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Cargo Claims Management

Cargo claims management that lays the claimant's case beside the carrier's, fills both from the shipping papers, the delivery receipt and the truck's own camera, and argues the shipper's side before the carrier pays, compromises or declines.

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Follow one crushed-pallet claim to payment ↓

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The problem

A crushed-freight claim decided on shipper load and count alone

A claim lands in the claims mailbox, sometimes a proper written claim with an amount, often a photo and a request to advise. Shipping papers and the delivery receipt sit in the TMS, the camera clip and the ELD in the telematics portal, the driver's statement with the terminal manager, the refused pallets on the dock floor.

So the specialist decides from whatever was gathered, and the defense is often the notation on the bill. Nobody pulls the truck's own camera until the shipper's lawyer asks for it, a tariff limit gets cited that the shipper never signed, and the salvage is sold with one phone call and no record.

The acknowledgment, the decision and the status letters each run on a federal clock that lives in a spreadsheet. And when a payee change arrives by email with the claim, accounts payable pays whoever wrote last.

Built forCargo claims specialistsClaims and risk managersControllersTerminal OS&D teams

The Problem Today

A crushed or short load becomes a claim decided from records scattered across five systems, with only one side ever argued.

120 days: to pay, decline or offer in writing, then a letter every 60 days published
9 months: the least time a carrier may allow a shipper to file a claim published

Gathered claim by claim today

OS&D notes
Dock photos
Driver word
Salvage

The defense tested too lateThe truck's own camera is pulled after the declination
Deadlines tracked in a sheetDispositions and status letters slip past the federal clock

The Solution

Both cases filled side by sideAgents fill the claimant's case and the carrier's from documents and the truck's records
The shipper's lawyer played firstA challenger attacks the carrier's draft and strikes a limit never put in writing
Pay, compromise and decline pricedSalvage credited and every assumption editable before anyone chooses
Maker, checker, then paymentThe specialist decides, the claims manager approves, the controller pays

Built-in controls

No liability limit cited unless agreed in writing
Outside notes wait for the person they concern
Nobody approves or pays their own decision

What You Get

Each claim is decided inside its federal clock, with the carrier's defense tested against the shipper's argument before any money moves.

The truck's record in the fileCamera and driving logs read before the decision
Past rulings at the next decisionA ruling becomes a rule once the claims manager agrees
Every open claim on its clockAcknowledgments, decisions and status letters by deadline

Features

Cargo claims management features, one Carmack claim from file to payment

The cargo claims specialist works the file; the claims manager approves and the controller releases the money.

demoSample data: the carrier, shipper, receiver, salvage buyer and all amounts shown.

01Two tables
The claimant's case and the carrier's case on one screen, under Carmack
- Good condition, damage and amount rated. Each element the claimant must show carries its documents, a strength rating and how sure the reading is, which shows where the claim is weak.
- Every defense the carrier could raise. Act of the shipper, the excepted causes, freedom from negligence, a written limit and salvage each get a row with its sources.
- The disposition clock across the top. Acknowledgment, decide-by date and the filing limit sit above the file, so the federal deadlines are never in a separate sheet.
02The trip
Dash camera and ELD events pulled into the cargo claim file
- Camera and ELD events on one trip timeline. The truck's own record is in the file before anyone decides, so the declination does not rest on a notation the camera contradicts.
- Driver and terminal statements asked for. Statements and dock photos are requested from the terminal and attached to the claim they belong to.
03Challenger
A challenger argues the shipper's side before the carrier offers or declines
- The shipper's argument, point by point. What a shipper's lawyer would say about the file gets a cited answer or goes to the specialist before any letter is sent.
- Mistakes in our own draft. A limit of liability cited without a value the shipper declared or agreed in writing is struck before any letter goes out.
- Contested points block the decision. Where the weight is a person's call, decide, approve and pay stay closed until the specialist records a view.
04Salvage bid
Salvage bids on refused freight taken in fixed fields, with relationship asked
- Bids from approved buyers in a form. Amount, pickup date and relationship come back as fields, so the lot record and the claim file agree on what was recovered.
- Related-party sales flagged. A buyer tied to the carrier sends the sale to the claims manager and blocks approval until it is reviewed.
05Pay or decline
Pay, firm compromise or decline, each priced with the suit risk shown
- Three dispositions in money and time. Each path shows what it pays now, what it disallows and when the shipper's time to sue starts.
- Assumptions labeled and editable. Compromise share, acceptance, suit and trial chances and defense cost come from your own claims history and change as you type.
- Salvage credited before pricing. The proceeds are netted from the claim and sent on to the shipper, so the pay path is priced on the true loss.
06Decision
Claim decision signed with a view on each contested point and a reason
- A view on every contested point. The specialist weighs the hard stop and the loading evidence in writing, so the checker sees why, point by point.
- Past rulings beside the decision. The manager's rule on shipper load and count appears when it applies, with the rulings behind it.
- Reason code and own words. Nothing is pre-filled, and the decision is kept in the specialist's own language.
07Approval
Claims manager approval after opening both cases and the draft letter
- Larger payments and every declination approved. Payments over the set limit, every compromise and every declination need the claims manager, who cannot approve their own decision.
- Outside notes shown in their exact words. The receiver's and the shipper's free text sits in front of the approver, so nothing outside the fields slips past unread.
08Payment hold
Claim payment held until the controller reads a bank-change request
- Payee changes read before release. A new-account request that arrived with the claim blocks payment until the controller has read it and noted the outcome.
- Paid to the account of record. The release shows the payee and the account on file beside the amount, so the money goes there and a bank change goes to a callback.
09Paid
Claim paid inside the 120-day clock, with salvage proceeds to follow
- Three signatures, three people. Specialist, claims manager and controller each sign their own step, and reopening a step clears its signatures.
- Salvage proceeds tied to the claim. The lot number, the money recovered and when it is sent to the shipper stay on the claim file.

The claims desk, its manager, the controller and the terminal OS&D clerk

One loss and damage claim needs four desks before the shipper is paid.

Cargo claims specialists

Each claim from intake to a signed pay, compromise or decline

Both cases filled from the file and the truck
The shipper's argument answered before deciding
Each path priced with editable assumptions

Claims and risk managers

Approvals above the limit, related-party salvage, and the rules learned from rulings

The specialist's view on each contested point
Outside notes shown word for word
Rules applied only after they approve

Controllers

Releasing claim payments to the payee of record

Bank-change requests read before payment
Bank changes sent to a callback
No release on a decision they made

Terminal OS&D clerks

Refused and damaged freight on the dock, lots and salvage pickups

Overages matched to shortages
Salvage lots tied to their claim
Securement recorded in fixed fields

Four mistakes this cargo claim file would have gone out with

Each was in the file or the draft; each was found before the decision.

A liability limit nobody signed

The draft capped the claim under a tariff item, but the declared value box was blank and unsigned. The limit was struck.

The truck's own hard stop

A defense that blames the shipper's loading must face the camera's hard-braking event, so the weight of it went to the specialist.

A new bank account in the claim email

The shipper's note asked to pay a new account; the controller paid the account of record.

A photo that is not a claim

An email with a delivery receipt and photos but no amount was answered with a request for a written claim, not opened as one.

Around the claim

The claims mailbox, the open queue, the OS&D dock and the trail

What intake, the queue, the terminal and the auditor see around the same claim.

Claims mailbox: an email with photos and no amount answered with a reply, two proper claims opened with acknowledgments drafted — **Claims mailbox intake**Each message is checked for what a written claim must have: the shipment, a liability assertion and an amount. A receipt notation gets a reply asking for a claim.

Open cargo claims queue: 61 claims with kind, terminal, day of the 120-day clock, next deadline, amount and stage — **Open claims on the clock**61 open claims, $280,776.87, each with its day of 120, next deadline and owner. Filters for acknowledgments, decisions, approvals, status letters, salvage and the insurer.

OS&D and salvage at the terminal: a lot of 168 cases waiting on bids, the salvage rules, and the week's dock exceptions — **OS&D and salvage**The refused pallets as a salvage lot with the shipper's instruction and the buyers asked. Dock exceptions and an overage matched to a shortage wait for the clerk.

The receiver's free-text note about a hard stop and leaning pallets, shown word for word with a button to mark it read — **Receiver's note, word for word**The receiver's free text, word for word, was not compared by any agent. The decision stays closed until the specialist reads it and marks it read.

Cargo claims trends: open claims by claimant, terminal and kind, with patterns the agents noticed and status letters due — **Claim trends**Open claims by claimant, terminal and kind, and what the agents noticed: damage claims after a hard-braking event, and one shipper's loads arriving with pallets leaning.

Audit trail of one cargo claim from the agents' reading to the controller's release, with times, reasons and signatures — **Audit trail**Steer, challenger points, struck limit, salvage bid, views, decision, approval and release, each timed. The auditor downloads it as a CSV file or a claim packet.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The TMS, telematics, the terminal and outside parties behind each claim

An outside answer changes a claim only through its fields and files.

Transportation management systemBills of lading, delivery receipts and freight bills

TelematicsCamera events, ELD records and reefer downloads

Terminal recordsOS&D records, salvage lots, statements and dock photos

Claims mailbox and shipper portalsWritten claims, invoices and the shipper's answers

Outside requestsReceivers, shippers, salvage buyers and the cargo insurer, in fixed fields

Accounts payableThe payee of record and its callback verification

What carrier claims managers ask about cargo claims management

What is cargo claims management?

Cargo claims management is how a carrier receives loss and damage claims, investigates them, and pays, compromises or declines each in time. Here agents build the claimant's case and the carrier's from the file and the truck's records, argue the shipper's side, and people decide and pay.

Does it decide whether we are liable under Carmack?

No. It shows what the documents and the truck's records support on each element and each defense, and gives no legal advice. The specialist decides, the claims manager approves, and counsel is a person's call.

Can we still decline on shipper load and count?

The notation is shown as what it is: who loaded and counted. The carrier's case then needs the loading and bracing evidence and freedom from negligence, and the challenger tests both before a declination goes out.

How does it handle concealed damage claims?

The same way: the claim is opened only when it names the shipment, asserts liability and states an amount, and both cases are filled from the receipt, the photos and the truck's records before anyone decides.

What happens to the refused freight?

It becomes a salvage lot at the terminal with the shipper's instruction. Approved buyers bid in fixed fields, a buyer related to the carrier goes to the claims manager, and the proceeds are recorded on the claim and sent to the shipper.

Who can change where the claim is paid?

Nobody, from an email. An email asking for payment to a different account blocks the payment until the controller reads it, and the money goes to the account of record.

Trucking Fleets

Bring a claim
you declined last quarter.

We will lay both sides of one of your own claims out with you, from the bill of lading to the camera.

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Cargo Claims Management

A crushed-freight claim decided on shipper load and count alone

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

Cargo claims management features, one Carmack claim from file to payment

The claimant's case and the carrier's case on one screen, under Carmack

Dash camera and ELD events pulled into the cargo claim file

A challenger argues the shipper's side before the carrier offers or declines

Salvage bids on refused freight taken in fixed fields, with relationship asked

Pay, firm compromise or decline, each priced with the suit risk shown

Claim decision signed with a view on each contested point and a reason

Claims manager approval after opening both cases and the draft letter

Claim payment held until the controller reads a bank-change request

Claim paid inside the 120-day clock, with salvage proceeds to follow