PoofHaul Hauler Independent Contractor Agreement

Version: v1.0 Effective date for new haulers: the date you accept this Agreement on the platform. Disclaimer for the reader: this document is a structured first draft prepared for attorney review. It is not legal advice and is not a final agreement. Do not rely on this document as a substitute for review by a Virginia-licensed attorney before it is presented for hauler acceptance in production.

Defined terms

The following capitalized terms have the meanings given here whenever they appear in this Agreement.

"Agreement" means this document, as updated from time to time, together with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which are incorporated by reference.
"Bid" means a hauler's offer to perform a Job at a stated price.
"Customer" means a person who posts a Job on the Platform.
"Hauler" or "You" means the individual or entity who has accepted this Agreement and who provides hauling Services through the Platform.
"Hauler Agreement" means this Agreement specifically.
"Job" means a junk-removal task posted on the Platform by a Customer.
"Platform" means the PoofHaul website (poofhaul.com), mobile experiences, server-side software, supporting services, and the related Stripe Connect arrangement, all operated by Poof Haul LLC.
"Poof Haul" or "we" or "us" means Poof Haul LLC, a Virginia limited liability company with a principal place of business in Newport News, Virginia.
"Service Area" means the set of zip codes you have selected on your hauler profile, within the Hampton Roads, Virginia region currently served by the Platform.
"Services" means the junk-removal work you perform for Customers under this Agreement.
"Active Status" means a hauler profile state in which you are eligible to view and bid on Jobs in your Service Area.

1. Parties and Effective Date

This Agreement is entered into between Poof Haul LLC ("Poof Haul"), a Virginia limited liability company located in Newport News, Virginia, and the individual or entity accepting this Agreement on the Platform ("You" or "Hauler").

This Agreement becomes effective on the date and time you click to accept it on the Platform. Your acceptance is recorded with a timestamp, your IP address, and the user-agent string of the browser or device used to accept. Each material revision of this Agreement requires your re-acceptance before you may continue to bid on Jobs.

2. Independent Contractor Classification

You and Poof Haul agree that you are an independent contractor, not an employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer of Poof Haul. This Agreement is intended to satisfy the independent-contractor presumption requirements of Va. Code §40.1-28.7:7 and any successor statute.

The following terms describe the working relationship and govern its interpretation:

You control the means and manner of your work. You decide which Jobs to bid on, what price to bid, when to perform a Job after acceptance, what tools and methods to use, what helpers or subcontractors (if any) to engage, and what route to take. Poof Haul does not direct or supervise the day-to-day performance of Services.
No required hours, schedule, or training. You set your own working hours. Poof Haul does not require you to log in, accept any Job, or remain available for any minimum period. Poof Haul does not require you to complete any training course as a condition of providing Services.
You provide all tools and equipment. This includes your vehicle or vehicles, trailers, dollies, straps, tarps, gloves, fuel, and any other supplies. Poof Haul does not provide tools or equipment.
You may work for competitors. You are free to provide hauling, moving, or related services to any other person, platform, or business, including those that compete with Poof Haul.
You are responsible for your own taxes. You are solely responsible for federal, state, and local income, self-employment, and other taxes on the compensation you receive under this Agreement. Poof Haul will issue a Form 1099-NEC where required by law (currently, where total reportable payments to you in a calendar year reach the threshold then in effect under federal law). Poof Haul will not withhold federal or state income tax, FICA, or any other tax from your payouts.
No employee benefits. You are not eligible for paid leave, health insurance, retirement contributions, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation coverage, or any other benefit provided by Poof Haul to its employees (Poof Haul has none under this Agreement).
Helpers and subcontractors are yours. Any helpers, subcontractors, or other personnel you bring to a Job are your employees or contractors, not Poof Haul's. You are responsible for paying them, withholding their taxes (if applicable), and ensuring their compliance with this Agreement.

The Platform consistently uses the term "hauler" rather than "driver" or "employee," and "perform a Job" rather than "complete a route." This terminology is deliberate.

3. Services Rendered

You agree to provide junk-removal Services to Customers via the Platform. The relationship is bid-based: a Customer posts a Job and you choose whether to bid. You are never assigned a Job. Poof Haul does not dispatch you, direct you to a location, or set your rate.

You may decline any Job, withdraw any Bid before acceptance, or stop bidding entirely at any time, with or without reason and without penalty (other than the rating and cancellation rules described in Sections 11 and 13).

4. Compensation and Fees

Payouts. When a Customer accepts your Bid and the Job is marked complete by you and not disputed by the Customer within the dispute window, you receive 88% of the accepted Bid amount, paid through Stripe Connect Express to the bank account or debit card you connected during onboarding.

Platform fee. Poof Haul's platform fee is 12% of the accepted Bid amount, with a minimum of $5.00 per completed Job. The platform fee is deducted from the Customer's payment before your payout is calculated; you do not pay the fee out of pocket.

Payout speed.

Standard ACH payout: free, lands in your bank account 1 to 2 business days after the Job is marked complete and the Customer's payment is captured.
Instant payout to debit card: 1.5% fee charged by Stripe (passed through; Poof Haul does not retain any portion). You opt in per payout from your Stripe Express dashboard. Subject to Stripe's eligibility rules.

Trip fee. If a Customer cancels after you have departed for the Job, or declines a Bid adjustment you proposed in good faith because the Job's actual scope materially exceeded what was posted, Poof Haul will pay you a $40 trip fee. The trip fee is funded by the Customer's authorization at acceptance and is documented in the audit log.

Currency and units. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars. All money calculations on the Platform are performed in integer cents.

No other compensation. Poof Haul does not pay any other fee, retainer, hourly rate, or stipend. You do not pay Poof Haul any fee, listing charge, lead fee, or subscription. Poof Haul's only revenue from your activity is the 12% platform fee taken from the Customer's payment.

5. Insurance Requirements

You are required to maintain a current commercial general liability insurance policy with combined single limits of not less than $1,000,000 at all times you have Active Status on the Platform. The policy must:

Name you (or your business entity) as the insured.
Cover bodily injury and property damage arising from your Services.
Extend to any helpers or subcontractors you bring to Jobs.
Be issued by an insurer authorized to do business in Virginia.

You must provide a current certificate of insurance to Poof Haul before your hauler profile is activated, and again at each renewal. You authorize Poof Haul to verify the policy directly with the issuing insurer or broker.

If your policy lapses, is canceled, or is materially reduced, your hauler profile is automatically suspended until current coverage is reinstated. You agree to notify Poof Haul at insurance@poofhaul.com within five (5) business days of any cancellation, non-renewal, or material change.

Commercial auto coverage on your vehicle is your responsibility under Virginia law. Poof Haul does not require a specific commercial-auto limit but recommends discussing with your insurance broker.

6. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Poof Haul, its members, managers, employees, contractors, successors, and assigns from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, judgments, fines, penalties, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:

Property damage that occurs during, or as a result of, your performance of a Job;
Personal injury (including death) that occurs during, or as a result of, your performance of a Job, whether to a Customer, third party, helper, subcontractor, or yourself;
Acts, omissions, conduct, or work product of your helpers, subcontractors, employees, or any vehicle you operate;
Your failure to comply with local, state, or federal regulatory requirements applicable to your Services, including refuse-hauling, hazmat, or refrigerant rules;
Any tax liability arising from compensation paid to you under this Agreement, including underpayment, late filing, penalties, or interest assessed against Poof Haul on amounts that should have been paid by you;
Improper handling, transport, or disposal of regulated items, including but not limited to refrigerant-containing appliances, asbestos, lead, hazardous waste, electronic waste regulated by Virginia, or items subject to federal hazardous-materials transport rules;
Your breach of this Agreement, the Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy, or any law.

This indemnification survives termination of this Agreement.

7. Intellectual Property

Platform IP. Poof Haul owns all right, title, and interest in and to the Platform and all of its components, including but not limited to: source code, object code, designs, user-interface elements, trademarks, service marks, logos, brand names (including "PoofHaul" and "Poof Haul"), business processes, internal documentation, customer data, job data, ratings, reviews, scoring systems, ranking algorithms, fee algorithms, dispute-resolution playbooks, and aggregated analytics. Nothing in this Agreement transfers any of these rights to you.

Your IP. You retain all right, title, and interest in and to your own business name, logo, marks, and any creative work you produced before this Agreement that you bring to the Platform. Nothing in this Agreement transfers those rights to Poof Haul.

License you grant to Poof Haul. You grant Poof Haul a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sublicensable, perpetual (within the scope of Platform operation) license to use the following for the purposes of operating the Platform, marketing the Platform, customer-facing display on the Platform, internal analytics, and dispute resolution:

Your name, business name, photograph, profile photo, and trade name;
Your service area, vehicle description, and capacity;
Your ratings, reviews received, and Job-completion data;
Photographs you upload of your vehicle, equipment, or before/after Job results.

This license survives termination of this Agreement only as needed to retain historical records, ratings, reviews, and audit logs. Poof Haul will not continue to use your photograph or business name in active advertising after termination, on request.

No use of Poof Haul branding outside the Platform. You may not use the "PoofHaul" or "Poof Haul" name, logo, or marks on your vehicle, business cards, website, social media, or other materials outside the Platform without prior written permission from Poof Haul. Saying truthfully that you "haul on PoofHaul" or "use PoofHaul to find jobs" is permitted; presenting yourself as Poof Haul, an employee of Poof Haul, or a partner of Poof Haul is not.

Customer-uploaded photos and content. Photos uploaded by Customers (Job-posting photos, before photos, after photos) remain owned by the Customer. The Terms of Service govern the license the Customer grants to the Platform. You may use a Customer's Job photos solely to perform the specific Job. You may not retain Customer photos after the Job is complete, share them with third parties, or use them for any other purpose.

Confidentiality. You agree to keep confidential any non-public business information disclosed to you through the Platform, including: internal fee structures beyond the public 12% rate, internal scoring or ranking metrics, hauler-only documentation not publicly available, and Customer lists or contact information. This confidentiality obligation survives termination of this Agreement for two (2) years.

8. Non-Circumvention

For Jobs sourced through the Platform, you agree to handle the entire transaction through the Platform. Specifically:

You will not direct a Customer who found you through the Platform to pay you off-Platform for a Job sourced through the Platform.
For six (6) months after the completion of any Job sourced through the Platform with a particular Customer, you will not solicit that Customer for hauling services outside the Platform.
If a former Platform Customer organically and unprompted contacts you directly for a separate, non-Platform-sourced Job, that contact is not a violation of this Section, but you agree to disclose the prior Platform-sourced relationship to Poof Haul at hello@poofhaul.com if asked. Good-faith ambiguity is resolved in your favor.

9. Compliance

You are solely responsible for your compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances, including without limitation:

All required local business licenses. Some Hampton Roads cities require a business license for self-employed haulers (Newport News, Hampton, and Norfolk currently do); others (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Portsmouth) do not for solo operators. You are responsible for confirming the current rule in your city of operation.
All federal, state, and local tax filings and payments, including self-employment tax.
Refuse-hauling regulations under Va. Code §46.2-2101 and any successor statute. PoofHaul Jobs fall under the residential refuse-hauling exemption from motor-carrier licensing, but you remain responsible for confirming your particular service offering is exempt.
EPA Section 608 rules on the handling of refrigerant-containing appliances.
Federal and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality rules on hazardous waste, electronic waste, and regulated materials.
Safe operation, transportation, and tie-down of loads under the Virginia Motor Vehicle Code.
Worker-safety obligations to any helpers or subcontractors you bring to Jobs.

You agree not to attempt to use the Platform to perform Services that would require regulatory authority you do not hold (e.g., a hazardous-materials transporter permit you do not have).

10. Restricted Items and Job Refusal

You may decline any Job for any reason, including (without limitation) Jobs that:

Involve refrigerant-containing appliances and you are not Section 608 certified;
Involve hot tubs, pianos, safes, or other items beyond your equipment's capacity;
Involve hazardous materials of any kind;
Are marketed or framed as residence-to-residence moves;
Are outside the size, weight, or scope you are equipped to handle.

The Platform's prohibited-items flagging (which surfaces warning indicators to you when a Customer's Job description or photos suggest a regulated or prohibited item) is provided for informational convenience. The flagging is not a substitute for your own pre-bid review. The final decision to bid or to decline is yours alone, and you assume responsibility for the assessment.

11. Damage and Disputes

Customer dispute window. A Customer has forty-eight (48) hours after a Job is marked complete to flag a dispute through the Platform. The Platform holds payment until the dispute window closes or the Customer confirms the Job is complete, whichever happens first.

Sub-$200 damage. Damage at or below $200 is generally expected to be absorbed by you (or split with the Customer through informal mediation by the Platform team). The Platform team is available to facilitate but does not adjudicate.

$200+ damage. Damage above $200 is to be handled through your general-liability insurance claim. Poof Haul will provide documentation reasonably available to the Platform (Job photos, communication records, payment records) to support your claim, on request.

Repeat damage. Three (3) substantiated damage claims in any rolling twelve-month period is grounds for removal from the Platform.

No Platform indemnity to you for damage you cause. Nothing in this Section obligates Poof Haul to pay or contribute to the cost of any damage you cause. Poof Haul's role in dispute resolution is procedural, not financial.

12. Customer Data

You may use a Customer's name, address, and contact information disclosed to you through the Platform only as necessary to complete the specific Job for which the Customer engaged you. You agree that you will not:

Retain Customer contact information after the Job is complete in any system you control beyond what your tax or legal records require;
Share Customer contact information with any third party;
Sell Customer contact information;
Use Customer contact information to solicit any unrelated service, product, or referral;
Contact a Customer after the Job is complete for any solicitation purpose.

Platform-level data handling is governed by the Privacy Policy. Your obligations under this Section survive termination of this Agreement.

13. Cancellations

Hauler cancellations. If you cancel more than two (2) accepted Jobs in any rolling thirty-day period, your platform rating is reduced and you may be removed at Poof Haul's discretion.

Customer pre-departure cancellations. If a Customer cancels before you have departed for the Job, no fee is owed in either direction.

Customer post-departure cancellations. If a Customer cancels after you have departed for the Job, you receive the $40 trip fee described in Section 4.

Scope-change scenarios. If, on arrival, you find that the Job's actual scope materially exceeds the posted scope, you may propose an adjusted Bid in writing through the Platform. If the Customer declines the adjustment, you may decline to perform the Job and you receive the $40 trip fee.

14. Term and Termination

This Agreement is at-will. Either you or Poof Haul may terminate it at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, by deactivating your hauler profile (in the case of you terminating) or by suspending or removing your profile (in the case of Poof Haul terminating).

Effect of termination. On termination:

Any Job already accepted by you must be completed unless the Customer separately cancels.
Any payouts due to you for Jobs that have completed and cleared the dispute window must be paid in the ordinary course.
Sections 6 (Indemnification), 7 (Intellectual Property: license to Poof Haul for retained data and ratings), 8 (Non-Circumvention), 12 (Customer Data), 16 (Limitation of Liability), and 17 (Dispute Resolution) survive.

15. Platform Modifications

Poof Haul may modify the Platform's fees, policies, features, or eligibility requirements with reasonable notice. The default notice period for material changes is thirty (30) days, communicated through the Platform or by email. Changes that are required for safety, legal, regulatory, or compliance reasons (including changes required by Stripe, your insurer, or applicable law) may take effect immediately on notice, in which case you will receive prompt notice and an explanation.

If a material change is unacceptable to you, your sole remedy is to stop using the Platform and request termination of this Agreement.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Virginia law:

Poof Haul's total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims arising under or relating to this Agreement is limited to the platform fees Poof Haul collected attributable to your Jobs during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim. This cap does not apply to liability arising from Poof Haul's fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct.
Each party waives any claim against the other for consequential, special, indirect, incidental, exemplary, or punitive damages, including without limitation lost profits, loss of business opportunity, or loss of data, regardless of the legal theory.
Nothing in this Section is intended to limit any liability that cannot be limited under Virginia law.

17. Dispute Resolution

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Pre-litigation negotiation. Before either party files suit, the parties agree to attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through written communication directed to legal@poofhaul.com (for Poof Haul) and to your email address on file with the Platform (for you). The pre-litigation negotiation period is at least thirty (30) days from the date the first written notice of dispute is sent, unless the dispute requires emergency injunctive relief.

Optional arbitration. After a dispute has arisen, both parties may consent in writing to binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its commercial arbitration rules. Pre-dispute mandatory arbitration is not required by this Agreement; arbitration is opt-in only, by mutual written consent after the dispute has arisen.

Venue. Any litigation not resolved by arbitration must be brought in the Circuit Court for the City of Newport News, Virginia, or in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Newport News Division, as applicable. Each party consents to personal jurisdiction in those venues.

Small-claims preserved. Either party may bring a claim in a Virginia General District Court (small-claims) for an amount within that court's jurisdictional limit, without first observing the pre-litigation negotiation period.

Class actions waived. Each party waives any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, or representative action against the other arising from or related to this Agreement, to the extent enforceable under Virginia law. This waiver does not apply to any claim that cannot be waived as a matter of public policy.

18. Notices

Notices to you may be sent to the email address on file with your hauler profile. Notices to Poof Haul should be sent to one of the following addresses, depending on the subject:

Insurance certificates and renewals: insurance@poofhaul.com
General hauler inquiries: hello@poofhaul.com
Legal notices: legal@poofhaul.com

A mailed notice to Poof Haul should be addressed to:

Poof Haul LLC
110 Coliseum Crossing #5133
Hampton, VA 23666
United States

19. Force Majeure

Neither party is liable for any failure or delay in performance under this Agreement to the extent the failure or delay is caused by an event beyond the party's reasonable control, including without limitation:

Acts of God, severe weather, fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, or other natural disasters;
War (declared or undeclared), armed conflict, terrorism, civil unrest, riot, insurrection, or sabotage;
Action or order of any government, regulator, court, or military authority, including emergency orders, embargoes, sanctions, quarantines, and lockdowns;
Epidemic, pandemic, or other public-health emergency, and any government response to one;
Failure or material disruption of public infrastructure, including the public internet, electrical grid, telecommunications networks, or banking systems;
Failure or material disruption of any third-party service this Agreement materially depends on (Stripe, Supabase, Resend, Twilio, Vercel, Cloudflare, or successor services), including security incidents and prolonged outages;
Strike, labor dispute, or work stoppage not caused by the affected party;
Cyberattack, ransomware, or denial-of-service event not caused by the affected party's gross negligence.

The party affected by a Force Majeure event must notify the other party in writing as soon as reasonably practicable, describe the event and its expected impact, and use commercially reasonable efforts to mitigate. Performance is excused only for the duration of the event and only to the extent the event prevents performance. Payment obligations already accrued are not excused; payment timing for accrued obligations may be deferred for the duration of the event.

If a Force Majeure event continues for more than ninety (90) consecutive days, either party may terminate this Agreement on written notice without liability beyond performance and payment obligations accrued before the event.

19A. Local Compliance and Jurisdictional Suspension

You are responsible for compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing the Services, including without limitation business licensing, sales tax, motor-carrier permitting (where required), waste-hauling regulations, transfer-station and landfill rules, prohibited-items handling, refrigerant management (where applicable), worker-classification rules in the jurisdiction where you perform Services, and any insurance, bonding, or registration requirements imposed by your locality, county, or state.

The Platform operates city by city as compliance allows. The set of jurisdictions in which Poof Haul is authorized to onboard Haulers is maintained in a compliance allowlist that may change from time to time. Your inclusion on the Platform does not constitute Poof Haul's legal advice that the Services as you perform them comply with the law in your jurisdiction; that determination remains your responsibility.

Poof Haul reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Platform in any jurisdiction where: (a) the regulatory environment changes such that the Platform's continued operation in that jurisdiction is no longer compliant in Poof Haul's reasonable judgment; (b) a regulator, attorney general, or licensing authority takes a position adverse to the Platform's model; (c) you have failed to obtain or maintain a license, permit, or registration that the jurisdiction requires for the Services; or (d) Poof Haul receives a credible complaint that your Services have violated local law. Suspensions under this section will be communicated by email and may take effect immediately when a regulator-driven event requires it. Payment obligations already accrued at the time of suspension remain payable in accordance with Section 6.

You agree to notify Poof Haul promptly of any cease-and-desist letter, regulatory inquiry, license revocation, or material change in your local licensing posture that affects your ability to perform Services through the Platform.

20. General Provisions

Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

Waiver. Failure or delay in enforcing any right under this Agreement is not a waiver of that right.

Assignment. Poof Haul may assign this Agreement to a successor entity (including in connection with a merger, sale, reorganization, or acquisition) without your consent. You may not assign this Agreement without Poof Haul's prior written consent.

Integration. This Agreement, together with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy referenced herein, is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between the parties on the subject matter, and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreement on that subject.

No third-party beneficiaries. This Agreement is between you and Poof Haul; no third party is intended to have any rights under it.

Counterparts and electronic signatures. This Agreement may be accepted electronically through the Platform's clickwrap mechanism. Electronic acceptance is valid and enforceable to the same extent as a manual signature on a paper counterpart.

21. Acceptance

You accept this Agreement by clicking the "I agree to the Hauler Agreement" button on the Platform after reading the Agreement in full. The Platform records the following at the time of your acceptance:

The current version of the Agreement (currently v1.0);
The timestamp of acceptance;
The IP address from which the acceptance was made;
The user-agent string of the browser or device used.

If Poof Haul issues a material revision to this Agreement, you will be required to re-accept the revised Agreement on next sign-in. Continuing to bid on Jobs after a material revision without re-accepting is not effective consent; bidding is gated on a current acceptance record.

End of Hauler Independent Contractor Agreement v1.0.