Logistics
Delivering to a hundred small points
A hundred stops a day and at each one whoever is there signs. None matters until one does.
Your driver makes a hundred stops and delivers little at each: a few boxes, a pallet, a small order. **At none of them is there a loading bay, a goods-in supervisor or any time**: whoever is behind the counter signs, often without looking at what they sign, and sometimes without being the person who should. Multiplied by a hundred stops and two hundred days, that detail becomes the operation's biggest source of disputes.
The typical disputes, and which are avoidable
| The dispute | How often | What avoids it |
|---|---|---|
| «Not everything arrived» | Constant | Recording what was left, not just that it was |
| «I did not sign that» | Common | Knowing who signed |
| «It arrived damaged» | Common | A photo at delivery |
| **«No delivery on record»** | **Rare and costly** | **A delivery note not dependent on paper** |
Important
**The cost in this position is not the difficult stop: it is the sum of a hundred trivial ones.** Each generates a slip, each slip can be lost, and each loss is resolved with a ten-minute call nobody counts. The annual bill for those calls is always larger than capturing the delivery at the moment would cost — but since it is paid in ten-minute pieces, it never shows up anywhere as a problem.
What changes a hundred-stop round
- 1
Evidence captured at the stop
If it depends on returning to base with paper, paper gets lost.
- 2
Recording who received, not only that it was received
It is half the disputes, and it costs one field.
- 3
A photo when the delivery is not clean
Not on all hundred; on the ones the driver already knows will be trouble.
- 4
And it reaching the customer's file on its own
Without anyone transcribing anything in the afternoon.
Watch out
The stop to settle in advance is **the one where nobody authorised is present**. The driver has ninety-nine more stops, the customer wants their goods, and the convenient way out —leave it and let whoever is there sign— is the one that creates next month's complaint. It does not need a complicated policy: it needs the driver to know what to do, and whatever they decide to be on record.
Worth knowing
What weight a receipt signature carries, who may validly receive on a company's behalf and what time limits apply to claims **depends on the contract and the applicable rules, and is settled by your adviser**. Here we cover the operational part: how to capture at the stop what will later decide a dispute.
›Does an on-screen signature count?
In practice it is widely used. What weighs most is knowing who signed.
›Must every delivery be photographed?
No. The ones the driver knows may cause trouble, yes.
›What if nobody authorised is there?
Give the driver a rule, and record whatever they decide.
A real case
The situation
A customer says goods were missing from a delivery a month ago.
What you do
- Records exactly what was delivered at each stop
What you get
The dispute closes on the stop's record.
The situation
The paper delivery note is lost before reaching the office.
What you do
- Captures the delivery at the moment from a phone
What you get
The document stops travelling in the van.
The situation
Nobody knows who signed for a particular receipt.
What you do
- Stores who received alongside the delivery
What you get
Half the disputes disappear.
The situation
A delivery arrives damaged and its condition is not recorded.
What you do
- Allows attaching photos at the stop itself
What you get
Condition is documented as it happens.
The situation
Incidents are transcribed in the afternoon and detail is lost.
What you do
- Records the incident where and when it happens
What you get
What is recorded is what the driver saw.
The situation
Each clarification call costs ten minutes and there are many.
What you do
- Makes the evidence available to whoever handles the customer
What you get
The clarification is resolved without calling the round.
This article answers
- who can sign for a delivery at a shop
- multi-drop delivery proof
- customer says not everything was delivered
- delivery notes getting lost