Damaged Freight

How to Handle Damaged Freight?

1. Take Photos: Immediately take photos of the damaged freight and its packaging. This will help you to document the condition of the freight and provide evidence for any claims you may need to make.

2. Notify the Carrier: Contact the carrier that shipped the freight and inform them of the damage. They may be able to provide you with a claim form or other instructions on how to proceed.

3. File a Claim: If the carrier is liable for the damage, you may be able to file a claim for reimbursement. Make sure to include all relevant documentation, such as photos, invoices, and packing slips, when filing your claim.

4. Contact Your Insurance Company: If you have freight insurance, contact your insurance company to see if they can help cover any costs associated with the damaged freight.

5. Resolve Disputes: If you are unable to reach an agreement with the carrier or insurance company, you may need to take legal action to resolve the dispute.

To properly organize the transportation of cargo, it is always necessary to carefully measure its dimensions and weight. Moreover, if the cargo is to be "traveled" packaged, then it is necessary to weigh and measure both before it is packed and when it is already in the crate.

Accurate determination of the weight and dimensions of the cargo in any case affects the correct choice of the car: why create additional difficulties and costs for fines, for example, by cramming a cargo weighing 8 tons into a car designed for six tons, or a cargo 3.5 meters long into a standard "Gazelle" (2.8 m), if there are transport vehicles with larger carrying capacity, elongated versions of "Gazelle" and so on?

However, it is often necessary to transport cargoes that are not able to fit into any of the existing motor vehicles in terms of their dimensions, or whose mass exceeds the permissible loads on the road surface. Moreover, there is no possibility to divide these cargoes or disassemble them in order to transport them in batches.

For example: generators, transformers, long-length pipes, agricultural and road machinery, presses, drilling rigs, tanks for petroleum products, etc.

In this case, we will be talking about large-sized and (or) heavy cargoes, and their transportation will require special preparation: obtaining permission, route coordination, payment for travel on roads, development of a special movement project, organization of escort ... And if any of the necessary points is not fulfilled, then the carrier faces a not small fine.

Therefore, it is very important to know all the subtleties and nuances of the transportation of oversized cargo and strictly comply with the prescribed conditions.

Steps

However, first of all it is necessary to know when exactly the cargo begins to be considered oversized.

So, the cargo is oversized if its size exceeds the established maximum permissible values at least by one of the parameters:

• by height (together with the car): 4 meters;
• by width: for all vehicles - 2.55 meters, for isothermal bodies - 2.6 meters;
• by length: for trailers and single vehicles - 12 meters, for autotrain - 20 meters; in this case, not only the length of the cargo is important, but also how much it exceeds the length of the transport vehicle: an overlap of the cargo of no more than 2 (!) meters is allowed.

As for heavy cargo, it will be such if it exceeds either the established mass limits (by the way, in this case the combined mass of the cargo and the transport vehicle is calculated!), Or the permissible axle loads.

How to Prevent Cargo Damage

What is damaged cargo and how to handle it?

For a typical international container shipment, the list of parties that may physically handle the cargo looks like this:

• the supplier/factory loading the goods;
• the local carrier delivering the cargo to the warehouse;
• the local freight forwarding company moving the cargo from the warehouse to the terminal;
• the transshipment terminal;
• the terminal at the port of arrival;
• customs or customs warehouse;
• the local carrier in the country of arrival.

The most common causes of cargo damage are water damage, impacts, and improper securing and stowage of the cargo in the container.

Water damage can occur for the following reasons:

• condensation inside the container, especially if the container is loaded in high humidity;
• temperature changes during the vessel voyage, which can also lead to condensation inside the container and wetting of the cargo;
• the presence of small holes in the container;
• improper securing and loading, uneven weight distribution of the cargo in the container.

When the container is delivered to the consignee, the latter should conduct a thorough inspection. Check for any visible damage on the outside. As soon as the cargo is unloaded, if there is any visible damage, immediately stop the unloading process and notify your carrier and insurance company, if the cargo is insured.

In order to claim damages from the carrier, you will need to send them the following documents:

• the first notice of intention to file a claim;
• survey report (in case there is any independent survey report with photos or if any survey was conducted on behalf of and on the instructions of the cargo owner);
• photos;
• the shipper’s commercial invoice;
• a detailed claim statement (calculation of damages based on the commercial value of the cargo);
• the bill of lading;
• delivery receipt;

• container unloading tally sheet;
• proof of residual value/destruction certificate (to prove that the cargo is indeed damaged and cannot be sold in the secondary market).

The carrier reviews the claim statement and determines at which stage of the shipment the damage could have been caused.