What To Say · A HaulProof Pocket Guide
What To Say When the Paperwork Doesn't Match
The count is off by two. The seal number isn't the one on your paperwork. There's a crushed corner on the third pallet and a guy with a clipboard telling you it was already like that. Every one of these is a two-minute problem right now and a six-week problem later, and which one it turns into is decided entirely by what gets written down before you sign.
In a hurry? Jump straight to the nine messages.
Your signature is the whole thing
Signing a clean bill of lading is a statement that you received exactly what the document says you received, in the condition it describes. Everything that happens afterward is measured against that.
Which is why the order of operations never changes: photograph it, note it on the document, get it acknowledged, then sign. Once your name is on a clean copy, you're arguing against your own signature, and that's a bad place to be standing three weeks later when a claim shows up.
Five rules for the dock
- Photograph before anything moves. Wide shot showing the whole load, then close-ups of the specific problem, then the paperwork itself. Your phone timestamps all of it for free.
- Write the exception on the document, not in your notes. Notes are yours. The BOL is everybody's.
- Get it acknowledged. An initial from somebody at the facility turns your note into a shared record instead of a driver's claim.
- Tell dispatch while you're still there. They can make a call that changes the outcome. They can't do that after you've pulled out.
- Stay out of the argument. You're not there to establish fault. You're there to record what you saw, accurately, and let the offices sort out the rest.
The nine messages
Fill in the brackets and send. Most of these are meant to go out before you sign anything, which is what makes them worth having ready instead of composing at a receiving window with somebody waiting on you.
1 · Count does not match — before you sign
Load [number] at [facility]: BOL states [stated count] [units], I'm counting [actual count]. Holding off on signing until it's noted on the document. Photos taken. Please advise.
The words "holding off on signing" are the important part. They tell dispatch there is still time to act, which there won't be in five minutes.
2 · Seal is broken or the number is wrong
Load [number]: seal at [facility] reads [seal number found] — paperwork shows [seal number expected] / seal is broken on arrival. Nothing opened, nothing touched. Photos taken of the seal and the door. Need instructions before I proceed.
Send this one before anything else happens. "Nothing opened, nothing touched" is the sentence that protects you.
3 · Visible damage found at the dock
Load [number] at [facility]: found [describe — crushed cartons / wet packaging / shifted pallets] on [X] of [Y] [units]. Photos taken before anything was moved. Noting an exception on the BOL. Please advise on whether to proceed.
"Before anything was moved" is worth writing every time. It sets the timing of the damage, which is the whole question later.
4 · The BOL does not match the rate confirmation
Load [number]: rate confirmation shows [commodity / weight / piece count / stop]. The BOL at [facility] shows [what it actually says]. Want to get this straight before I roll — which one is correct?
Weight discrepancies especially. Being overweight on a scale is your ticket, regardless of what somebody's paperwork said.
5 · They will not let you count it
Load [number] at [facility]: shipper is loading and sealing without a driver count. Noting "Shipper Load and Count" on the BOL. Photos of the sealed trailer and the seal number taken at [time]. Flagging so it's on the record.
This is normal at plenty of facilities. What is not normal is signing a specific count you were never allowed to verify.
6 · Asking for the correction in writing
Load [number]: could you have [name/title] initial the notation on the BOL showing [the discrepancy]? Just want us both covered on the record before I pull out.
"Both covered" is deliberate. A countersigned exception protects the facility too, and framing it that way is why people sign it.
7 · Being pressured to sign clean
Load [number] at [facility]: I'm being asked to sign a clean BOL, but the count is [actual] against [stated]. I'd rather not sign something that doesn't match what's on the trailer. Can you talk to [name/title] at [phone]?
Hand it to dispatch. It is a conversation between two offices, not one you should be having alone on a dock.
8 · Damage discovered at delivery
Load [number] delivered to [facility] at [time]. Receiver noted [describe] on [X] [units] and marked the delivery receipt accordingly. Trailer was sealed on arrival, seal [number] intact / seal was [state]. Photos taken. Signed copy attached.
The seal status is the sentence that matters. An intact seal on arrival says a great deal about where the damage came from.
9 · The end-of-load recap
Load [number] closed out: [picked up / delivered] [facility] at [time]. Exception noted for [issue]. Documents photographed and sent [date/method]. Let me know if you need anything else while it's fresh.
Send it the same day. Two weeks later, "while it's fresh" is gone and so is the detail.
The photographs, specifically
Four shots, every time something is wrong. It takes under a minute and it's the part that actually decides things:
- Wide, showing the whole trailer or the whole load, so there's context for everything else.
- Close, on the specific damage, the short count, or the seal — with something in frame for scale.
- The seal number and the door, readable, before anything is opened.
- The finished paperwork, after the exception is written and initialed, before it leaves your hand.
Those four live on your phone until they don't — which is the quiet failure here. Photos get buried under three thousand other pictures within a month, and the one time somebody asks for them is the one time you can't find them. Getting them off the phone and attached to the load, the same day, is the whole difference between having a record and having had one.
Want the other 73?
These nine are from What To Say, a HaulProof Pocket Guide — 82 ready-to-send messages across the whole job. Running late, breakdowns, sitting at a dock, wrong gate, no appointment, settlement questions, day-end recaps. Plus three printable pages for the truck. One PDF, keep it on your phone.
It's $19 on its own — or you get it free with a HaulProof subscription.
Related reading
For the clock rather than the cargo, that's what to say when you're sitting at a dock. For what happens when the paperwork was right and the settlement isn't, see what to say when a settlement comes up short.
Common questions
What should I do if the count on the BOL is wrong?
Stop before you sign, and get the difference written on the document itself. Note the actual count against the stated count, get the facility's name and signature on that notation, and photograph the finished paperwork before you leave. A signature on a clean BOL is a statement that you received exactly what it says you received. Correcting it afterward means arguing against your own signature, which is a much worse position than a thirty-second conversation at the desk.
What is an exception on a bill of lading?
It's a note recording that what you received differs from what the document describes — short count, damage, a broken seal, wet cartons, crushed corners. Writing an exception is the normal, expected way to handle a discrepancy; it's what the space on the form is for. The habit worth building is that an exception is not an accusation and not a conflict. It's a factual note that protects the shipper, the receiver, the carrier and you at the same time.
Should I refuse a load if the freight is damaged?
That's a call for dispatch and the customer, not one to make alone on a dock. Your job in the moment is to document thoroughly — photographs, an exception on the paperwork, and a message to dispatch with the load number — and then get instructions. Accepting damaged freight without noting it is what creates the problem later; accepting it with a clear exception, when dispatch tells you to, usually doesn't.
What do I do if the seal is broken when I arrive?
Do not break it further, do not reseal it, and do not unload until somebody tells you to. Photograph the seal and the seal number as you found it, message dispatch immediately with the load number and what you're looking at, and wait for instructions. A broken or mismatched seal is one of the few things on a dock that can turn into a serious claim, and the entire value of your position rests on having documented it before anyone touched anything.
Do I have to sign the bill of lading?
You generally sign to acknowledge what you received or delivered — but you sign it accurately. If the document doesn't match reality, the correction goes on the document before your name does. If a facility pressures you to sign a clean BOL over an obvious discrepancy, that's the moment to message dispatch from where you're standing rather than deciding by yourself. Getting a supervisor's name into the thread tends to resolve it quickly.
Why does this matter if I get paid either way?
Because a claim can arrive weeks later, and by then the only thing anybody has is the paperwork. A photograph of an annotated BOL and a timestamped message to dispatch is a complete record of what you actually saw. Without it, the discussion becomes what people remember, and the person who wasn't standing there generally isn't the one whose memory wins.
The paperwork argument goes to whoever kept the paperwork. HaulProof keeps the settlement, the receipt and the load together as they come in, so the document you need on the phone is where you left it rather than somewhere in a shoebox.
These templates help you communicate and document what happened. They do not decide liability for cargo loss or damage — your rate confirmation, your carrier agreement, your insurance, and the applicable cargo rules decide that. General education for owner-operators, leased-on drivers, and company drivers — not legal advice. Built by a driver, for drivers.