Why we photograph every consignment before it leaves the warehouse
Ten minutes of documentation kills every ambiguous conversation at the gangway. Here is the checklist we photograph against.
On every consignment that leaves our warehouse, we take a defined set of photographs. This is not marketing — it is dispute prevention. Here is what we shoot and why.
The eight-photo minimum
- Vendor invoice / market receipt with the item highlighted
- Weighed produce on the scale, reading visible
- Chilled item temperature probe reading before packing
- Packed tote or crate with the internal contents visible
- Sealed tote or crate with the seal number visible
- Bonded stores paperwork clipped to the bonded crate
- Loaded van with all consignment numbers cross-referenced
- Delivery at gangway with the receiving officer
Why eight and not one
Every photo in the sequence corresponds to a specific dispute we have seen someone else lose. "The mangoes were bruised on arrival" — photo 2 and 4 answer it. "The chilled stock was warm" — photo 3 and the gangway probe answer it. "The bonded seal was not intact" — photo 5 and 6 answer it.
The audit trail we do not throw away
Every photo pack is retained on file, indexed by vessel and voyage. If a claim comes in six weeks later, we can produce the pack in minutes.
What this really buys is time. The Master spends zero minutes writing complaint emails. The office spends zero minutes chasing evidence. The chandler spends ten minutes photographing.
Message us for a sample photo pack from a recent delivery — happy to send it as a reference for your fleet's expected documentation standard.