Proof of delivery
that holds up.

Why proof of delivery matters more for small operators

A large carrier can afford to write off a disputed delivery. A six-vehicle business cannot. When a customer says a pallet never arrived, or arrived short, or arrived damaged, the question is whether you can show what happened at the door. If you can, the conversation is a minute long. If you cannot, it is a credit note and a customer who trusts you a little less.

Proof of delivery is also what gets invoices paid. An accounts person who can see the signature and the photo on the job pays without querying. One who cannot asks for it, and the invoice waits.

What to capture at the door

Four things, every time: a photo of the freight where it was left, a signature from whoever received it, the time, and the place. The photo should show the freight and enough of the surroundings to say where it is. The signature should be on the job, not on a docket that stays in the cab.

For customers who insist on it, make the proof compulsory, so the driver cannot mark the job delivered without it. For everyone else, make it so quick that drivers do it anyway. Two taps is the right number.

Short and failed deliveries

Most disputes are not about whether a delivery happened; they are about what was delivered. Three pallets booked, two on the vehicle. Record a short delivery as a short delivery, with the quantity, at the time it happens. Do not let it become a full delivery that gets argued about next week.

A failed delivery needs a reason and a note on the job, recorded by the driver while they are standing at the closed gate. The office should see it as it happens, so the customer hears from you before they ring, and the job goes on the next run instead of being forgotten.

Equipment

Pallets, cages and crates move with the freight and are easy to lose track of. Count them in and out at every stop, on the job, and keep a running balance per customer. The question of who owes whom forty pallets is answered by the counts, not by a conversation.

Keeping the proof where it can be found

Proof that lives in a driver’s photo roll is proof you do not have. It needs to be on the job, with the rest of the job’s record, for as long as a customer could reasonably ask. Sending the customer the proof when the job is delivered, with the photos and the signature attached, settles most questions before they are asked and leaves a copy on their side as well.

How Nado handles it

In Nado the driver takes the photo and the signature at the door and the job is marked delivered, with the time and the place. Short and failed deliveries are recorded with the quantity or the reason, and the office sees them as they happen. Pallets and equipment are counted at every stop with a running balance per customer. When the job is delivered the customer gets an email with the proof attached and a tracking link, and the proof stays with the job for as long as the job is in Nado.