---
id: KB-LG-024
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/logistics/holding-the-goods-while-the-paperwork-is-missing
idioma: en
categoria: sector-logistica
subcategoria: terminales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LG-022, KB-LG-009]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-027]
---

# Holding the goods while the paperwork is missing

_The goods are in your hands, the problem is not yours, and the cost starts running from day one._

**Responde a:** goods held for missing documentation · who pays storage for a stuck container · warehouse liability for third-party goods · how to evidence days in storage

A terminal, a bonded store or a transit warehouse hold a very particular position: **you physically hold something that is not yours, over a problem you did not cause, and every passing day generates a cost somebody will have to pay**. You cannot solve the problem —someone else holds the papers— and you cannot walk away, because the goods are there.

## What accumulates while something sits

| What runs | Who it hits | What evidences it later |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Days in storage | The owner of the goods | The in and out record |
| The space occupied | You | The same, which is why it matters |
| The condition of the goods | Both | What was checked on receipt |
| **The argument over who pays** | **Whoever documented it worst** | **The trail of notices sent** |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **What decides this position is not custody, it is notification.** Storing things properly you already know how to do. What gets argued months later is whether the owner knew in time that their goods were stuck, how many times they were told, and what they said. A store that notifies and records it turns a disputed invoice into an explained one; one that merely stores holds the goods and does not hold the conversation.

## What to record from day one

1. **What came in, when and in what condition** — With what could be checked and what could not, said as such.
2. **What is missing for it to leave** — Written so the owner understands without phoning.
3. **Who was notified and when** — Every notice, not just the first.
4. **And what came back, silence included** — Documented silence is also an answer.

> [!WARNING]
> The point that causes most trouble: **goods that stay and lose their contact**. The importer disappears, the forwarder says they no longer handle that client, and the cost keeps running against someone who does not answer. The later it is spotted, the worse: at one month it is an awkward call, at a year it is a hard decision about something taking up space. Having what has been sitting too long in plain view is what stops you reaching the second case.

> [!NOTE]
> What duties of custody, information and retention you carry over other people's goods, what time limits apply and what may be done with what nobody claims **depends on the regime the goods are under and on the contract, and is settled by your adviser**. Here we cover the operational part: what to record, who to notify and how to evidence having done it.

**Do I need to notify more than once?**

In practice it is what holds the invoice up afterwards. Record every notice.

**What do I do if nobody answers?**

Document it and escalate early. The problem grows with time, it does not settle.

**Is the entry record enough?**

It is the minimum. What gets argued is what happened after entry.

## Ejemplos

**A container has been sitting for weeks and its owner says they did not know.**

- Records every notice sent and its date

→ The storage invoice is explained by the trail.

**Nobody knows exactly what is missing for a consignment to leave.**

- Shows which document is missing and whose it is

→ The owner can act without a phone call first.

**There is a dispute about the condition the goods arrived in.**

- Keeps what was checked on entry, with the date

→ The dispute closes on the record.

**A consignment has sat for a year and nobody answers any more.**

- Flags what has gone too long without movement

→ The case is faced at one month rather than one year.

**Notices go out from personal email accounts and no copy remains.**

- Sends and keeps communications in the file

→ Each notice is demonstrable rather than remembered.

**The owner changes forwarder and nobody knows who to write to.**

- Records who the contact is for each consignment

→ The notice reaches somebody who exists.