1 Pallet Missing at Delivery

Not sure what your legal option is but I hardly doubt that carrier is putting in a $1000 claim due to the deductible and possible insurance costs going up

 

Did the driver note shipper load and count or equivalent?

 

It's not uncommon for a shipper or receiver to steal a pallet of product. It happened to me twice at the same grocery warehouse in PA. They wait until the driver leaves the building to return to his truck, then steal a pallet from the truck before the driver can pull away from the dock to close the trailer doors. Sometimes they'll pull a pallet off and hide it in the warehouse while the driver is distracted. Grocery warehouses are notorious for stealing.

 

Your contract with them should state who is responsible for losses and damaged product. Follow what that says to the letter of the law, document everything, and get ready to go to court.

 

Was the driver even ALLOWED on the dock during loading and/or unloading? If not, how can they be held responsible?

The contract you had with the carrier was for a specific amount of money to haul a shipment from point A to point B. You need to pay that amount, and any claim is a separate argument. If you short-pay, they can sue and they will win...because they have that contract specifying what is due to them.

It really is not uncommon for a shipper to load too much, hand the driver the BOL, and then have to remove a pallet or two in order to make the truck legal. Sometimes the BOL reflects that. Sometimes it doesn't. Occasionally everything that was supposed to ship wasn't ready to ship, or wouldn't fit...but the BOL was pre-printed and the office has left already. Stuff happens...but the bottom line remains if the shipper did not allow the driver to remain on the dock to count pieces going into the trailer, and/or the receiver did not allow the driver to remain on the dock to count pieces coming off, then as a driver, I'd tell you to go pound sand if you were trying to hold me responsible for "missing" freight...and if it were my company, I'd stand behind my driver.

Pay the carrier what is owed per the contract you have with them. The "missing" pallet is up to the shipper and receiver to work out amongst themselves...ESPECIALLY if there was a seal placed upon the trailer at the shipper that was still intact at the receiver. Kind of hard to remove a pallet without breaking that seal.

 

SEAL!
The shipper should have required the driver to count. If not, it is Shipper Load and Count load and it should have been sealed but the very shipper. A driver has to inquire the shipper if he needs to count or stay in the truck, if they "say stay in the truck and wait for green light" then it is again Shipper Load and Count load and seal is needed. If shipper says they do not seal trailers then the driver is better off sealing it with his own seal and sign the BOL as SLC and it also would be very helpful to take a picture\video record of it, best if it is encompassing the warehouse. BOL should reflect who is liable for the count. From my experience, if they needed a driver to count they should have explicitly requested the driver to have done so. If they did not, it is a stinking matter now when they claim shortage.

But what it comes down to is what the BOL says. If the driver just signed the BOL without any remarks and there was no seal, then the carrier has little argument here imo. Although technically, when they want the count to agree at a receiver, a driver needs to be on the dock during unload and count the load with the receiver or at least be requested to do so

 

On the BOL/manifest, it has a detailed list of the load shipped. Driver is required to sign for the load, right? He leaves a signed copy with the shipper and takes a copy to the receiver who is required verify the product and mark any discrepancies in load count and or damage on the BOL before signing off.

Guess who didn’t do his job and doesn’t have a leg to stand on?

 

It's different when the driver signs for a pre-loaded trailer or sealed trailer.