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Manage warehouses and custody · Chapter 1 of 4

Receive freight and investigate arrival discrepancies

Warehouse arrival is not the same as receipt of every expected package. Count what is actually unloaded, inspect condition and assign discrepancies immediately. Transit freight belongs to a transport custody chain; owned or managed SKU stock may follow a separate inventory process. Mixing them can produce false availability or misleading stock values. A geofence arrival, gate entry or truck status is supporting context, not proof of accepted quantity.

HiVAM product guides · About 3 minutes to read, plus practice · Reviewed

Your learning goals

What you’ll learn

  • Record actual receipt by booking and package.
  • Preserve shortage, damage and excess evidence.
  • Separate custody from inventory ownership.

Useful terms

Expected receipt
Goods listed on the incoming movement or manifest.
Custody
Responsibility for goods physically held or moved.

Step-by-step operating routine

  1. Prepare the incoming manifest

    Identify movement, source location, bookings and expected pieces. Assign receiving staff and a safe unloading area. Keep special handling instructions visible before goods are touched.

    Record or confirm
    • Movement
    • Manifest
    • Expected quantity
    • Receiving staff
    • Handling
  2. Confirm actual arrival context

    Record vehicle, arrival time and relevant seal or gate observations under policy. Treat external location events as evidence with a source and timestamp, not automatic receipt authority.

    Record or confirm
    • Vehicle
    • Arrival time
    • Seal / gate observation
    • Source
  3. Unload and count actual goods

    Use trained handling and the supported scan or count method. Match labels to bookings and record accepted condition. Repeated scans must not increase received quantity or create another stock movement.

    Record or confirm
    • Package IDs
    • Received count
    • Condition
    • Unloading time
  4. Assign every discrepancy

    Record short, damaged, excess or unidentified goods separately. Preserve photos where safe and necessary. Name an investigation owner and physical custodian; do not erase the expected balance by editing the manifest.

    Record or confirm
    • Discrepancy type
    • Quantity
    • Evidence
    • Custodian
    • Owner
  5. Release eligible goods onward

    Make only accepted and eligible quantity available for planning or putaway. Reconcile expected, received and unresolved amounts. Hold restricted or damaged pieces until authorised release.

    Record or confirm
    • Available quantity
    • Held quantity
    • Location
    • Release evidence
Worked example

60 expected, 58 received

A branch expects 60 cartons, receives 58 and records two short. The 58 can enter the appropriate custody state, subject to condition checks. The two remain a discrepancy tied to the incoming movement. A tracker showing arrival does not supply those missing cartons.

  • Keep expected and actual counts.
  • Assign the shortage owner.
  • Avoid duplicate receipt on rescanning.

Exceptions and mistakes to avoid

  • Do not classify customer freight as owned stock just to use an inventory screen.
  • Unknown labels need an exception process rather than guessing.
  • Record unit conversions explicitly when different handling units are used.
Put it into practice

Arrival reconciliation

Reconcile actual unloading before goods become available to another movement.

Illustrative row—replace it with your own private operating information.
Movement / bookingExpectedReceivedHeld / discrepancyResponsible location
Trip A / LR 10060 cartons58 cartons2 shortDestination branch
Download CSV worksheet

Includes the illustrative row and blank rows. This is a planning worksheet, not a HiVAM import format. Keep your completed copy private; do not add credentials.

Check your understanding

Try answering first, then open the explanation. Use the worksheet and source records to practise the task.

Does arrival imply full receipt?

No. Count and inspect the actual goods and preserve discrepancies.

Why separate transit custody from owned stock?

Responsibility for customer freight is different from inventory ownership, valuation and reservation.

Connect the workflow

Put it to work with HiVAM

Use these connections to explore the relevant product workflows. Confirm access in your deployed release; API capabilities require an integration or an available interface.

Compare all capabilities and availability

Keep your learning moving.

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Try the workflow with your team.

Bring a representative job and an exception to a HiVAM demonstration. Review saved records, permissions and handoffs alongside the interface.