Pallet, Come Home!
I lost a pallet last week.
Well, actually, I didn’t lose it. It shipped out of the warehouse OK but got lost in the paperwork shuffle of our LTL carrier. The Bill of Lading listed two pallets, but the driver only signed for one. That caused a chain reaction throughout the carrier while the shipment was in transit. The paperwork shows it left here as two pallets but arrived as one pallet. At some point, someone noticed the driver only signed for one pallet and dropped the second off the end of the universe.
Needless to say, the customer (prepping a container for overseas shipment) was not amused. And because the driver signed for one pallet, everyone (and I mean everyone) at the carrier assumed I must be crazy to think there was a second pallet. It did turn up at the destination terminal — too late to avoid a reship to keep the customer happy but at least it wasn’t lost for all time.
So here’s the newest checklist for shipping:
- Check the order against the Bill
- Check the labels against the order
- Check the pallet count (and make sure they all get PRO stickers)
- Make sure the driver reads the Bill
- Make sure the driver signs the Bill (I have chased a few)
If a loss does occur, make sure you pull as much paperwork as you can find for the shipment. The more references you have the better. Then start calling and keep calling. Start with dispatch at source and destination terminal, then move to OS&D, then call the Rep and have him or her start checking into it. The main problem I encountered is most people look at the Bill of Lading and go no further.
