Commercial terms & notes

Commercial terms are the standard clauses that set expectations on every quote: validity, free time, insurance, customs, rate stability. This article lists the 8 standard ones CargoSurge ships with, how to use them, and what prints on the PDF.

Overview

Every tenant gets the same 8 seeded terms out of the box. You tick the ones that apply on each quote; ticked terms print inside the Validity block of the PDF as bullet points. Notes and Special Instructions are free-text per-quote and print inside the Terms & Conditions block.

The 8 standard terms are tenant-editable labels — you can rename them in Settings → Master Data → Commercial Terms — but the keys stay stable so existing quotes keep their meaning.

The 8 standard terms

When to tick each

• subject_to_space — always on sea FCL and air; almost always on LTL. Protects you if the carrier can't accept the booking.
• free_time_7d — adjust the number on the label if your carrier offers different. If the customer expects 14 days and you tick 7, they'll be upset when detention starts accruing.
• no_insurance — always unless the customer asked for insurance and you added it as a line.
• no_customs — if customs clearance isn't part of your scope. If it is, don't tick this and add a CUSTOMS charge line instead.
• general_cargo — protects you if DG cargo shows up at pickup. If you're quoting DG, untick and add DG surcharges.
• demurrage_customer — crucial. Without this, the customer may expect you to absorb demurrage.
• gri_pss — sea only. For short-validity quotes in the current GRI cycle, you can untick.
• validity_as_stated — always; the quote's Valid Until date is the legal anchor.

Notes vs Special Instructions

Both free-text, both print on the PDF, different intent:

• Notes — commercial context you want the customer to see. "Rate includes origin CFS handling at DP World Jebel Ali." Printed under the T&C block.
• Special Instructions — handling details for ops. "Cargo must be transshipped via Singapore, not Colombo." Printed under T&C too but under a distinct sub-heading.

If the customer doesn't need to see it, put it in internal notes on the booking instead (after conversion), not on the quote.

Adding custom terms

Beyond the 8 standard, you can define tenant-specific terms:

1. 1
   Settings → Master Data → Commercial Terms → + New Term.
2. 2
   Give it a stable key (lowercase, no spaces, e.g. port_congestion), a user-facing Label, and an optional Description.
3. 3
   Save. The new term now appears in the quote form's checkbox list.
4. 4
   Existing quotes that didn't have the term are unaffected.

Common pitfalls

How they print

On the PDF:

• Ticked terms render as bullets under the Validity note (below the "Valid Until" date).
• Notes render under the T&C block's "Notes" sub-heading.
• Special Instructions render under the T&C block's "Special Instructions" sub-heading.
• Block visibility is toggleable in the PDF Designer per doc type — you can hide the Validity block's bullets if your template style doesn't want them.