Yard notes
Every load we photographed last year, and why
Request pricing
Everything marked with a star is required. The rest helps us quote faster.
Last year we photographed 1,904 loaded trailers. We have referred back to those photographs eleven times. Both of those numbers are the point.
A pallet load is an unusually disputable thing. The count is approximate until somebody counts it, the grade is a judgement, and both parties have a financial interest in remembering the load differently. Photographs remove the argument rather than winning it.
What we photograph
- 1
The full load, doors open
One wide shot from the dock showing the whole trailer face and the stacking pattern.
- 2
Two detail shots
One at the nose, one at the rear, close enough to see deck boards and repairs.
- 3
The banding
One shot showing lot banding and any shrink wrap, which is where transit damage claims usually start.
- 4
The scale ticket
Photographed alongside the trailer number, so weight and load are tied together.
- 5
Anything unusual
A mixed lot, an odd size, a load the driver flagged. Discretionary and used often.
Five images, ninety seconds, attached to the batch reference. They live with the paperwork and the customer gets them with the dispatch email.
What it has actually settled
| Dispute | Times | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Count short on arrival | 4 | 3 confirmed our count; 1 confirmed theirs, credited |
| Grade below spec | 3 | 2 we were wrong — swapped; 1 resolved by showing the load |
| Transit damage | 2 | Both resolved with the carrier, not with us |
| Wrong footprint | 1 | Our error, collected and replaced |
| Banding failure | 1 | Photographs showed correct banding; carrier handling |
We were wrong four times out of eleven, which is roughly what you would expect and which is why this is not a defensive measure. A process that only ever vindicates you is not a record, it is a selection effect.
The unexpected benefit
Loaders load better when they know the load is going to be photographed. Not dramatically — our loading was fine before — but squarer, more consistently banded, and with fewer “that will do” decisions at the end of a shift.
It is the same mechanism as a visible checklist. The photograph is not really for the dispute; it is for the two minutes before the doors close.
Storage, and the boring part
Images are attached to the RPC batch reference and retained for three years. They are not published, they are not used in marketing, and they are shared with the customer on the load and nobody else. A yard full of photographs of other people's freight is a confidentiality problem waiting to happen.