Almost every arrival dispute we have seen was decided by what the receiver did in the first hour, not by what was in the contract. A container that is opened, unloaded and dispersed to three customers before anyone photographs anything leaves nobody with a case. Fifteen minutes of routine at the door protects the buyer whether the load is perfect or not, and it costs nothing.
Before the doors open
Photograph the container number and the seal, still intact, with the number legible. Compare the seal number against the bill of lading. If it does not match, or the seal is broken, stop and call the carrier before breaking it yourself. This is the single most common reason a valid claim gets rejected.
Download the temperature record first
Ask the driver or the terminal for the reefer download before unloading begins, not after. The printout or file shows supply and return air temperature across the whole voyage, and it will tell you within seconds whether the load ran at the agreed set point. Compare it against the set point in the sales contract. A load carried at the wrong temperature is a different conversation from a load carried correctly that still arrived tired, and you cannot tell them apart once the fruit is in your cold store.
If the shipment included an independent data logger inside a pallet, retrieve it before the pallets are moved. Note where it was, because pulp temperature varies by position in the container.
Take pulp temperatures at three positions
Use a probe thermometer on fruit from the door end, the middle and the nose of the container, and write down all three with the pallet numbers. A gradient of one or two degrees is normal. A door end that is five degrees warmer than the nose points to a stow problem or a door seal issue rather than a product problem. Record the ambient temperature at the unloading bay as well, since fruit warms quickly once it is out.
Open cartons at random, not from the front
Select cartons from different pallets and different layers, including at least one from the bottom layer where compression damage shows first. Photograph each carton closed, with its label visible, then open. Check calibre uniformity against the packing list, count per carton, sleeve and liner condition, and any sign of moisture, mould or latex staining. Weigh two or three cartons to confirm net weight. Keep the labels, because the lot code on them is what links the fruit back to the packhouse batch.
Write it down the same day
A short arrival report with the seal photograph, the temperature download, the three pulp readings, the carton photographs and a one paragraph summary is enough. Send it to your supplier within twenty four hours whether or not there is a problem. Suppliers who receive clean arrival reports on good containers are far easier to deal with when a bad one comes, because the report has credibility. The contract side of this, including what should have been agreed before shipment, is covered in our note on reading an Egyptian produce quotation, and the temperature question itself is explored in reefer set point conflicts in mixed containers.
Mixed containers need one extra step
Where several products share a load, check each product separately and record which pallet position it occupied. A mixed load that arrives with the citrus in good order and the pomegranate marked will usually turn out to be a stow or set point question rather than a quality one, and the pallet position is the evidence.
Peivana ships under GLOBALG.A.P and BRC certification with pre-shipment inspection available on request, and we send the loading temperature record with every container. To discuss a shipment or set up an arrival protocol for your team, message us on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.