Part load transport: from booking to delivery and billing

Start with the consignment and commercial agreement

An LR, or lorry receipt, identifies the consignment and its transport particulars. It should remain connected to the booking and goods even if the freight later takes more than one trip. Record consignor, consignee and payer explicitly; the customer paying the freight may differ from the sender or receiver.

Capture origin and destination stations, service requirements, package type, number of packages, weight, dimensions where relevant, private marks and handling instructions. The agreed charge basis and payment terms should be retained with the booking. If a master rate changes tomorrow, yesterday’s accepted quote should still be explainable.

• Use a consistent party and address directory.
• Distinguish package count, weight and volume instead of treating them as interchangeable.
• Identify required documents and collection instructions.
• Keep revisions and corrections visible to the responsible staff.

Identify packages when they enter custody

Package labels help staff distinguish freight belonging to different bookings. A pickup assignment states who should collect the goods; a custody confirmation records what was actually received. A label printed or a pickup marked assigned is not proof that all packages have arrived.

At loading, scan or record the packages entering the departure and compare them with the plan. Missing, unexpected or damaged goods need explicit exceptions. Avoid forcing staff to confirm the full booked quantity when only part of it has physically arrived.

Plan split departures without losing the remaining goods

A PTL booking may span several trucks because of capacity, service timing or routing. Allocate only the quantity available at the relevant depot, and keep each allocation connected to the original booking. Committing a load should recheck quantity and resource availability; two planners must not consume the same packages.

Show the remaining quantities by meaningful state and location. Completing the first departure must not mark the whole booking delivered. An onward movement through a partner should preserve both operational custody and the partner’s commercial balance.

Receive, unload and reconcile at every hub

A truck entering a geofence indicates a location event. It does not establish how many packages were unloaded, whether they were damaged or who accepted custody. Confirm the actual receipt and retain the discrepancy against the expected arrival.

Transport custody also differs from owned inventory. A customer’s packages awaiting onward transport should not inflate the warehouse’s saleable SKU balance. If the company operates both a transit depot and inventory storage, use the appropriate records and movement history for each.

Record attempts, holds and POD as separate facts

The receiver may accept some packages, refuse others or be unavailable. Record the delivered quantity, the reason for an unsuccessful attempt and the goods’ current custodian. A return should trace the affected packages through its own movement rather than erasing the original attempt.

Proof of delivery should link to the actual consignment and accepted quantity. A photograph or signature may require review; an original document may also need physical handover to a branch or customer. Staff should be able to distinguish delivery completed, POD uploaded, POD approved and original POD submitted.

Keep Paid, To-Pay and TBB separate from delivery

Paid generally describes freight collected under an agreed prepaid arrangement. To-Pay identifies collection due at the receiving end. TBB, or To Be Billed, identifies a credit billing arrangement. Confirm the business’s exact contract rules rather than inferring the payer from the delivery status alone.

When delivered quantity, approved POD and credit conditions govern billing, explain which condition is still outstanding. Link collections and their handover to source documents, and prevent the same eligible quantity from being invoiced twice. Tax treatment depends on the actual transaction and current requirements; software configuration should be reviewed with the company’s accountant.