IDEA: Were you shorted? Complete ‘blind’ receiving reports to be matched to the vendor’s bills of lading to catch shipping errors.

Have your receiving people prepare a ‘blind’ receiving report which is then compared to the bill of lading to ensure all items on the incoming bill of lading were indeed received by your firm.

(Note: A ‘blind’ report is the report prepared by your receiving personnel who count everything delivered and write it on a blank receiving report document without using the bill of lading report or any shipment papers that come with the load. This ensures good independent counts.)

When there are shortages, the discrepancy is shown to the truck driver who then initials and agrees to the lower count now shown as corrected on the bill of lading.  You do not want the truck unloaded and the items counted AFTER the truck leaves.  If it is busy and trucks are backed up, you do not have enough people working in receiving.  Cross train some people to help out in busy receiving times.