Owner operator lease agreement question.

Hey guys, I am an owner operator of a sprinter van and have been looking over the contract that a potential carrier sent me. I have not signed the contract yet. I am new to this and this the first contract ive seen. There is a clause that concerns me. I will put the part that is of concern to me in bold. Its as follows:

Owner Operator will defend, indemnify and save harmless the Carrier, its agents and servants from any and all liabiliites, penalties and fines ( weather criminal or civil in nature ), judgements, outlays and expenses ( including attorneys fees ) resulting from the Owner Operators failure or the failure of Carriers agents, employees, subcontractors or representatives to perform any of the terms, conditions, promises or covenants contained in this contract.

I had an attorney look over this contract and he said that basically says im to blame even if the carrier or shipper screws something up. That doesnt seem right. Is that part pretty much industry standard? What do you guys think?

 

lol. So what do you think? Is that a standard type clause in a contract or does that seem out of the ordinary?

 

I would be sweating it if I was ever in a courtroom for some damaged freight that wasnt my fault or because I had an accident and the load ended up being haz mat, but I was lied to about it by either the shipper or dispatch and im stuck footing the bill for cleanup or even get in legal trouble. I havnt heard any bad things about the carrier in question. They say its a family atmosphere and the operations manager ive been talking to seems like a nice lady. My concern is more with a shipper lying about what im hauling.

 

A small mom and pop called "Service Pros".

 

Based out of Taylor, MI I think.