carefully

These Terms of Use & Responsibility (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the XPHaul and XPressHorse websites, applications, and related services (the “Platform”), operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] (“XPHaul,” “XPressHorse,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). XPressHorse is the horse-hauling brand and feature set of XPHaul. It is not a separate carrier or insurer.

By creating an account, posting a haul, placing a bid, clicking “I agree,” or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform. These Terms are a draft until reviewed by a licensed attorney and formally adopted by XPHaul. They are not legal advice to you.

2. What XPHaul is — and what it is not

The Platform is a technology service that lets animal owners, shippers, and other customers (“Owners”) post hauls, and lets independent transportation providers (“Haulers”) view those postings and bid on them. XPHaul may also show trip-planning information, such as listings for horse motels, veterinary clinics, or fuel stops, as a convenience. Those listings are not inspections, certifications, or recommendations.

XPHaul and XPressHorse are not a motor carrier, common carrier, freight broker, freight forwarder, logistics company, shipper, veterinarian, insurer, or escrow agent. We do not own or operate the trucks, trailers, or barns used for a haul. We do not employ Haulers. We do not transport animals or freight. We do not, by offering the Platform, become a party to any transport contract between an Owner and a Hauler.

Any agreement for transportation is formed directly between the Owner and the Hauler. XPHaul does not control how a Hauler drives, loads, routes, cares for animals, or conducts a trip. XPHaul does not guarantee that a haul will be completed, that a bid is a fair price, or that any user is who they claim to be.

This description follows the approach used by comparable platforms, including uShip’s “neutral venue” language, Uber’s statement that it is not a common carrier or motor carrier, Equo’s statement that it does not function as a transportation carrier, Haul Equine’s marketplace-only terms, and DAT’s statement that it is not involved in the actual buyer-seller transaction. What the business actually does must stay consistent with these words. XPHaul charges only flat platform fees (see Section 12) and does not take a commission, assign loads, or handle haul payments. If that ever changes, this section must be reviewed again.

3. Accounts, eligibility, and user verification

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of legal majority in your state if higher, to use the Platform. You agree to provide accurate account information and to keep it current.

XPHaul may offer identity, license, insurance, or authority checks, or display information from users or third parties. Those checks, if offered, are best-effort only and may be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. You may not rely on XPHaul as having verified any user’s identity, insurance, licensing, safety record, or fitness. You are solely responsible for checking the other party before you post, bid, load, or travel. uShip and DAT use this same approach.

4. Owner responsibilities — the right animal, papers, and fitness to travel

If you use the Platform as an Owner, or as someone authorized to act for an Owner, you alone are responsible for all of the following:

• Confirming that you own the animal or item, or have written authority to ship it.
• Making sure the correct animal or item is identified and loaded. It is the Owner’s sole responsibility — not the Hauler’s, and not XPHaul’s or XPressHorse’s — that the right horse or other animal gets on the load.
• Providing accurate information about age, sex (stallion, gelding, mare, colt, filly, or other), whether the animal has been hauled before, how it has been handled, whether it is easy to handle, whether a box stall is needed, and any behavioral, medical, or special-care needs.
• Having all required health papers at pickup, including a current negative Coggins (equine infectious anemia) test, a certificate of veterinary inspection or health certificate, brand inspections, and any other federal, state, or destination-state documents.
• Confirming that each animal is fit to travel at the time of loading, and withholding any animal that is sick, injured, or otherwise unfit.
• Arranging lawful access for pickup and delivery, and being truthful in photos and listings.

XPHaul may show paper-expiration reminders or upload tools. Those tools are a convenience only. They do not mean XPHaul has reviewed, approved, or guaranteed any document. Missing or invalid papers can cause a haul to be delayed or refused, and that risk is the Owner’s.

5. Owner responsibility for insurance on the animal

It is the Owner’s sole responsibility to insure each animal and any other property tendered for transport, including mortality, major medical, and transit or trip-transit coverage as the Owner sees fit. It is not XPHaul’s job, not XPressHorse’s job, and not the Hauler’s job to buy or maintain insurance on the Owner’s horse or other animal.

Ordinary auto or truck insurance usually does not cover the value of a horse in an accident. Equo states that it does not insure the equine and that it is up to the owner to do so. Palomo similarly warns that a transporter’s policy is not the same as the owner’s own mortality or medical coverage and may not cover the animal’s full value.

A Hauler may carry auto, general liability, or cargo insurance, and XPHaul may later require Haulers to show proof of coverage as a condition of using the Platform. That does not shift the Owner’s duty to insure the animal, and it does not make XPHaul an insurer or a claims administrator. You should not assume that anyone else’s policy will pay the value of your horse.

6. Hauler responsibilities — independent contractors

If you use the Platform as a Hauler, you are an independent contractor. You are not an employee, partner, joint venturer, or agent of XPHaul or XPressHorse. You keep control over whether to bid, what equipment to use, what route to take, and how you perform the haul. You alone are responsible for:

• Your vehicles, trailers, equipment, and their safe condition.
• All required licenses, permits, registrations, hours-of-service rules, and, where required, USDOT numbers and FMCSA operating authority.
• Your own insurance, including automobile or commercial auto liability, and any cargo, livestock, or general liability coverage required by law or by a later XPHaul hauler policy.
• Complying with animal-welfare, livestock, and agricultural-transport rules that apply to the trip.
• Your own taxes, fuel, tolls, maintenance, and operating costs.
• Your conduct on the road, including accidents, traffic violations, and how animals are handled.

Comparable marketplaces place the same duties on transporters. Haul Equine, for example, requires haulers to maintain commercial auto liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence, cargo or livestock insurance of $100,000 per load, and general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and to name the platform as an additional insured. XPHaul has not yet set its own numeric minimums. An attorney and insurance broker should set those before haulers are approved to bid on live loads.

7. Assumption of risk

Transporting horses and other live animals involves inherent risks. These include injury, illness, colic, stress, dehydration, escape, kicking or panic, delays, weather, road conditions, mechanical failure, and the conduct of other drivers. Death is possible. By using the Platform, you understand and voluntarily assume these risks, known and unknown, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

8. Release and waiver

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release, waive, and discharge XPHaul, XPressHorse, and their owners, officers, directors, employees, and agents from claims, damages, losses, and liabilities arising out of or related to: the use of the Platform; any haul arranged through the Platform; the acts, omissions, or conduct of any Owner, Hauler, or other user; accidents, crashes, collisions, or traffic incidents; injury, illness, escape, or death of any person or animal; loss of or damage to property; delays; missing or expired papers; the loading of the wrong animal; and disputes between users.

This release is intended to cover ordinary negligence to the extent a court will enforce that waiver. It does not waive liability for gross negligence, willful or wanton misconduct, or intentional harm, to the extent such a waiver is prohibited by law. Some states will not enforce parts of this section. If a court declines to enforce a part, the rest of these Terms still apply.

9. No liability for accidents, loss, or driver conduct

To the maximum extent permitted by law, XPHaul and XPressHorse are not liable for accidents, crashes, traffic incidents, personal injury, death, animal injury or death, property loss or damage, delays, missed events, lost profits, or the conduct of any driver or Hauler, even if XPHaul was told that such harm might occur. You agree that any dispute about a haul — including loading, care, payment, and damage — is between the Owner and the Hauler. You release XPHaul and XPressHorse from claims arising out of those disputes.

10. Limitation of liability

The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available.” XPHaul disclaims all warranties not expressly stated in these Terms, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, XPHaul’s total liability to you for any claim arising out of or related to the Platform or these Terms is limited to the greater of (a) the fees you paid to XPHaul for the Platform in the three months before the claim, or (b) one hundred dollars ($100). XPHaul is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or loss of goodwill.

Some states do not allow certain limitations. In those states, XPHaul’s liability is limited to the fullest extent the law allows. This section does not limit liability that cannot legally be limited.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless XPHaul, XPressHorse, and their owners, officers, directors, employees, and agents from claims, damages, losses, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising out of: your use of the Platform; a haul you post, bid on, or perform; your animals, property, or equipment; your breach of these Terms or of the law; your failure to provide accurate information, papers, or insurance; and any dispute between you and another user.

12. Platform fees; no handling of haul payments

XPHaul is a load board. It makes money only from fees for access to the Platform, never from a share of a haul:

• Owner posting fee. Owners pay a flat posting fee (currently $5 per haul) before a haul is published on the load board.
• Hauler access. Haulers either buy a monthly subscription (currently $49 per month, which unlocks any number of loads) or pay as they go to unlock a single load's full details and the owner's contact information (currently $25 per horse or other animal, or a flat $25 for an item or freight load).

Current prices are shown on the Platform before you pay and may change with notice. Platform fees are charged when you post or unlock, are not contingent on whether a haul is booked or completed, and are not refundable except where the law requires or XPHaul decides otherwise. Payments are processed by a third-party processor (Stripe); XPHaul does not store full card numbers. Subscriptions renew automatically each month until cancelled; you can cancel at any time and keep access through the end of the paid period.

Payment for a haul itself is arranged and made directly between the Owner and the Hauler. XPHaul does not set haul prices, does not collect, hold, guarantee, transfer, or escrow haul payments, does not take a commission or percentage of any haul, and is not responsible for nonpayment, chargebacks, or payment disputes between users.

13. Listings, bids, photos, and documents

You are responsible for everything you upload, including photos, Coggins papers, health certificates, and messages. You grant XPHaul a limited license to host and display that content as needed to operate the Platform. Do not upload content you do not have the right to use. XPHaul may remove content or suspend accounts that violate these Terms or the law.

14. Trip-planning information and third-party listings

Horse motels, veterinary clinics, diesel stops, apps, and similar information on the Platform are provided for convenience, often from public or user-submitted sources. XPHaul does not verify, endorse, or control those businesses. Your dealings with them are solely between you and them. This follows the directory approach used by Horsemotel.com.

15. Dispute resolution and arbitration

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where federal law applies, including the Federal Arbitration Act. Counsel should confirm this choice of law before publication.

Except for claims that may be brought in small-claims court or claims for injunctive relief to protect intellectual property, you and XPHaul agree to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The arbitration may be conducted by video, by telephone, or on written submissions, or in Maricopa County, Arizona.

You and XPHaul waive any right to a jury trial and any right to participate in a class action, class arbitration, or representative action. If this class waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim must proceed in court, not in a class arbitration. You should read this section carefully and consult your own lawyer if you have questions.

16. Changes, termination, and general terms

XPHaul may change these Terms by posting an updated version and updating the date. If a change is material, XPHaul will provide a reasonable notice where practical. Continued use after the effective date is acceptance of the new Terms. XPHaul may suspend or end access at any time. Sections that should survive termination, including release, limitation of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution, will survive.

If a provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and XPHaul about the Platform. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without XPHaul’s consent. XPHaul may assign them in connection with a sale or reorganization. Questions about these Terms may be sent to [LEGAL CONTACT EMAIL AND ADDRESS].