A cage full of '1 kg' parcels
A shipper's manifest says every parcel is 1 kg and small. The depot team can tell by lifting them that many are 5 kg and some are long enough to need a bigger van space. The shipper pays for the band they declared. Over a month, that is a lot of parcels moved at a lower price than they should have been.
Occasionally someone tries to rebill. The shipper asks for proof. The depot has no record except a supervisor saying 'they were definitely heavier'. The adjustment is dropped.
Why under-declaring goes unchecked
Shippers' systems often send a default weight for every parcel because their products do not have weights set. Couriers accept manifests as they come. Measuring every parcel needs equipment or time, and the result has to be recorded, linked to the parcel and passed to billing, which rarely happens.
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Default weights in shipper data | Everything billed at the lowest band |
| No measurement at the depot | No evidence of the real weight |
| Measurement not linked to the parcel | Cannot be used for billing |
| No photo or reading kept | Shipper disputes adjustments |
| Adjustments done by hand | Only a few ever raised |
What it costs
Revenue on every under-declared parcel. Van space planned on the wrong figures, so routes are overloaded. Heavier parcels than expected also affect driver safety and vehicle loading limits, which matters for vans near their payload.
And it is unfair to shippers who declare accurately and are effectively subsidising those who do not.
Disputes about weight are also slow to settle when they happen, because both sides are arguing from memory. A shipper who is told weeks later that a batch was heavier than declared will reasonably ask which parcels, how heavy, and measured how.
Your own pricing is weakened too. When you review rates with a shipper, their declared profile says their parcels are small and light. Without measured data, you are negotiating against numbers you know are wrong but cannot disprove.
The capture and rebilling we build
- Weight and dimension capture at inbound scanning: connected scales or dimensioning equipment where you have it, or a phone or tablet with a scale and a quick measurement where you do not.
- Each reading linked to the parcel's barcode, with a photo of the parcel on the scale.
- Comparison with the declared weight and size band from the manifest, with a tolerance you set.
- Adjustments calculated per parcel from your rate card and collected per shipper for the billing period.
- An adjustment report for the shipper with each parcel's declared and measured figures and the photo, sent with the invoice.
- Feedback to the shipper on which of their products are consistently under-declared, so they can correct their data.
Measuring a sample rather than every parcel is an option where equipment is limited. Whether to rebill from a sample is a matter for your terms with each shipper.
What changes
Parcels are billed for what they are. Adjustments come with evidence shippers can check. Routes and vans are planned on real weights. And shippers get a reason to fix their product data.
Signs your parcels are under-declared
- Manifests show the same weight for every parcel.
- Depot staff can tell parcels are heavier than declared.
- Rebilling attempts are dropped for lack of evidence.
- Vans are overloaded on routes planned from manifest weights.
- Some shippers seem cheap to serve on paper and are not.