Packing List and Freight Claims for a Broken Case

A broken case gets handled at the dock, not at the desk later. Check the carton count and condition against the packing list before signing, write any visible damage on the delivery receipt while the driver is still there, and open a claim with the carrier or supplier in writing, with photos, as soon as the damage is found. A signed receipt with no exception noted makes a later claim much harder to win, whether the damage was visible at delivery or only found once a case is opened.

What does a packing list tell a receiver that an invoice does not?

The invoice is a bill. The packing list is a map of what should be in the shipment: the number of cartons, the piece count per carton, the weight, and often the lot or form breakdown, spoons in one case, hammers in another. An invoice can be correct while a shipment is short, because the invoice bills for what was ordered, not for what physically arrived on the truck.

A receiver who checks only the invoice against the goods on hand will miss a shortage that the packing list would have caught in thirty seconds: twelve cartons on the packing list, eleven on the pallet. That missing carton is a claim against the carrier if it never left the origin dock properly loaded, or a claim against the supplier if it was never packed.

How does a buyer check a case against the packing list?

Count cartons first, before anything is moved off the pallet. A pallet of twelve cases that arrives with ten cases is a shortage claim, and it is easiest to prove while the load is still on the truck, with the driver present and the bill of lading in hand.

Open one carton per case next, if the carrier allows it at the dock, and compare the piece count inside against the packing list line for that case. A case marked for 50 spoons that holds 46 is a shortage inside a carton, a different kind of claim than a missing carton, and one that is much harder to prove once the cartons have been moved into storage and mixed with other stock.

Weigh the pallet if a scale is available. A pallet that weighs less than the packing list states is a sign of a missing carton even when the count looks right, because a case of glass pipes can be swapped for a case of packing material at some point in transit and the carton count alone would not catch it.

What is the difference between visible and concealed damage?

Visible damage is damage you can see before you sign for the delivery: a crushed corner, a wet carton, a case that rattles when it should not. Visible damage gets noted on the delivery receipt, in writing, before the driver leaves. A receiver who signs clean on a carton that is visibly crushed has accepted the shipment as delivered in good condition, and that signature works against a later claim.

Concealed damage is damage found after the carrier has left, once a case is opened: pieces cracked inside intact cartons, breakage that was not visible from the outside. A buyer can still claim concealed damage, but the claim is weaker, because the carrier can argue the damage happened after delivery, in the buyer's own warehouse. The fix is to open cases promptly, within a few days of delivery, and to keep the damaged carton and its packing material exactly as found until the claim is resolved. Repacking or discarding the box before the claim is settled removes the evidence that supports it.

What goes into a freight claim?

A claim needs five things: the bill of lading, the packing list, photos of the damage and the packaging it arrived in, the invoice value of the damaged pieces, and a short written statement of when and how the damage was found. Photograph the exterior of the carton first, then the interior packing, then the broken pieces themselves, before anything is moved or thrown away.

Send the claim in writing, by letter or through the carrier's claim portal, not as a phone call. A phone call creates no record. A written claim with a reference number is the document that gets a claim paid, and it is the document a buyer can point to if the first response is a denial.

How long does a buyer have to file a claim?

For interstate motor freight in the United States, federal law (49 U.S.C. 14706(e)) bars a carrier from allowing less than nine months to file a loss or damage claim, and the standard bill of lading counts those nine months from delivery. Once a written claim is received, federal rules (49 CFR Part 370) give the carrier 30 days to acknowledge it and 120 days to pay, decline, or make a firm settlement offer in writing. Nine months sounds generous, but concealed damage found at month eight leaves little room to gather evidence, which is why cases should be opened and checked soon after they arrive, not left sealed in storage until they are needed on the shelf.

A supplier's own return policy on breakage is usually shorter than the carrier's claim window and runs on its own clock, separate from any freight claim against the carrier. Read both windows when a shipment arrives: the supplier's terms for a defective or short piece, and the carrier's rules if the damage happened in transit.

What should the receiving log record?

One line per shipment: date, carrier, number of cartons on the packing list, number of cartons actually received, number of pieces checked, number found broken or short, and whether the delivery receipt was signed clean or with an exception noted. Attach the packing list and any photos to that line.

A log kept this way does two things a memory cannot. It gives the buyer a record to hand a carrier or supplier when a claim is questioned, and it builds a pattern over time: a carrier whose loads arrive short twice a quarter, or a supplier whose cases run a consistently higher breakage rate than the landed cost sheet assumed. Both are decisions a buyer can only make with the receiving log in hand, not from memory of what usually happens.

Sources

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, on motor carrier regulations and bills of lading: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/
• U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade, on shipment and receiving documentation in trade: https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/
• 49 U.S.C. 14706(e), minimum nine-month period for filing a claim: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/14706
• 49 CFR Part 370, acknowledgment (30 days) and disposition (120 days) of loss and damage claims: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/part-370