Delivered is the wrong status when half the pallets are missing.

Key Takeaways

A partial delivery should stay open, not close as "delivered." Missing pallets are easiest to find in the first day or two, while they're still on a terminal dock or another truck.
5 steps handle a partial delivery: note the shortage on the POD, contact the carrier, notify the team, tell the customer and decide what's next.
The signed POD with shortage notes is the key record. A clean signature on a short load makes every later conversation with the carrier harder.
Wilson, by Cartage, is an AI logistics agent that requests and files the POD, contacts the carrier and escalates the exception to the team with the records attached.
Claims decisions stay with the company. Whether to wait, reship or file a claim is the team's call.

Why do partial deliveries get closed as delivered?

Partial deliveries get closed as delivered because the carrier's status says "delivered" and nobody compares the count on the POD with the count on the BOL before the shipment is closed. The status describes the truck's stop, not the freight. A short load needs a noted POD, a carrier conversation and a decision while the missing pallets can still be found.

This affects manufacturers and distributors that ship multi-pallet LTL loads, where freight is handled at terminals and can be left behind or misloaded. Most teams only learn about a shortage when the customer calls. That gap is common: in a BCI Global survey of 240 supply chain leaders, only 35% reported end-to-end visibility.

Two terms first. The BOL (bill of lading) is the document the driver signs at pickup that lists the freight, including the pallet count. The POD (proof of delivery) is the receipt the consignee signs at delivery; anything the receiver writes on it, such as "6 pallets short," is called an exception note.

Here is one load, with numbers given for example:

Thursday, 7:10 a.m. A 12-pallet load from a distributor arrives at its customer's warehouse.
Thursday, 7:25 a.m. The receiver, with three trucks waiting, signs the POD without counting. There's no exception note.
Thursday, 7:40 a.m. The carrier marks the load delivered. The coordinator sees the status and closes the shipment.
Friday, 2:00 p.m. The customer counts during put-away: 6 pallets.
Monday, 10:15 a.m. Customer service hears about it by email and forwards it to logistics.
Monday, 11:00 a.m. The coordinator calls the carrier dispatcher, who says the POD shows a clean delivery. Four days have passed, and nobody knows where the other 6 pallets are.

What should happen when pallets are missing at delivery?

Follow 5 steps in order, starting at the dock, ideally the same day. Each one protects a later decision.

#	Step	Who does it	Why it matters
1	Note the shortage on the POD	Receiver, before signing	It’s the main record if a claim is needed
2	Contact the carrier	Logistics coordinator	The pallets may be at a terminal or on another truck
3	Notify the team	Logistics	Customer service, sales and accounts payable need to know
4	Tell the customer	Customer service or logistics	With what’s known and when the next update comes
5	Decide what’s next	Logistics manager	Wait, reship or file a claim

The conditions matter. If the receiver noted the shortage, step 2 is a search: the carrier checks its terminal and the trucks that handled the load. If the POD is clean, the shipper first has to show what left the dock, using the signed BOL and the pallet labels. If the shortage turns up only after the driver leaves (a concealed shortage), it should be reported to the carrier as soon as it’s found, in writing.

Step 3 is often skipped. Accounts payable should hold the carrier’s invoice until the shortage is settled, because paying first removes the shipper’s leverage.

How should the team decide between waiting, reshipping and a claim?

Decide based on what the carrier finds and when the customer needs the freight. The decision belongs to the company, and it usually comes down to three cases.

Pallets located. The carrier finds them at a terminal or on another trailer. Get a confirmed delivery time, and check that it still works for the customer.
Pallets lost or damaged. If the customer can't wait, reship from inventory as a new shipment. Separately, decide whether to file a claim against the carrier. Claim terms are set in the carrier's tariff and the BOL, so check them before deciding.
Count error at origin. If the warehouse loaded 6, not 12, it's an internal issue. Compare the BOL, the pallet labels and the loading record before blaming the carrier.

Common mistakes

Closing the shipment on the carrier's status. The team stops looking just when the pallets are easiest to find.
Accepting a clean POD on a short load. The carrier's record says delivered in full, and the shipper has to prove otherwise.
Paying the invoice before the shortage is settled. The money is gone before the conversation is over.
Telling the customer "it's on the way" before the carrier confirms it. A second broken promise costs more than the first.
Skipping the origin check. Some shortages start at the shipper's own dock, and a claim on those goes nowhere.

How does Wilson, by Cartage, handle a partial delivery?

Wilson, by Cartage, requests and files the POD, contacts the carrier about the shortage, notifies the team and escalates the decision with the POD, BOL and carrier answers attached. Traditional logistics software gives teams information. Wilson executes the work required to move shipments forward.

Step	Trigger	What Wilson does	When a person steps in
1. POD	Load is delivered	Requests the POD, follows up until it’s received and files it	If it’s missing past the set window
2. Carrier	A shortage is reported	Contacts the carrier by email or phone and asks where the pallets are	Not required
3. Notify	Shortage confirmed	Tells the team and others the company has set, including the customer if configured	Not required
4. Escalate	A decision is needed	Brings the case to the team with the POD, BOL and carrier answers	Deciding to wait, reship or claim
5. Reship	The team decides to reship	Runs the new shipment: quotes, tenders to approved carriers, generates the BOL and pallet labels	Approvals above the limit
6. Record	Every step	Records every message, call and change in the change history	Not required

The company sets the rules. Wilson starts with assisted execution, the company chooses which actions need approval, and each company decides who is notified about what. A shortage typically reaches the team through Slack or Microsoft Teams; the customer hears by email if the company wants it that way.

Wilson escalates instead of deciding. It doesn’t decide whether a load is short, file or pursue freight claims, or choose between waiting and reshipping; claims decisions stay with the company. It doesn’t count freight at either dock. What it does is make sure the people who decide have the records in one place, and keep chasing the carrier for an answer. Call transcripts are saved on the order.

The change history matters most here. If the case turns into a claim, the team has the delivery time, the POD, the BOL, every carrier reply and the date each message was sent.

How do teams catch partial deliveries before the customer does?

Teams catch partial deliveries early by checking counts at both ends and keeping the shipment open until the POD is reviewed. It doesn’t take new hardware; it takes a rule that “delivered” isn’t the last step.

Count at pickup. The BOL count and the pallet labels should match what’s on the trailer before the driver signs.
Ask receivers to count before signing. For key customers, make it part of the delivery instructions, and ask for shortages to be written on the POD.
Keep shipments open until the POD is filed and read. A POD with an exception note should trigger the carrier contact the same day. See delivered isn’t documented: who owns the missing POD?

What to ask a vendor to show in a demo

Show what happens after “delivered” on a multi-pallet load: when the POD is requested and when it’s escalated.
Report a shortage on a delivered shipment and show the carrier contact and the team notification.
Show what the escalation contains: POD, BOL and carrier replies on one record.
Show where a person decides to wait, reship or claim, and what the software does next.
Show the change history for that shipment, including call transcripts.

FAQs

What should I do if a delivery is missing pallets? Note the shortage on the POD, contact the carrier, notify the team, tell the customer and then decide whether to wait, reship or file a claim. Do it the same day if you can.
Why is the POD so important for a partial delivery? A signed POD with a shortage note is the main record that freight arrived short. A clean POD on a short load puts the burden on the shipper to prove what left the dock.
What is a concealed shortage? A shortage found after the driver leaves. Report it to the carrier in writing as soon as it's found.
Does Wilson collect PODs? Yes. Wilson requests the POD after delivery, follows up until it's received and files it. If it's still missing past the set window, it escalates to the team.
Does Wilson file freight claims? No. Claims decisions stay with the company. Wilson contacts the carrier, records what happened and escalates to the team with the records attached.
Can Wilson reship the missing freight? If the team decides to reship, Wilson runs it as a new shipment with approved carriers, under the company's approval rules.
How is Wilson priced? There's no subscription fee. Pricing is a percentage of the carrier payments that run through Wilson, covering the full shipment lifecycle.

Conclusion

“Delivered” is the wrong status for half a load. A partial delivery needs a noted POD, a call to the carrier and a decision from the team while the pallets can still be found, and the record of all three is what any later claim depends on.

Wilson, by Cartage, keeps the shipment open after delivery, collects the POD, chases the carrier and brings the decision to the team. For how this fits into freight exception management, and what an AI logistics agent does across the shipment, see those guides. Bring one short shipment your team chased last month and watch Wilson run the follow-up in a demo at cartage.ai.

Sources

BCI Global, March 2025: https://www.bciglobal.com/bci-global-report-no-visibility-no-resilient-supply-chain
Cartage, Wilson product FAQ, October 2026: https://cartage.ai