Receiving and dispatch: questions for your storage provider

Before receipt

Ask what instructions, documents and approvals are needed before product moves. Confirm the measurement and sampling arrangements and who authorises receipt.

During storage

Establish reporting frequency, stock records, permitted services and the communication route for changes. Confirm how losses, gains or discrepancies are handled under the applicable agreement.

At dispatch

Clarify release authority, scheduling, loading arrangements and quantity and quality documentation. Record any remaining charges and the conditions for completing the storage period.

Define both sides of the storage cycle

Explain how product will enter storage and how it will leave. Include parcel sizes, expected frequency and any overlap between receipts and withdrawals. A proposal based only on an incoming cargo can miss the demands of multiple outgoing movements. Ask the proposed provider to identify the movement information it needs for an initial assessment and for final operational coordination.

• State the intended receiving and dispatch modes separately.
• Identify the busiest expected movement period.
• Describe any distribution or onward transfer requirement.

Clarify measurement and record responsibilities

Ask how receipt and dispatch quantities will be established under the agreement, which records will be supplied and how discrepancies will be reported. Where inspection or sampling is needed, define who appoints the specialist and when the work occurs. The website cannot prescribe a universal measurement procedure; the arrangement must fit the cargo, contract and applicable operating process.

• Agree the required movement records.
• Identify the inventory reconciliation contact.
• Clarify the process for a disputed quantity or quality result.

Separate included movements from additional activity

Check whether the proposed storage price includes any receipt or dispatch activity and whether extra movements attract separate charges. Ask about relevant minimums, scheduling conditions and changes in parcel size. Compare proposals against your expected programme, not a theoretical single movement, and keep costs outside the terminal scope visible.

• Use total expected activity over the quote period.
• Ask how revised instructions are handled.
• Record open operational questions before accepting terms.