Resources / Concealed Damage & OS&D
A freight claim is mostly decided in the ten minutes the driver is standing at your dock. What you count, what you write on the delivery receipt, and how fast you report what you find later determines whether a carrier pays. Here's how to handle overages, shortages, and damage — including the damage you can't see yet.
OS&D stands for overage, shortage, and damage — the three ways a delivery can fail to match its paperwork. Carriers run OS&D departments to reconcile them: tracing freight that ended up on the wrong trailer, matching extra pieces to their rightful shipment, and documenting damage. Your job as the receiver is to make sure any OS&D is recorded on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves, because that's the document every carrier relies on.
Take the time. A driver waiting a few extra minutes is far cheaper than a claim that gets declined.
A clean signature on the delivery receipt tells the carrier the freight arrived in good order. Notations need to be specific enough that someone who wasn't there understands what was wrong:
Generic phrases like "subject to inspection" are widely treated as a clean delivery — they don't document any specific problem. Write what you actually see, and have the driver sign or initial next to the notation if possible.
If fewer pieces arrive than the paperwork shows, note the exact shortage on the receipt. The missing piece may simply be on another trailer, and a specific notation starts the carrier's trace. If more arrives than you ordered — an overage — note it too, and don't keep freight that isn't yours; it almost certainly belongs to someone else's shipment, and the carrier needs it back.
In most cases, accept the freight with notations. Refusing damaged freight sends it back to the carrier's terminal, where it can sit, accrue storage, and suffer more handling — and refusal doesn't relieve you of the duty to mitigate the loss. Refusal makes sense mainly when freight is a total loss or poses a safety hazard. If you're unsure, call us before the driver leaves.
Concealed damage is damage you discover after signing a clean receipt — inside a carton that looked fine from the outside. It's the hardest kind of claim to win, because the carrier will argue the damage happened after delivery. To keep it viable:
Prevention matters too: freight palletized properly survives the handling that causes most concealed damage.
The delivery receipt and the photos become the core of the claim. From there the process is the one in our freight claims guide: file within nine months of delivery, with the BOL, the noted delivery receipt, photos, the commercial invoice, and a specific dollar amount. Keep in mind that carrier liability is limited by tariff — our insurance vs. liability guide explains what that means for high-value freight.
FoxIQ Track retrieves and attaches the POD to every shipment automatically, so the delivery receipt and its notations are on file the moment freight is delivered. When there's a problem, our secure claims portal starts the claim in minutes and a dedicated claims team carries it from the concealed damage report through resolution.
OS&D stands for overage, shortage, and damage — the three ways a delivered shipment can differ from its paperwork. Any OS&D should be written specifically on the delivery receipt before the driver leaves.
Report concealed damage to the carrier within five business days of delivery and request an inspection. After that, carriers commonly presume the damage happened after delivery, and the claim becomes much harder to win.
Generally not. Carriers widely treat generic phrases like 'subject to inspection' as a clean delivery. Write specific notations instead, such as the number of pieces short or exactly which cartons are damaged.
Usually no. Accepting the freight with specific damage notations and photos protects your claim while avoiding storage and extra handling. Refusal generally makes sense only when the freight is a total loss or a safety hazard.