Recording damaged goods at receiving

The truck is at the door, the driver is in a hurry, one corner of a pallet is crushed and several cartons are damp. This is the moment when the receiver decides: sign the document clean, or record the damage. If you sign without a note, the loss passes to the warehouse, because later nobody can prove where and by whom the load was damaged. Below is a step-by-step guide to what to do at that moment.

The first minutes: stop and separate

As soon as you spot damage:

• Stop unloading, or separate the damaged pallet from the rest.
• Keep the driver until the paperwork is done and do not let them leave.
• Do not stay alone: call the shift lead or another member of staff as a witness.
• Do not put a "clean" signature on the delivery note.

Recording damage without delay also makes any later conversation easier, whether with the supplier, the insurer or the carrier.

Recording it: photos and report

How to photograph

A photo is the strongest evidence, but only if it is taken properly. You need at least five shots:

1. A general view showing the truck's plate.
2. The position of the load: the open body and the pallets.
3. The damaged pallet or carton with its label or number visible.
4. A close-up of the damage, with a ruler or a hand beside it so the size is clear.
5. The seal, the wrapping and the labels.

The phone saves the time of each shot, so it is enough to add the document number to the file name. A short video helps too: it shows that the load really came off this truck.

What the report must contain

The report can be free-form, but it must state:

• the date, time and place of receiving;
• the supplier, the document number, the truck and the driver's details;
• the name, code and quantity of the damaged goods (pieces or cartons);
• a description of the damage: crushed, wet, broken, seal tampered with;
• the probable cause if it is obvious (in transit or during unloading);
• the signatures of the receiver, the driver and a witness, with photographs attached.

If the driver refuses to sign, write that in the report and have the witness confirm it. Draw up the report in at least two copies: one goes to the driver, one stays in the warehouse. Send a scan of the report and the photographs to the supplier the same day by e-mail or Telegram: the time of sending is evidence too. Also mark the delivery note itself: "accepted with damage, report no. … attached".

What to do with the damaged goods

Accepted damaged goods must not mix with sound stock. Put them in a separate, marked reject area and attach a label: "Damaged, not for sale". In the system, set up a separate status or a separate location too, so that the main balance is not overstated and pickers do not put these goods into an order.

The decision is agreed with the supplier within a day or two: return, replacement, keeping the goods at a discount, or accepting and writing them off. If goods sit in the reject area for weeks, the problem is "forgotten" along with them and the claim period runs out.

Hidden damage

Sometimes a carton looks intact and what is inside is broken. You cannot open every carton, so open a few from each batch as a sample, and write into the contract in advance the period within which hidden defects can be reported. If the warehouse finds damage later: stop work, take photographs, do not throw away the packaging, state in the report "found on opening" and tell the supplier the same day.

Keeping a damage record

Reports should not sit in a folder doing nothing. Copy them into a simple table: date, supplier, carrier, product, type of damage, amount and decision. At the end of the month look at the table: much of the damage may come from one carrier or from one supplier's weak packaging. Then the complaint "another damaged load arrived" turns into a concrete demand: strengthen the packaging, wrap the pallet in film or send a different truck. The amount of loss in the table is also an argument you can use when reviewing prices and terms.

Conclusion

The rule for damage is short: photograph, separate, write a report and notify the same day. During a warehouse audit, SkladKontrol checks the receiving process and helps find where damage is going unrecorded.