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Terms and Conditions

TLK Source — Freight Intelligence & 3PL Intelligence

Last updated: May 2026

1. About these Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern the provision of services by TLK Source ("TLK Source," "we," "us," or "our"), a trading name of TLK Source, ABN 16 525 180 164, an Australian business. "You" or "Client" means the individual or entity purchasing any TLK Source service (across the Freight Intelligence and 3PL Intelligence product lines — "the Services"). By purchasing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

2. The Service

TLK Source provides banded, fixed-fee independent commercial intelligence services across two product lines (each "a Service", collectively "the Services"): Freight Intelligence — Freight Monitoring and Freight Tender; and 3PL Intelligence — 3PL Health Check, 3PL Cost Monitoring, and 3PL Tender. Each Service comprises, as applicable:

  1. Analysis of Client-supplied data, which may include — depending on the Service purchased — freight invoices, carrier rate cards, shipment manifests, 3PL contracts and pricing schedules, 3PL invoices, 3PL proposals, warehouse volume profiles, and any other data the Client provides for the engagement;
  2. Identification of invoice discrepancies, surcharge anomalies, rate card deviations, benchmark variances, contractual red flags, and other commercial findings relevant to the Service purchased;
  3. Delivery of the report artifacts specified for the Service purchased (the "Deliverables"). For Freight Monitoring: monthly findings report covering invoice variance, rate-card deviation, fuel + surcharge mechanics, carrier DIFOT scorecard, and source data export. For Freight Tender: 13-section intake, carrier panel selection, RFP creation, normalised pricing matrices, ranked shortlist, and hand-over deck. For 3PL Health Check: executive summary with cost exposure, line-by-line market benchmark, hidden-fee identification, red-flag clause review, and a negotiation playbook with suggested language. For 3PL Cost Monitoring: the Health Check as the first deliverable, then ongoing invoice oversight, market benchmark, rate-creep detection, and pre-renewal advisory six months before contract anniversary. For 3PL Tender: RFP creation, vetted 3PL longlist, Q&A management, site-visit coordination, full proposal evaluation, ranked recommendation, and executive presentation deck.

3. What the Service is not

The Service is diagnostic and informational in nature. The Service is expressly not:

  1. Legal advice of any kind;
  2. Tax advice;
  3. Financial advice within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
  4. A guarantee, warranty, or representation that the Client will recover any money from any carrier, 3PL, or other party;
  5. A commitment by TLK Source to conduct negotiations with carriers or 3PLs on Client's behalf (except where expressly stated as part of the Managed Tender Service);
  6. A regulated service of any description.

4. Fees and payment

  1. Each Service has a published banded fee in AUD, exclusive of GST, displayed on its product page at tlksource.com.au and confirmed at checkout. Fees are banded by the Client's annual spend in the relevant category. Fees as at the date of these Terms are:

    Freight Monitoring (annual subscription, banded by annual freight spend):

    • $100K–$250K annual freight spend — AUD $2,490 + GST per year.
    • $251K–$600K — AUD $3,990 + GST per year.
    • $601K–$1.5M — AUD $7,490 + GST per year.
    • $1.5M–$3M — AUD $11,990 + GST per year.
    • $3M–$8M — AUD $24,990 + GST per year.
    • $8M+ — auto-quoted within one business day.

    Freight Tender (one-off, banded by annual freight spend; not commercially recommended below $601K):

    • $601K–$1.5M — AUD $9,990 + GST per tender.
    • $1.5M–$3M — AUD $17,990 + GST per tender.
    • $3M–$8M — AUD $29,990 + GST per tender.
    • $8M+ — auto-quoted within one business day.

    3PL Health Check (one-off):

    • Standard scope (single contract, single site) — AUD $9,990 + GST per engagement.
    • Complex / multi-site — auto-quoted within one business day (base AUD $19,990 + GST).

    3PL Cost Monitoring (annual subscription, banded by annual 3PL spend; Health Check is the first deliverable):

    • $100K–$250K annual 3PL spend — AUD $1,990 + GST per year.
    • $251K–$600K — AUD $2,990 + GST per year.
    • $601K–$1.5M — AUD $5,990 + GST per year.
    • $1.5M–$3M — AUD $9,990 + GST per year.
    • $3M–$8M — AUD $19,990 + GST per year.
    • $8M+ — auto-quoted within one business day.

    3PL Tender (one-off, banded by annual 3PL spend; not commercially recommended below $601K):

    • $601K–$1.5M — AUD $14,990 + GST per tender.
    • $1.5M–$3M — AUD $26,990 + GST per tender.
    • $3M–$8M — AUD $44,990 + GST per tender.
    • $8M+ — auto-quoted within one business day.
  2. The band selected at checkout is independently verified after the first data upload. If verified annual spend materially exceeds the band selected, TLK Source will notify the Client and request approval to top up to the correct band before delivery. If the Client declines the top-up, the engagement is refunded in full.
  3. GST at the prevailing rate applies to all fees and is itemised on the tax invoice issued at checkout.
  4. Each fee covers one Client legal entity unless otherwise agreed in writing. Multi-entity, multi-site, or enterprise-scope engagements are quoted separately.
  5. Payment is due in full at the time of service commencement and is processed via Stripe. Recurring subscription Services (Freight Monitoring, 3PL Cost Monitoring) bill annually on the anniversary of payment.
  6. Analysis commences upon receipt of cleared payment, completion of any required Q&A, and submission of the documents required for the Service purchased.

5. Your obligations

  1. Client must supply accurate and complete data covering the Service's analysis scope — including, as applicable, freight invoices, rate cards, manifests, 3PL contracts, 3PL invoices, 3PL proposals, and volume profiles.
  2. Client warrants that Client has the right to provide such data to TLK Source and that doing so does not breach any confidentiality obligation owed to any third party, including Client's carriers, 3PLs, or other commercial partners.
  3. Client acknowledges that the quality of the Deliverables depends on the quality and completeness of data supplied.
  4. Client must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy at all times.

6. Delivery timeline

  1. Each Service has a published turnaround commitment, measured in business days from receipt of complete data, cleared payment, and (where required) a completed Q&A. As at the date of these Terms:
    • Freight Monitoring — first monthly report within 30 days of the first complete data period; ongoing monthly cadence thereafter.
    • Freight Tender — 4 weeks end-to-end from completion of intake.
    • 3PL Health Check — 5 business days.
    • 3PL Cost Monitoring — Health Check delivered as first report within 5 business days; ongoing oversight thereafter.
    • 3PL Tender — 6 to 8 weeks end-to-end from completion of intake.
  2. If TLK Source fails to deliver a Service within twice the published turnaround for that Service (measured from receipt of all required inputs and cleared payment), Client is entitled to a 25% refund of the Service fee for that engagement. This is Client's sole remedy for delay. The clock pauses while TLK Source is waiting on clarification or additional data from Client.
  3. "Business days" means Monday to Friday excluding New South Wales public holidays.

7. Intellectual property

  1. All intellectual property in the Deliverables, once delivered, is licensed to Client on a perpetual, royalty-free, non-transferable basis for Client's internal business use, including the right to share Deliverables with Client's carriers, 3PLs, or commercial counterparties for the purposes of dispute resolution or renegotiation.
  2. TLK Source retains all intellectual property in its proprietary analysis methodology, benchmark dataset, software, and systems.
  3. Client may not resell, sublicense, or commercialise the Deliverables.

8. Data handling

  1. TLK Source treats Client data as confidential and handles it in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Data Handling Policy, both available at tlksource.com.au.
  2. Client data is stored on Australian-located infrastructure. AI-assisted analysis uses the Anthropic API, with processing occurring on United States infrastructure under contractual zero-retention and no-training terms.
  3. Data retention. Client commercial data is retained according to engagement type:
    • One-off engagements (Freight Tender, 3PL Health Check, 3PL Tender, Advisory work): retained for the duration of the engagement plus 30 calendar days after final delivery, then automatically deleted.
    • Annual monitoring subscriptions (Freight Monitoring, 3PL Cost Monitoring): retained for the active subscription term plus 30 calendar days from subscription end, then automatically deleted. Each renewal extends the window.
    • Early deletion is available at any time from the customer portal, or by written request to hello@tlksource.com.au.
  4. Anonymised market reference data. Derived carrier and 3PL rate benchmarks, lane performance, surcharge mechanics, and DIFOT may be retained indefinitely only where the Client has given explicit consent at engagement start. The dataset contains no shipper identifiers. Where consent has not been given, no derived benchmark data is retained.

9. Limitation of liability

  1. To the maximum extent permitted by law, TLK Source's total aggregate liability to Client arising out of or in connection with the Service, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), under statute, or otherwise, is limited to the amount actually paid by Client to TLK Source for the Service.
  2. TLK Source is not liable for any indirect, consequential, special, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of business, loss of opportunity, or loss of reputation, whether or not foreseeable.
  3. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any rights Client may have under the Australian Consumer Law which cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted, or modified.
  4. Client acknowledges that the Deliverables are based on Client-supplied data and TLK Source's proprietary benchmark dataset. TLK Source does not warrant that every finding will result in recovered funds, that any carrier or 3PL will accept any finding, or that any specific savings will be achieved.

10. Refunds

  1. Once analysis has commenced, the Service fee is non-refundable except in the circumstance described in clause 6(b).
  2. If Client cancels prior to commencement of analysis (before required Q&A submission and data upload), a full refund will be issued less any non-recoverable payment processing fees.
  3. TLK Source reserves the right to decline and refund any engagement where Client data is materially incomplete, fraudulent, or relates to parties against whom TLK Source cannot in good faith provide service.

See also: Refund Policy

11. Acceptable use

Client must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy. Without limitation, Client must not:

  1. Use the Service for any unlawful purpose;
  2. Upload data to which Client has no right;
  3. Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract TLK Source's proprietary analysis engine or benchmark dataset;
  4. Use the Deliverables to make public representations about any carrier without independent verification of findings.

12. Privacy

TLK Source collects, uses, and discloses personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, Client consents to the handling of personal information as described in the Privacy Policy.

13. Changes to these Terms

TLK Source may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be published at tlksource.com.au. Continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of updated Terms. The version of these Terms in effect at the time of engagement applies to that engagement.

14. Dispute resolution

  1. If a dispute arises under these Terms, the parties agree to first attempt to resolve it by good-faith negotiation within 14 days of written notice of the dispute.
  2. If the dispute is not resolved by negotiation, the parties agree to participate in mediation administered by the Australian Disputes Centre (ADC) before commencing court proceedings.
  3. Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent interlocutory relief.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect. The invalid provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal, and enforceable while preserving the parties' original intent.

17. Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Data Handling Policy, Refund Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy, constitute the entire agreement between the parties in relation to the Service and supersede all prior representations, agreements, and understandings.

18. Contact

For any questions regarding these Terms, contact hello@tlksource.com.au.

TLK Source
ABN: 16 525 180 164
Australian-owned and operated

© TLK Source 2026. Australian-owned and operated.