Name: Diversified Transportation Services - Freight Transportation Services
Address: 19829 Hamilton Avenue, Torrance, CA, 90502, US
Telephone: +1-800-460-8540

0 of 12 done

At the dock, before the driver leaves

Count the pieces against the bill of ladingPallets, cartons, crates: the number on the paper and the number on the floor. A shortage that is not written down at delivery is very hard to claim later.
Look at every piece before signingTorn wrap, crushed corners, wet cardboard, a pallet that leans. Open a carton if the outside gives you a reason to.
Write what you found on the delivery receiptSpecific and plain: “2 of 6 cartons crushed, contents not yet checked.” A signature with no notation says the freight arrived clean, and the carrier will hold you to it.
Photograph it before anything movesThe whole shipment, the damaged pieces, the labels, and the trailer if the damage is from how it was loaded. Photos with the driver still there are worth the most.
Decide whether to refuse only if it is unusableRefused freight goes back on the truck and starts a return, storage and salvage story of its own. Damaged but usable freight is usually better accepted, noted, and claimed.

In the first days

Report concealed damage the day you find itDamage found after unpacking has to be reported fast; carriers set short windows, some as short as five days, and the longer the gap the more the burden shifts to you.
Keep the packaging and the damaged goodsThe carrier may ask to inspect them or to salvage them. Nothing gets thrown away until the claim is settled.
Tell DTSSend us the delivery receipt and the photos. We know what the carrier will ask for, we prepare the claim with you, and we follow it until it is answered.

Filing the claim

Gather the papersThe bill of lading, the delivery receipt with the notation, the photos, the original invoice that shows the value of the goods, and a repair estimate or replacement invoice for the loss.
Claim a specific amountThe invoice value of what was lost or damaged, plus the freight paid on it, less anything salvaged. A claim for “damage” with no figure is returned unread.
File in writing with the carrier, inside the windowMost bills of lading allow nine months from delivery to file. File in the first weeks; the trail is fresher and the carrier has less to argue with.
Expect an acknowledgement, then an answerUnder federal claim rules a motor carrier acknowledges a claim within thirty days and pays, declines or offers a compromise within a hundred and twenty. We chase the ones that go quiet.

The freight claims kit

At the dock, before the driver leaves

In the first days

Filing the claim

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