CMR consignment note

The note is evidence, not the contract itself. Article 4 of the CMR Convention is explicit: the absence, irregularity or loss of the consignment note does not affect the existence or validity of the contract. What the note does is create a presumption — of the conditions agreed and of the apparent condition of the goods when the carrier took them over.

It is made out in three original copies signed by the sender and the carrier. The first is handed to the sender, the second travels with the goods, and the third is kept by the carrier. That is why a delivery dispute always turns on which copy carries which handwritten remark.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers: it stores shipment documents, references and history against an S-YYYY-NNNN record, so the consignment note, the proof of delivery and the quote that priced the movement stay together. Cargavo does not issue a legally valid CMR note and is not an e-CMR platform.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers, and the note repeats exactly the data a quote already captured — which is why re-keying it is such a common source of mismatch.

Additional particulars follow where relevant: dangerous-goods instructions under ADR, a declared value under Article 24, or a special interest in delivery under Article 26. Anything the parties agree may be added, but the Convention still governs.

The three-copy rule exists so that each party holds evidence of the same agreement at the moment it was made. In a TMS for freight brokers, the digital equivalent is keeping the scanned copies attached to the shipment record rather than in a mailbox.

• Copy 1, sender — proof of what was handed over and on what terms.
• Copy 2, goods — travels with the shipment and is presented at delivery.
• Copy 3, carrier — the carrier's own evidence, and the basis of its invoice.

Where successive carriers perform the same carriage, each accepting carrier is bound by the note it accepts along with the goods, which is what makes the document travel rather than stay at origin.

A signature without reservation creates a presumption that the goods were received in the condition described in the note — a presumption that is expensive to rebut later. The timings under the CMR Convention are strict:

Article 23 caps compensation at 8.33 units of account (Special Drawing Rights) per kilogramme of gross weight short, unless a higher value was declared under Article 24 or a special interest under Article 26. Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers and does not provide cargo insurance; it prices ad valorem insurance as an option when the carrier grid defines one.

The e-CMR protocol gives an electronic note the same legal effect as a paper one, provided the parties agree and the reliability and authentication conditions are met. Ratification is country by country, so the paper note remains the safe default on any lane where one of the states involved has not ratified.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers and is not an e-CMR platform: it does not issue, authenticate or transmit electronic consignment notes. What it does is keep the commercial chain intact — the Q-YYYY-NNNN quote, the S-YYYY-NNNN shipment, the documents attached to it and the messages exchanged with the customer.

Limits. Cargavo has no carrier API and no EDI, is not a freight exchange, not a fleet management tool and not a customs system. It prices from the rate grids you rebuild, in English, French, Spanish or German, with EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, CAD, MAD and PLN from the Growth plan. Plans: 49, 149 and 399 EUR per month, 14-day trial.