WorkflowFreight Procurement & Audit

Freight Claims Management

Freight claims management that finds loss and damage in customer short-pays, builds each claim with the four elements it needs, reads it first as the carrier's claims examiner would, and files it before the nine-month window closes.

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Follow one damage short-pay to a filed claim ↓

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The problem

The damage shows up months later, as a customer short-pay coded damaged

Freight damage rarely reaches the claims desk as a claim. It arrives weeks later as a customer's short-pay, coded damaged, and sits with credit and deductions while the filing window runs.

The evidence is spread across the transportation management system, the ERP, freight payment, the carrier's site and the customer's email. A receipt notation is no claim by itself; an amount at list price invites a compromise offer, and a count misread from the receipt hands the carrier its first objection.

After filing, nobody watches the carrier's own deadlines to acknowledge and to answer, so a stalled claim stays stalled.

Built forShippersFreight claims specialistsClaims managersCredit and deductionsCustomer service

The Problem Today

Damage hides in customer deductions while the window to file runs, and the proof sits in five systems.

9 months: the minimum filing window a carrier must allow, federal law published

Gathered by hand, claim by claim

BOL
Receipts
Short-pays
Photos

Deductions sit in creditThe loss surfaces in another department, months later
A notation is not a claimReceipts marked damaged are never turned into a filing

The Solution

Claims found in short-paysEach deduction linked to its shipment and its window date
Built to the four elementsShipment, liability and an amount, in writing to the right carrier
Read as the carrier's examinerObjections answered with an exhibit or handed to a person
Filed after two signaturesThe preparer, then the claims manager over the threshold

Built-in controls

No claim filed without the preparer's signature
Customer notes read word for word by a person
Freight-charge rulings stay with the claims manager

What You Get

The shipper files complete claims before the window closes and holds each carrier to its clock.

120 days: for the carrier to pay, decline or make a firm offer in writing published

Claims found in deductionsOvernight sweeps put the nearest windows first
Amounts that tie to evidenceInvoice net, and freight on the damaged pieces only
Carrier clocks keptAcknowledgment, answer and status letters tracked

Features

Freight claims management features, from a dealer's short-pay to filing

Freight claims specialists and claims managers use them to turn deductions into complete, signed claims before the deadline. Six crushed dining sets run through the screens below.

demoShipper, dealer, carrier, people and dollars on these screens are a made-up sample.

01Claims found
Freight claims found in customer short-pays and delivery exceptions
- Overnight sweep of deductions and exceptions. Short-pays coded damaged or short are linked to their shipment, so the claims desk sees losses credit would otherwise carry for months.
- Window date on each row. Each candidate shows when its nine-month window closes, sorted so the nearest are worked first.
- Not freight, with a reason. A deduction that is not a carrier's loss is set aside with a reason, so nothing disappears silently.
02Claim file
Freight claim filing built to the four elements the federal minimum requires
- Elements ticked only with evidence. Written to the right carrier, the shipment, liability and a specified amount each tick when an exhibit supports them.
- Exhibits lettered and cited. Bill of lading, receipts, freight bill, invoice, short-pay and pack-out photo go in as exhibits the examiner can follow.
- Other short-pays added mid-run. The specialist can ask in plain words for the customer's other deductions; each one found joins the claims found list, not this claim.
03Delivery receipt
Delivery receipt exceptions read from the handwriting, with the count checked
- The exception highlighted where it was read. The specialist checks the count the claim rests on against the receiver's own words.
- Unreadable counts sent to a person. A count, date or signature the agents cannot read is never guessed; the specialist decides.
04Carrier's examiner
The claim read as the carrier's claims examiner will read it
- Objections answered with exhibits. A notation-is-not-a-claim or weak-packaging objection is met before filing with the exhibit that settles it.
- The agents' own overcount caught. Cartons counted twice from the receipt are found against the short-pay, so the amount ties to the evidence.
- Rulings left to the manager. Whether freight charges belong in the loss is handed to the claims manager, with that manager's past rulings beside it.
05Dealer request
OS&D details asked of the customer in fixed fields, photos attached
- Seven fields and the photos. Refused cartons, redelivery condition, notations and salvage come back as answers the file can use.
- Salvage held for the carrier's inspection. The customer states how many cartons it holds and until when, so the carrier can inspect before disputing the damage.
06Customer note
A customer's free-text note read by customer service, with the call logged
- Fields change the claim; notes do not. A request to keep the credit, or a story about the terminal, is shown word for word and moves no figure.
- Customer service takes the call. The note goes to customer service first, and the claim cannot be signed until the call is logged.
07Preparer
Claims specialist signs as preparer with the note and call log in view
- Note and call log confirmed as read. The specialist confirms reading the customer's words and the call log before the preparer's signature counts.
- What the signature means, stated. Signing says the claim is true to the documents in the file; over the threshold it still waits for the manager.
08Manager sign-off
Claims manager rules on freight charges and signs before the claim is filed
- Claim and invoice opened first. The sign button waits until the manager opens the claim and the invoice being signed for.
- Freight-charge ruling recorded. Keeping freight in or out is the manager's ruling, shown beside earlier rulings and recorded with a reason.
- Filed in the carrier's portal after both signatures. The claim enters the carrier's claims portal in fixed fields only once preparer and manager have signed.

Four desks a freight damage claim passes through before it is filed

Deductions start in credit, customers talk to customer service, and the claims team builds, signs and files.

Freight claims specialists

Build each claim, send customer requests and sign as preparer

Claims found in deductions, nearest window first
A file built to the four elements
The carrier's objections before filing

Claims managers

Sign larger claims, rule on freight charges and settle offers

Exhibits opened before the signature
Past rulings at each new ruling
Offers rehearsed before accepting or countering

Credit and deductions analysts

Send short-pays to claims or mark them as not freight

Damage deductions linked to their shipments
Deductions parked against the carrier's claim number

Customer service representatives

Read customer notes and take the calls they ask for

The customer's exact words
A call log the claim waits for

A damage short-pay found seven days out, and two cartons nearly counted twice

What the sample dealer's deduction held, and what a hurried claim would have got wrong.

A short-pay left in credit for months

The dealer deducted $3,674.40 for six damaged sets; the overnight sweep put it first, with seven days left in its window.

Two cartons counted twice

The receipt said six crushed and two refused, and the refused were among the crushed. The draft fell from $5,028.96 to $3,771.72 before anyone signed.

A second short-pay from the same dealer

One steer found another deduction for a carton short, added to claims found with its own window date.

A packaging objection answered in advance

The pack-out photo showed cartons laid flat, capped, corner-boarded and marked do not stack, with crushing on the upper cartons.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

After filing

Open claims, carrier clocks, an offer rehearsal, rules and damage patterns

What the claims manager, counsel and the shipping supervisor watch once claims are in the carrier's hands.

Open claims list: 214 claims filtered by status, with carrier, consignee, delivered date, amount claimed, status and the next step — **Open claims**214 open claims by status, from drafting to past 120 days, each with its carrier, consignee, amount and next step.

Clocks and letters: a declined claim with its suit deadline for counsel, then filed claims with acknowledgment, 120-day end, status letters and status — **Clocks and letters**Each filed claim on its clocks: 30 days to acknowledge, 120 to answer, status letters every 60, and a declined claim's suit deadline waiting for counsel.

Offer rehearsal: accept now, counter at 85% or hold for full value, with editable assumptions, and a rehearsal of a possible offer on the new claim — **Offer rehearsal**A compromise offer played forward: accept now, counter or hold, with time to payment and the chance of a decline. The agents do not recommend; the claims manager decides.

Rules the agents learned: a proposed rule on concealed damage without photos waiting for approval, and the rules in force with their sources — **Rules learned**A rule drawn from the manager's rulings waits for someone who did not propose it. Rules in force list their source and how often they applied.

Damage patterns: claims, amounts and paid share by carrier, and by lane and product, with a lane where upper cartons are crushed from above — **Damage patterns**Claims grouped by carrier, lane and product. One lane's crushed dining sets point to freight loaded onto do-not-stack pallets, with a packaging change to propose.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Seven places a damage claim's evidence comes from

Each exhibit is pulled from its system of record and cited; the customer and the carrier answer only in fields.

Transportation management systemDelivery exceptions, carrier history and each bill of lading

ERP receivablesCustomer short-pays, remittances and invoices

Freight paymentThe paid freight bill for each shipment

Document managementDelivery and redelivery receipts, pack-out photos

Customer reply pagesFixed-field answers and photos from the customer

Carrier claims portalsFilings, acknowledgments, offers and declines

Carrier rules tariffsThe liability limits a carrier claims

What shippers ask about freight claims management

What is freight claims management?

Freight claims management is a shipper's work of finding, proving, filing and following up its written demands on carriers for cargo lost or damaged in their care. This solution finds freight claims in customer short-pays, builds each one with its evidence and files it before the window closes.

What does a valid freight claim need?

Under the federal minimum it must be in writing to the carrier, identify the shipment, assert the carrier's liability and claim a specified or determinable amount. A note on the delivery receipt alone is not a claim.

How long do we have for freight claim filing?

A carrier may not allow less than nine months from delivery, and the bill of lading terms usually set exactly that. Each claim shows its days left, and the overnight sweep sorts by them.

How much can a Carmack Amendment claim recover?

The carrier is liable for the actual loss: here the invoice price net of programs for the damaged pieces, plus their freight where the claims manager rules it in, checked against any limit in the carrier's tariff.

Does it handle OS&D claims for shortages as well as damage?

Yes. The same overnight sweep reads shortages, damage and concealed damage from customer deductions and delivery exceptions, and each becomes a claim the same way, with its own window date.

What happens after the claim is filed?

The agents keep the carrier's clocks: acknowledgment within thirty days, an answer within one hundred twenty, status letters every sixty after that. Suing a carrier is a decision for counsel, with the claims manager as second person.

Freight Procurement & Audit