TransportGistics

Freight claims occur for various reasons, some are real, some are contrived, some can be prevented, but they all can be controlled, understood and kept to acceptable, understandable and reconcilable levels.

Accepting loss and damage claims (L&D claims) as a cost and part of doing business, demands that we must be very careful when establishing standards; because the established standards will become the metrics by which we measure this aspect of carrier performance, packaging, consignee receipt of freight and the ability of the freight to withstand the normal hazards of transportation. Of equal importance is the ability to measure the success of the process model that manages claims.

There are several areas of concern and sets of decision criteria that must also be established in order to identify and distinguish between real and contrived claims. Once achieved, claims evaluation can be addressed effectively and efficiently. Understanding these issues is critical as the need to effectively articulate them across the supply an demand chain should become more apparent throughout this paper.