Container day is when weeks of planning meet reality. The truck backs up, the doors open, and for the next couple of hours your team moves dozens of heavy cartons as fast as it can.
It's also the day most inventory problems are born. A carton that isn't counted, a crushed box nobody photographed, a shortage that only surfaces when a customer's sofa is missing a section. Everything you miss today costs more to fix later.
Here are 12 checks to run before, during and after unloading. Print them, adapt them to your store, and give them to whoever leads the unloading.
Before the container arrives
1. Have the final packing list in hand
Not the proforma, not the purchase order: the packing list for this container, as sent by the factory once it was loaded. It's the only document that says what's actually inside. Check it against what you ordered while there's still time to ask the factory questions.
2. Note the container number and the seal number
Your shipping documents list the container number and the seal number. Write them down where the unloading team will see them. You'll compare them with what's on the door before anyone breaks the seal.
3. Turn the packing list into a counting sheet
A twenty-page PDF is not something you can count against on a busy dock. Prepare a simple sheet: one row per model, with the number of pieces and the number of cartons you expect. Leave a column for "counted" and one for "damaged".
If your packing list already lives in your inventory system as an expected shipment, print it from there. (If it doesn't, here's how to stop retyping it.)
4. Plan people, tools and space
Unloading a container by hand is heavy work. Decide in advance:
- Who unloads and who counts. The person counting shouldn't also be carrying.
- Equipment: dollies, a pallet jack if anything is palletized, blankets, a box cutter kept away from new cartons.
- Where each model goes, so cartons of the same piece end up together.
- Timing. If the trucker waits while you unload, they usually allow a limited amount of free time before charging extra. Check your trucker's terms and staff accordingly.
During unloading
5. Check the seal before you open the doors
Compare the container number and seal number with your documents. If they don't match, or the seal looks tampered with, stop and photograph it before opening. Then photograph the seal and the closed doors anyway. It takes ten seconds and it's your evidence if anything is wrong inside.
6. Photograph the load as soon as the doors open
Take a few photos of the load before the first carton comes out. Shifted cargo, wet cartons or crushed corners are much easier to prove when they're visible in the container than after they've been moved.
7. Count by model, not just in total
The total number of cartons matching the packing list is reassuring, but it can hide an extra carton of one model and a missing carton of another. Count model by model on your counting sheet. For multi-box furniture, this is the only count that tells you which pieces are complete. (More on that in The 3-Box Sofa Problem.)
8. Set damaged cartons aside and photograph them
Any carton with visible damage goes to a separate spot, gets photographed with its label visible, and gets a note on the counting sheet. Don't open and inspect everything during unloading. Do that afterwards, but separate the suspicious cartons now.
9. Note problems on the paperwork before the driver leaves
If a driver is present and asks you to sign a delivery receipt, write down visible damage and shortages on it before signing. A clean signature can make claims harder later. If the container was dropped and picked up later, keep your photos and counting sheet as your record.
After unloading
10. Reconcile with the packing list the same day
Compare your counting sheet with the packing list while everything is fresh. For every difference, write down the model, the expected and counted cartons, and whether it's a shortage, an overage or damage.
11. Report problems to the supplier quickly, with evidence
Send shortages and damage to your supplier, and to your freight forwarder or insurer if relevant, with photos and the container and seal numbers. Contracts and insurance policies often set deadlines for claims, so check yours and don't wait for the end of the month.
12. Update inventory and tell waiting customers
Once the count is reconciled, update your inventory: received pieces become available, and pieces already sold to customers are set aside for them, ideally in order of sale. Then look at who's affected by a shortage and call them now, with a new date if you have one. A delay announced on container day is a minor disappointment. The same delay announced on delivery day is a lost customer.
The checklist, short version
Before: final packing list · container and seal numbers · counting sheet by model · people, tools, space and timing.
During: check the seal · photograph the load · count by model · set aside and photograph damage · note problems before signing.
After: reconcile the same day · report quickly with evidence · update inventory and call affected customers.
How Dockwell helps on container day
In Dockwell, the container is already there before it arrives: the factory's packing list was read and approved as an expected shipment, with every model and quantity. On container day, the team opens the shipment, confirms what arrived line by line and enters any shortfall. Received pieces join the inventory, pieces owed to customers are set aside for them, oldest sale first, and anything short stays open on the shipment until it's resolved.
Watch the demo to see a container received with a missing package, or create your store and use it on your next container.