Filing a Freight Damage or Shortage Claim with a Carrier

Visible Damage vs. Concealed Damage: Different Rules, Different Windows

A freight claim starts at the moment the shipment arrives, not after the driver leaves. Carriers and their insurers treat two kinds of damage differently, and mixing them up is the most common reason a legitimate claim gets denied.

Visible (or “apparent”) damage is damage you can see from the outside of the packaging, or a shortage you can count, before you sign for the delivery: crushed cartons, a torn pallet wrap, a case count that doesn’t match the bill of lading. This has to be noted in writing on the delivery receipt or bill of lading at the time of delivery, before you sign. A signature with no exception noted is read by the carrier as acceptance of the shipment “in good order” — it doesn’t make a later claim impossible, but it shifts the burden onto you to prove the damage happened before delivery rather than after, which is a much harder case to win.

Concealed damage is damage you only discover once you unpack the carton — a broken analytical balance, a cracked centrifuge rotor housing, glassware shattered inside an outwardly undamaged box. Because it wasn’t visible at delivery, most carrier tariffs and bills of lading give you a separate, and often much shorter, window to report it — commonly a matter of days, not the months allowed for filing the underlying claim itself. That reporting window is set by the specific carrier’s tariff or bill of lading terms, not a single number that applies everywhere, so check the paperwork for the shipment in question rather than assuming a figure.

Who Actually Files the Claim: What FOB Terms Determine

Before documenting anything, it’s worth knowing who the claim belongs to — because it isn’t always the receiving party. Under FOB origin pricing, risk of loss transfers to the buyer the moment the carrier takes possession at the seller’s dock, which means the buyer holds the carrier claim on anything lost or damaged in transit. Under delivered (FOB destination) pricing, the seller keeps risk of loss until the shipment reaches the buyer’s dock, and the seller files the claim.

This distinction doesn’t change what receiving staff need to do at the dock — the damage or shortage still has to be documented while the evidence is in front of them, regardless of who ultimately submits the paperwork — but it does determine who owns the claim, who the carrier’s payout goes to, and who should be notified immediately if the receiving organization isn’t the party filing. See FOB vs. Delivered Pricing in Medical Supply Contracts for the full comparison of how each pricing structure allocates transit risk.

Step by Step: At the Time of Delivery

1. Count and inspect before signing. Verify carton/pallet count against the bill of lading and packing slip while the driver is still present. A shortage is easiest to document while the truck is still at the dock.
2. Note every exception in writing, specifically. “Subject to inspection” or a generic notation is weak. Write what you actually observed: “2 of 6 cartons crushed,” “pallet shrink-wrap torn, contents shifted,” “1 carton short per BOL.” Both the driver and receiving staff should sign the exception.
3. Photograph before you move or discard anything. Shoot the pallet or carton as it sits on the truck or dock, the shipping label and BOL/PRO number, all sides of the packaging, and the damage itself once opened. Photos taken after packaging has been thrown out are far less useful to a claims adjuster.
4. Keep the damaged packaging and the damaged item. Don’t discard cartons, dunnage, or the item itself until the claim is resolved — the carrier or its inspector may request to see them, and disposing of evidence can void the claim.
5. Notify the carrier in writing promptly, even if the full claim will follow later. A same-day or next-day notice referencing the BOL/PRO number puts the carrier on notice while the shipment’s transit history is still easy to trace.

If You Discover Concealed Damage After Delivery

Concealed damage follows the same documentation logic, compressed into a shorter timeline:

• Inspect new equipment and supply deliveries promptly rather than letting cartons sit unopened — the concealed-damage notification clock is typically running from the delivery date, not from whenever the box happens to get opened.
• Photograph the item, the packaging, and any internal cushioning or bracing as soon as the damage is found, before rearranging or discarding anything.
• Notify the carrier in writing as soon as the damage is discovered. Check the specific carrier’s bill of lading or tariff for its concealed-damage reporting window and treat it as a hard deadline, not a guideline — missing it is one of the few things that can defeat an otherwise well-documented claim.
• Retain the shipping carton and all internal packaging until the claim is closed; how an item was packed is often central to whether the carrier or the shipper is found responsible.

Filing the Claim: What the Carrier Needs

A freight claim is a written demand, not just a phone call. A complete claim generally includes:

• A written statement of claim referencing the bill of lading/PRO number, describing the loss or damage and the dollar amount claimed.
• The bill of lading and the delivery receipt, with the delivery exception noted (or the concealed-damage notice, if that’s the situation).
• Photographs of the packaging and the damaged or short item.
• Documentation supporting the claimed value — the invoice or purchase order, and the packing slip showing what was actually shipped.

Most carriers’ bills of lading build in a minimum filing window well past the delivery date — nine months from the delivery date (or from a reasonable time for delivery, if the shipment never arrived) is the customary minimum under the terms most U.S. domestic carriers use, following the long-standing Uniform Straight Bill of Lading conditions. That’s a common baseline, not a guarantee for every carrier or every shipment; confirm the actual filing deadline against the bill of lading or tariff that governed the specific shipment before assuming you have that much time. Separately, once a claim is filed, motor carriers subject to 49 CFR § 370.9 must pay, decline, or make a firm settlement offer in writing within 120 days of receiving it.

The Legal Backbone: The Carmack Amendment

For domestic interstate shipments moving by motor carrier or rail, carrier liability for loss, damage, and (in most cases) delay runs through the Carmack Amendment, codified at 49 U.S.C. § 14706 for motor carriers. It establishes something close to strict liability — the carrier is presumed responsible for goods it received in good condition and delivered damaged or short — subject to a narrow set of carrier defenses: an act of God, an act of a public enemy, an act or default of the shipper (e.g., inadequate packaging), an act of public authority, or the inherent nature of the goods. This is why documentation at receipt matters so much: it establishes the condition the carrier delivered the shipment in, which is the fact the whole claim turns on. International ocean and air shipments run under different frameworks (COGSA and the Montreal Convention, respectively) with their own, generally shorter and stricter, notice requirements — don’t assume the domestic timelines above apply to an international leg of a shipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a shortage claim and a damage claim?

A shortage claim is for goods the bill of lading says were shipped but that never arrived — a carton count that comes up short at delivery, or an entire missing pallet. A damage claim is for goods that arrived but were harmed in transit. The documentation discipline is the same for both: verify against the BOL at delivery, note the discrepancy in writing before signing, and photograph what you observe.

Can I still file a claim if I already signed the delivery receipt without noting damage?

It’s harder, but not automatically fatal, especially for concealed damage that genuinely couldn’t have been seen at delivery. For visible damage that should have been apparent at delivery, an unqualified “clean” signature is strong evidence the shipment arrived in good order, and the carrier will typically use it to dispute the claim. File anyway if the damage is real, but expect more scrutiny and be ready to support the claim with whatever documentation exists.

Who is responsible for filing the freight claim — the buyer or the seller?

Whichever party held risk of loss in transit under the contract’s shipping terms, which is exactly what FOB origin vs. delivered (FOB destination) pricing determines. See FOB vs. Delivered Pricing in Medical Supply Contracts.

How long do I have to file a freight claim?

There isn’t one universal number. Most domestic carriers’ bills of lading build in a nine-month minimum filing window from delivery, but concealed-damage notification windows are typically much shorter and set by the individual carrier’s tariff. Check the specific bill of lading or tariff for the shipment in question rather than assuming either figure applies.

Does temperature-sensitive or cold-chain freight follow the same claim process?

The documentation discipline is the same, but temperature excursions add their own evidence requirements — data logger records, packaging condition, and time-out-of-range duration matter as much as physical damage does. See Cold-Chain Shipping Requirements for Biological Reagents for what to document specifically for temperature-controlled shipments, and Cold Chain Shipping: A Procurement Guide to Evaluating Carriers for how carrier selection affects this risk before a shipment ever moves.