Signing the Delivery Note: Remarks That Protect Your Claim

At the end of a delivery the driver holds out a pen and a delivery note, and everybody on site would like to go home. The signature takes a second; what it may mean can take months to find out. A clean signature on a note that says nothing about shortages or damage can be quoted back to you as a sign that the goods arrived complete and in good order. That does not make a later claim impossible, but it makes it harder. How a signature affects your rights depends on your contract, the carrier's conditions and the law, so this article stays with the practical side: what to write, when to sign for a count only and how to keep a copy. For the legal side, ask your forwarder or a lawyer.

What your signature may be read as

At the least, a signature confirms that a delivery took place at a certain time and place. It may also be read as acceptance of the goods as they stood at that moment, and it is often the only paper that records the handover. Some notes carry pre-printed wording such as "received in good order"; read it before you sign. A signature with nothing written next to it tells the reader that you had no remarks.

Contracts and carrier conditions often set time limits for reporting a problem. Look them up when you agree the transport, not on the day the truck arrives.

What to write beside the signature

Good remarks are specific, numeric and short. A general phrase such as "subject to inspection" tells the reader little on its own; attach it to particulars.

• The count: "22 pallets received; cartons not counted; contents not checked".
• Visible damage: "Pallet 3: 6 cartons crushed, 2 wet; photographs 14 to 19".
• The seal: "Seal on arrival 84215; bill of lading shows 84251".
• Your printed name, your role and the time.

Do not write guesses such as "damaged?" or "possibly short". Write what you saw and counted.

Signing for the count only

Sometimes the cargo cannot be checked at the door because unloading is not finished, the light is poor or the wrap hides the contents. In that case limit what you sign for, and write what you actually verified: "Signed for 22 pallets as counted at the door; quantity and condition of contents not verified; count to follow". The signature then covers the pallets and no more. If the driver cannot wait for the full count, tell the carrier in advance how much time the check needs.

Keeping a copy

• Ask for a copy of the signed note on the spot. If there is no carbon or second sheet, photograph both sides before the driver leaves.
• Take the photograph with your remarks and the signature in view, and a second one showing the truck plate or the container number, then save both to the shipment folder.
• If the driver refuses to acknowledge the remarks, write "driver declined to acknowledge remarks" with the time and the name of a witness, and photograph the note. Do not argue. Call your forwarder.

A conditional example. A truck brings 40 pallets, and the count at the door gives 40. Pallets 7, 12 and 31 have torn wrap, and on pallet 12 five cartons are crushed. Beside the signature you write: "40 pallets received 15:20; pallets 7, 12, 31 wrap torn; pallet 12: 5 cartons crushed, photographs 22 to 27; cartons not counted, count to follow". You photograph the note at 15:24. Next morning the carton count shows 3 cartons fewer than the packing list. Because the remark said the carton count was still to follow, the shortage does not contradict your signature. Whether the carrier accepts it is for its conditions to say, but you stand on firmer ground than with a clean signature.

Common mistakes

• Signing first and meaning to write remarks later.
• Sending the remarks by message only, with nothing on the note itself.
• Letting someone who did not attend the unloading sign for the company.
• Writing so small that the remark cannot be read in a photograph.

In short

A signature is cheap to give and expensive to take back. CargoChek is at the dock before you sign and prepares a remarks record of the facts visible at the moment of receiving, so that what you write beside your name rests on a count and on photographs.