Trailer hire terms

1. Your booking and agreement

The agreement is between the operator above and the customer named in the booking. An authorised business representative confirms their authority; booking does not create an automatic personal guarantee by a director. Your booking summary identifies the trailer, dates, total, online payment, remaining balance and selected extras. It forms part of the agreement with this version of the terms and operating instructions supplied before acceptance. Selected protection takes priority over inconsistent general damage wording. Nothing excludes rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under Australian Consumer Law.

Standard online hires are one to three days, at $150 per day, or $125 per day when paid in full online. A saved daily customer rate, if offered for your verified mobile, replaces those daily rates for standard hire; discounts do not stack. It does not alter the separate last-minute offer, extension prices or paid extras. A saved $0 daily hire rate waives the daily hire charge, not selected paid extras. The checkout total controls your agreed price. All amounts are AUD. GST is not charged.

For a positive total, pay in full or make an online part-payment of at least $50, credited towards the total. The $50 minimum does not apply to a smaller booking paid in full. If the total including extras is $0, no card payment is required; your complimentary booking is confirmed only after reservation checks and still requires acceptance of these terms and management release. Any remaining balance is due before release; checkout identifies the agreed cash balance. There is no security bond. Payment confirmation follows verified payment, rather than simply returning from the payment page. A temporary reservation is not confirmation of a paid booking. Your payment does not authorise us to automatically debit later damage or other disputed charges.

Collection is by arrangement on your booked collection date, after management release. Return between 6 and 8 am on your scheduled return date, with a deadline of 8 am. A one-day hire returns the following morning; later collection does not create a rolling 24-hour hire or move the return deadline. A preceding hire may return that morning: collection depends on its return and inspection, so wait for our readiness confirmation before arriving. This is not unrestricted access to the property. If supply is delayed, we will agree arrangements with you; your consumer rights are unaffected.

Where shown, last-minute collection after noon is subject to management release. Its first part-day costs $90, then $150 per additional full day, with no stacked discounts. Return is between 6 and 8 am on the date stated at checkout. There is no separate afternoon-collection surcharge for new bookings under this version. Existing bookings retain their recorded agreed prices. Collection time does not automatically extend the return deadline. Prepaid cleaning is optional at $100 per hire. Panels are currently unavailable.

2. Cancellation and changes

Cancellation notice is measured from 6 am Queensland time on your booked collection date. This is the cancellation-policy reference time, not a fixed collection appointment.

The same limits apply to part-payment and full-payment bookings. A charge is limited to reasonable cancellation costs and net loss, up to the maximum above. We take reasonable steps to rehire and account for avoided costs and replacement bookings. We explain the amount on request and refund payments above it. Unused extras and protection are refunded, except separately agreed reasonable costs already incurred; these are not duplicate cancellation penalties.

Email your booking reference to getmefrom@townsvillehire.com.au. Notice takes effect when received; you need not await a reply. Quote and incident preview forms are not cancellation channels. We process refunds within five business days after confirming the amount, normally to the original method; bank processing can take longer. If we cannot supply the booked trailer, you may choose a full refund for the unprovided booking. A substitute or credit is optional. Charges do not apply where you have a legal right to cancel without charge.

3. Drivers, loading and safe use

Provide accurate customer, collecting-driver, licence, registration, vehicle-socket and brake-controller details. Choose whether you or another driver will collect. Drivers must hold the required current licence and be approved for the hire. Management confirms the actual collecting driver, their licence and the vehicle, towing and braking setup at collection. Another driver’s licence is held for that booking and does not replace the account holder’s saved licence. A saved customer profile or towing acknowledgement is not proof of identity or vehicle suitability. Stay within the trailer, vehicle, coupling, axle, tyre and combination limits. Ask us to confirm uncertain ratings before loading; do not infer payload from an unclear plate.

We take reasonable steps to supply a maintained, roadworthy trailer suitable for the agreed use. At collection, follow the supplied checks for coupling lock, chains, electrical and breakaway connections, lights, brakes, tyres, spare, ramps, gates, partitions and equipment. Use the brake-controller configuration confirmed for this trailer; avoid competing controllers. Record existing damage and report concerns before towing. Our inspection and your checklist do not transfer responsibility for hidden defects, maintenance failures or existing damage to you. Do not collect until management releases the trailer.

Our trailers have a seven-pin flat plug. If your vehicle’s socket is not compatible, please bring a suitable adapter. We have limited adapters and cannot guarantee availability. Before collection, download the Elecbrakes app and bring your charged phone; contact us beforehand if your phone cannot run the app. Management will help connect it and check the braking setup at collection. Tell us if your vehicle already has a brake controller; use only the setup confirmed for this trailer and make adjustments while parked.

Use the trailer for its agreed purpose. Secure loads and gates and follow safe loading instructions, animal welfare and biosecurity requirements. Do not carry people in the trailer. Keep animals and cargo within the trailer’s safe capacity.

Farm access and unsealed roads

Reasonable use of maintained unsealed roads, formed farm roads and firm farm driveways is permitted where suitable for the trailer, tow vehicle and load. Tell us before booking about prolonged unsealed travel, significant corrugations or difficult access. Recreational four-wheel driving, cross-country travel and routes requiring specialist off-road capability are prohibited. Do not enter floodwater, deep mud, beaches, salt water, closed roads, severely rutted tracks or unsuitable terrain.

Choose speed for visibility, potholes, corrugations, load and animal comfort; a posted limit does not establish a safe towing speed. After significant rough sections, corrugations or an impact, stop safely and check coupling and lock, chains, electrical and breakaway connections, tyres, load restraints, gates and partitions. Repeat during prolonged unsealed travel and follow route-specific instructions. Stop towing if anything is loose, damaged or unsafe and contact us online.

4. Return, extensions and incidents

Return to the confirmed depot location, empty and reasonably clean, secure the trailer and return supplied items. If management is present, hand it over for inspection and check-in. Otherwise use the return QR/link, verify your mobile if requested, submit condition photos and confirm return. If the system fails, promptly email the reference, return time and photos. Time waiting for our inspection does not extend your hire after a proper return. Prepaid cleaning does not permit unsafe contamination or deliberate damage; any proposed extra cleaning assessment must be reasonable and explained, with no double charging for included work.

Request extensions before the deadline. They depend on availability, must not conflict with another booking or maintenance block, and may require review. Rates are $37.50 for six hours, $75 for twelve hours and $150 per 24 hours. The revised deadline applies only after approval and confirmed payment; a pending request does not extend your hire. Protection limits remain per hire rather than resetting for each extension.

After your confirmed return deadline (normally 8 am, or the revised deadline of an approved extension), late return is assessed at $20 per hour in 15-minute increments ($5 per started 15 minutes), capped at $100 for that scheduled return day. It requires management review before invoicing and is not automatically charged to your card. It does not buy an extension. We review delays caused by our fault or instructions. We do not charge late fees and extension hire twice for the same time. Tell us promptly if delayed.

For an incident or breakdown, stop safely and protect people and animals. Seek emergency assistance where needed and notify police where required. Contact us as soon as reasonably practicable, with details and photographs when safe. Do not continue with an unsafe trailer. Seek approval before non-urgent repairs; reasonable urgent action to prevent injury or further damage is permitted when contacting us first is impracticable. Retain receipts and evidence. No purchased roadside-assistance membership or immediate online response is promised. You are not responsible for a mechanical failure you did not cause or worsen.

5. Responsibility and repair assessment

You are responsible to the extent your failure to take reasonable care, breach or deliberate conduct causes loss, including the conduct of an approved driver you allow to use the trailer. Damage during a booking alone does not prove responsibility. You are not responsible for fair wear, pre-existing damage, inherent defects, maintenance failures or the proportion caused by us. We consider other parties’ responsibility and take reasonable steps to reduce loss.

We provide condition evidence, the basis of responsibility and an itemised assessment before requesting payment, with an opportunity to respond. Repairs must reflect reasonable substantiated cost, age and condition, allowing for improvements. Repair prices and labour rates awaiting confirmation are not fixed charges under this agreement. Multiple damaged items do not justify duplicate setup labour or recovery of the same cost twice.

A total loss requires a competent assessment that repair is unsafe or uneconomic. The starting valuation is reasonable pre-incident market value of an equivalent trailer, less retained salvage, supported by evidence. Necessary recovery and storage must be reasonable and itemised. Any legally recoverable loss-of-use claim requires evidence of actual net loss for a reasonable period; there is no automatic indefinite daily hire charge. Selected protection limits take priority. Theft or disappearance does not automatically establish your liability.

6. Optional protection

Choose and pay before collection; options must be recorded on the booking and cannot cover an incident that has already happened. These are Townsville Hire’s promises to limit its own claims, not a promise that a third-party insurer will pay. They do not insure animals, cargo, your vehicle, third-party property or personal injury, and do not release us from liability imposed by law.

Tyre Protection — $10 per day, capped at $25 for a one-to-three-day booking

Every trailer includes at least one spare tyre. Selected Tyre Protection reduces your charge to $0 for up to two eligible accidental punctures or blowouts during the hire, including the supplied spare when fitted and in use. We arrange safe repair or equivalent replacement where repair is unsuitable. Seek approval before replacement where reasonably practicable and retain photographs and receipts. For authorised customer-paid repairs, we reimburse the reasonable agreed amount on an itemised receipt. Preserve evidence of urgent work when prior approval is impracticable.

Excludes rims, jockey wheels and towing-vehicle tyres, and damage to the extent caused by overloading, kerbing, deliberate damage or continuing on a deflated tyre. Pre-existing defects and ordinary wear remain our responsibility whether you select protection or not. Tyre Protection covers the tyre repair or replacement; it does not itself promise roadside attendance, towing or storage. Other accidental trailer damage from a blowout is assessed separately under the damage option if selected.

Accidental Damage Protection — $20 per hire

• $0 for covered isolated accidental damage to trailer lights, side markers, reflectors and trailer plugs.
• For other covered accidental trailer damage, your total liability to us is the lesser of reasonable assessed loss or $500 across the entire hire, including an eligible accident resulting in total loss.
• For covered damage, we will not add administration, loss-of-hire, recovery or storage charges above that limit.

Covered accidental trailer damage includes ordinary accidental reversing, collision and rollover damage. Tyre repairs and replacements are separate under Tyre Protection. Excludes theft, unexplained disappearance, tow vehicles, animals, cargo, third-party property and personal injury. The option does not remove ordinary agreed hire, cleaning or late-return charges, subject to their own terms.

Protection is reduced or excluded only to the extent deliberate or reckless conduct, impairment, overloading or prohibited use caused or contributed to the loss. We must explain the causal connection. An unrelated breach, late return or missed check does not automatically remove protection. Report incidents promptly; delay does not automatically remove protection. Without a selected option, responsibility remains subject to section 5 and your legal rights.

7. Records, privacy and resolving concerns

We use contact details for verification, booking messages and hire administration; driver and vehicle details for identity and towing checks; and photos and return records for condition, safety and incident assessment. Payment is processed through Stripe and SMS through ClickSend; the online service uses hosting and storage providers. Licence uploads and hire photos are held privately, with access restricted to authorised management and the booking’s authenticated customer as applicable. Do not upload unrelated personal information.

We retain records as reasonably necessary for hire administration, disputes and applicable legal obligations. Ask by email about access, corrections, retention or a privacy concern. We do not publish your licence or booking photos. Relevant information may be supplied to service providers for those purposes, or to insurers, advisers and authorities where reasonably necessary or legally required.

For a charge or service complaint, email your reference and reasons. We will consider your evidence and explain our assessment; we do not have an unrestricted final right to decide a disputed liability. You can seek independent advice or assistance from Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading and use available legal remedies. Queensland law applies, subject to mandatory laws and consumer rights.

The operator, prices and accepted terms version recorded for an existing booking remain part of that booking. A later change of operator, ABN or tax status does not silently rewrite your existing agreement. New versions are published separately for future acceptance.