How to handle freight claims and deduct them from the carrier payment

What a freight claim is

A freight claim is a demand to the carrier to compensate loss, shortage or damage that happened while the cargo was in its care. With grain and other bulk cargo the most common case is shortage: the unloading weight is lower than the loading weight by more than the agreed natural loss. Some loss is expected, because grain dries, dust blows off and scales differ slightly. The loss norm is the share of loaded weight that both sides accept as normal. Only what goes beyond it is the carrier's responsibility.

Quality is a separate matter. If the consignee applies a discount for moisture or admixture, that is a price adjustment on the cargo, not physical loss, and it should not be mixed into the shortage calculation.

Agree the rules before the first load

Most disputes are lost before the truck moves, because the contract says nothing useful. Write these points into the carrier agreement or the order confirmation:

• The loss norm for each cargo, as a percentage of the loaded weight.
• How weight is determined: which weighbridges, and which document proves the weight at each end.
• Whether the claim covers only the shortage above the norm or the whole shortage once the norm is exceeded.
• The price used to value missing cargo, for example the contract price per tonne.
• The deadline for notifying the carrier and for the carrier to respond.
• Your right to deduct agreed claims from freight payments.

The legal framework matters too. For international road carriage in Europe the CMR Convention applies: it caps the carrier's liability for loss at 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight missing unless a higher value was declared, and it expects reservations to be made at delivery, or in writing within seven days for loss that was not apparent. Whether you may set a claim off against a payment without the carrier's consent depends on your contract and national law, so have your lawyer check the clause once.

Collect the evidence at unloading

A claim is only as strong as the paperwork behind it. For every truck keep the waybill from loading, the waybill with the unloading marks, the weighbridge receipts with gross, tare and net weight at both ends, and photos of the seals and the load if anything looks wrong. The driver's signature on the unloading weight removes most later arguments.

Calculate the claim

The calculation is short, and doing it the same way every time is what makes it hard to dispute:

• Shortage = loading weight − unloading weight.
• Allowed loss = loading weight × loss norm.
• Excess = shortage − allowed loss (if the result is zero or negative, there is no claim).
• Claim = excess in tonnes × agreed price per tonne, plus any costs the contract allows.

Worked example (illustrative numbers)

A truck loads 24.60 t of wheat and unloads 24.38 t. The shortage is 0.22 t, or 220 kg. The agreed loss norm is 0.25%, so the allowed loss is 24.60 × 0.0025 = 0.0615 t, or 61.5 kg. The excess is 220 − 61.5 = 158.5 kg. At the contract price of 210 EUR per tonne the claim is 0.1585 × 210 = 33.29 EUR.

The carrier is paid 38 EUR per tonne on the unloaded weight: 24.38 × 38 = 926.44 EUR. An advance of 500 EUR was paid at loading. The final payment is 926.44 − 500 − 33.29 = 393.15 EUR. The carrier receives 393.15 EUR on the due date, with a statement that shows the claim as its own line and the calculation behind it.

Compare this with holding the whole 426.44 EUR balance until the carrier agrees. Over a 33 EUR claim you would damage the relationship with a carrier you may need next week, and possibly break your own payment terms.

Step by step: from shortage to deduction

1. Record both weights and attach the waybills and weighbridge receipts to the trip.
2. Compare the loss with the agreed norm for this cargo and truck.
3. Calculate the claim amount and write down the reason in one sentence.
4. Send the claim to the carrier with the evidence and the calculation, and state the deadline for a response.
5. Deduct the agreed amount as a separate minus line in the final payment.
6. Pay the remaining amount on time.
7. Keep the claim, the carrier's response and the payment linked to the same trip and order.

Claims also change the result of the order: a deducted claim reduces what you pay the carrier and therefore belongs in the margin calculation of that order.

How it works in OrgLines

In the OrgLines logistics module loss norms are set per crop and can be narrowed by truck type. When weights are recorded, loss is calculated from the loading and unloading weights and compared with the agreed norm. If a weighing is over the norm, it is still saved, and you are asked to give the reason on the trip card. Quality at acceptance is recorded separately, as a discount and not as physical loss.

A claim against a carrier is created from the Loss vs norms report, where the excess is visible. The claim does not stop settlement with the carrier: it becomes a minus line in the amount payable, with its reason. Carriers are paid through an advance and a final settlement, so the deduction lands where it belongs. A trip cannot be completed until it has an unloading weight and a waybill number, and documents such as the waybill at loading, the waybill with unloading marks, the weighbridge receipt and photos from the road are kept on the trip.

Common mistakes

• No loss norm in the contract, so every kilogram becomes a negotiation.
• Only one weighing, or weights from a scale without a receipt.
• Mixing quality discounts with physical loss in one number.
• Holding the entire carrier payment over a small claim.
• Claims that live in email and are never deducted, so the money is simply lost.
• No reason recorded, so a month later nobody remembers why an amount was withheld.
• Missing the notice deadline set by the contract or the applicable law.

Checklist

• Loss norm, weighing rules, valuation price and set-off right are in the contract.
• Both weighings and both waybills are on file for every truck.
• The claim is calculated by the same formula every time.
• The carrier received the claim with evidence before the deduction.
• The deduction is a separate line with a reason in the final payment.
• The rest was paid on the due date.

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