Proof of delivery

What a proof of delivery includes

A useful POD answers every question a customer might raise weeks later.

• Recipient's name and signature.
• Date and time of delivery.
• Delivery address or stop.
• Quantity received, usually in pallets or cartons.
• Exceptions noted at delivery: shortages, damage, refused items.
• Photos of the goods at handover, where the driver can take them.

How proof of delivery works in practice

For B2B freight, the driver carries a delivery note or bill of lading for each stop. The receiver counts the pallets, signs, and writes any exceptions on the document. The signed copy comes back to the shipper and is filed against the order.

For example, a delivery to a pharmacy chain has 4 cartons of supplements. The receiver signs for 4 but notes one carton crushed. Two weeks later, the customer disputes the invoice for that carton. With the POD, the shipper can show the carton arrived damaged, not missing, and handle it as a damage claim instead of a lost shipment.

Why POD matters and common gaps

Without proof of delivery, a customer's claim that goods never arrived is hard to contest. POD also triggers invoicing in many B2B relationships, so slow POD collection delays cash.

Common gaps: signatures without a printed name, exceptions reported by phone and never written down, and paper PODs that sit in the truck for days. Record POD against each stop as soon as it comes back, so finance and customer service see the same facts. Track it as part of your warehouse KPIs, since missing PODs are an early sign of dispute risk.

How NextStock handles proof of delivery

In NextStock, proof of delivery is recorded per stop after a load is dispatched, alongside the delivery notes, bills of lading and load packing lists produced for that load. Each record's activity feed shows who recorded what and when. See B2B freight and loads.