The damage file you build before anything is damaged

A pallet of shrink-wrapped cartons goes out on Tuesday and is signed for on Wednesday. On Thursday the customer cuts the wrap, finds two crushed cartons and a puncture at forklift-mast height, and sends you a photograph.

How that conversation goes was settled before you heard about it — not by who was right, but by what anybody wrote down at the two moments the goods changed hands. If the answer is a signature and nothing else, you are not arguing about cartons. You are arguing from a blank page against a photograph.

The claim is decided at two moments you already pass through

Damage claims feel like an office problem, but the evidence is made in ninety seconds at a tailgate, twice per consignment, by someone not thinking about a dispute. That is also the opportunity: both moments are already in the job, so nobody need add a step — only record the one they already perform.

Take international carriage, where it is written down most explicitly. Under the CMR Convention the carrier must, on taking over the goods, check the accuracy of the statements in the consignment note as to the number of packages and their marks and numbers, and the apparent condition of the goods and their packaging (Article 8.1). A reservation must be entered in the note together with the grounds on which it is based, and does not bind the sender unless he has expressly agreed to be bound by it there (Article 8.2).

Then Article 9.2 does the thing worth knowing: if the note contains no specific reservations by the carrier, it is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that the goods and their packaging appeared to be in good condition when he took them over, and that the number of packages and their marks and numbers corresponded with the note. Swedish domestic carriage says the same in its own words — the carrier checks count, marks, numbers and visible condition on taking over and enters any reservation with its grounds (12 § of lag (1974:610) om inrikes vägtransport); absent one, good visible condition is presumed (13 §).

Read that as an operational fact rather than legal advice, and it reduces to one sentence: an unmarked consignment note is not neutral. It is a statement, made by you, that everything looked fine. Most carriers read a blank note as the absence of a claim; it is closer to the opposite.

The clocks that start at delivery are not the ones you would guess

At the other end the presumption runs your way and the deadlines belong to your customer. Under CMR Article 30.1, if the consignee takes delivery without duly checking the condition of the goods with the carrier and without sending reservations giving a general indication of the loss or damage — not later than the time of delivery for apparent loss or damage, and within seven days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted, for loss or damage that is not apparent — the fact of taking delivery is prima facie evidence that the goods were received in the condition described in the consignment note. In the non-apparent case those reservations must be in writing, and the delivery date itself is not counted (Article 30.4). Delay is a separate, shorter clock: nothing is payable for it unless a reservation was sent in writing within twenty-one days of the goods being placed at the consignee’s disposal (Article 30.3).

Here is the part that surprises people, who assume domestic law is CMR with a Swedish accent. There is no seven-day rule in Swedish domestic carriage. Under 40 § of lag (1974:610), whoever wants compensation for goods diminished or damaged, or for delay in handing them over, must notify the carrier without unreasonable delay — and if that is neglected the right of action is lost, unless intent or gross negligence lies with the carrier or someone he answers for. A vaguer clock with a harsher consequence. Either way the outer limit for bringing an action is one year, or three where wilful misconduct, intent or gross negligence is in play (Article 32.1; 41 §).

So you cannot assume you will hear about damage promptly: internationally the consignee has a week for anything not visible at the tailgate. The evidence you want is a week old before you know you want it, and a claim on day six is ordinary rather than late.

Weight is a money field

The compensation rules are where an administrative box turns into an amount. Internationally, compensation for loss is calculated by reference to the value of the goods at the place and time they were accepted for carriage (Article 23.1–23.2), and then capped: it “shall not, however, exceed 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short” (Article 23.3). The unit of account is the IMF’s Special Drawing Right, converted at its value on the date of the judgment or the date the parties agreed (Article 23.7) — which is why no honest article prints a fixed krona figure for it. Damaged goods are compensated by the amount they have diminished in value, capped at the total-loss figure (Article 25). Sweden’s domestic limit is a plain number: 150 kronor per kilo of the gross weight of the lost or missing goods (32 §), with the same rule for damage (34 §).

So the ceiling is set by weight, and the value of the goods only matters up to it. The weight on the consignment note is therefore not an administrative field; it is the multiplier in the only sum anyone will ever do. Exposure also runs the wrong way for light, expensive freight — electronics, pharmaceuticals, spare parts — where the cap can sit below the invoice value. That is what a declared value is for: a higher value entered in the note, against the surcharge the carrier asks, displaces the standard limit (33 §, and Articles 24 and 26 internationally) — a decision taken at booking, by somebody who has read the weight.

What actually goes in the file

The discipline is capturing it every time, including the ninety-nine handovers nobody will dispute.

• Photographs at both ends — wide enough to identify the consignment, close enough to show the packaging. The wide shot is the one people skip, and the one that proves the pallet in the close-up is the pallet on the note.
• Reservations with their grounds, not a tick. “Cartons scuffed, two corners crushed, wrap intact” is a reservation. “Damaged” is a mood.
• The number of packages, their marks and numbers — the other half of Article 8.1, and the half that loses shortage claims.
• An accurate gross weight, for the reason above.
• Seal numbers at load and at unload — two numbers that either match or do not, and the cheapest evidence in freight.
• Who loaded and stowed, because handling, loading, stowage or unloading by the sender or the consignee is one of the special risks that can relieve the carrier of liability (Article 17.4(c)). Open unsheeted vehicles are another, but only where their use “has been expressly agreed and specified in the consignment note” (Article 17.4(a)).
• A printed name beside the signature, because a scrawl proves that somebody signed, not who.

And the trade-offs, honestly. Evidence is only evidence if it hangs off the stop and the consignment rather than sitting in a phone gallery nobody can search. A driver will not perform a five-minute ritual at every door: capture that is not a matter of seconds gets skipped exactly when the yard is busy, which is when damage happens. And none of it can be assembled afterwards: a file built on Thursday about Tuesday is not a record, it is an argument. Document every handover as though it will be disputed, and the one that is disputed costs you a morning instead of a customer.

navichain captures that file as part of the job rather than beside it: signatures, photos and failed-delivery reasons taken at the stop in the driver app, per-stop cargo manifests so the driver confirms the right goods, and a digital CMR issued to the CMR Convention (Geneva 1956) — sealed once, hashed and timestamped, with a QR code that resolves to a verification page for whoever holds the paper. Every feature is on every plan and pricing starts at 995 kr a month including five users — see the platform page and the pricing page. Related reading: what paper proof of delivery costs you.