"We never got it." "Two cases were crushed." "The order was short." Every distributor hears these. Without a record made at the time of delivery, the dispute usually ends in a credit, because you cannot show otherwise. With a good record, the conversation starts from facts instead of memories.
Proof of delivery (POD) is that record. Here are the five things every truck should capture at every stop.
1. When the stop happened, and how it ended
Each stop should carry the time it was completed and a clear outcome: delivered in full, partially delivered, or not delivered. A stop that was not delivered needs a reason: customer closed, refused, wrong address, outside the receiving window. The time matters for delivery windows and for disputes about whether the delivery happened on the right day. The outcome matters because the invoice should follow it.
2. Who received it, signed and named
A signature on a phone screen is often a scribble. Pair it with the receiver's printed name, typed by the driver or the receiver. "Signed by Maria, kitchen manager" is something you can repeat back to a customer. A scribble alone is not. If a customer has several people who receive, ask the customer who is allowed to sign, and note it on the account.
3. Photos of what was left
Take a photo of the product at the drop point, with enough of the surroundings to show where it was left: the walk-in door, the back hallway, the dock. For damage, add a close photo of the damaged case. For unattended deliveries, photos are the main evidence, so take more than one. A photo attached to the stop when it is taken is much harder to argue with than a description written later.
4. Quantities delivered, line by line
The manifest says what was loaded. POD should say what was delivered. If the customer refused two cases of lettuce, the record should show the delivered count on that line and the reason: damaged, wrong item, quality, or the customer no longer wanted it. This is what lets the invoice bill what the customer actually received instead of what left the warehouse. It also stops a short or a refusal from turning into a dispute on next month's statement.
5. Condition and exceptions
Anything unusual belongs on the record: a damaged case, a temperature concern, product picked up for return, a substitution the customer accepted. For chilled and frozen product, decide how drivers record temperature checks (a probe reading noted on the stop, a photo of the thermometer next to the product, or your existing paper log) and do it the same way every time. Temperature capture at every stop covers this in detail.
Make it fast or it will not happen
Drivers capture POD when it takes seconds and skip it when it takes minutes. A few rules help:
- A stop cannot be closed without an outcome. Signature and photos are prompted, not hidden in a menu.
- Reasons come from a short fixed list, not free text.
- A partial delivery changes a count on a line. The driver never retypes the order.
- The record is saved on the phone when there is no signal and sent later.
- Drivers get a short, clear standard: what a good POD looks like, with an example of each photo.
Unattended and after-hours deliveries
Some customers want product left in a walk-in or behind a locked door before anyone arrives. There is no one to sign. Handle this with an agreement made before the first unattended delivery: the customer agrees in writing where product is to be left, who holds the key or code, and that photos at the drop point stand as proof of delivery. On the day, the driver photographs the product in place, notes on the stop that it was an unattended delivery under that agreement, and closes the door behind them.
Review unattended stops more closely than signed ones. If a customer starts reporting shortages on unattended deliveries, look at the photos first, then at the agreement.
When a dispute comes in
- Pull the stop record before calling the customer back: time, outcome, signer, photos and line counts.
- Share what the record shows, including the photos. The point is to answer the question, not to win an argument.
- If the record supports the customer, issue the credit memo promptly, with the reason.
- If the record is missing or incomplete, treat it as a process failure to fix, not just a credit to issue.
- Track disputes by customer, driver and reason. Patterns tell you where to look.
For a wider look at when to credit and when to hold the line, see credit-memo discipline.
Keeping the records
POD should be stored centrally, not only on the driver's phone, and linked to the order and the invoice so anyone can find it from either side. A customer service rep should be able to pull up the photos while the customer is still on the phone. Set a retention period with your accountant and insurer. At a minimum, keep the records for as long as a customer could reasonably dispute an invoice or someone could file a claim about the delivery.
Where APFoodz fits
In the APFoodz driver app, each stop records a signature, photos, partial deliveries and returns at the door, so the delivery record is made at the stop rather than rebuilt at the office. Refusals and returns then move through returns and credit memos.