'Can you send me the POD for these twelve?'
An account customer emails a list of consignment numbers. Their buyer says three were never delivered and the other nine arrived short. They need PODs today to settle it.
Someone in your office opens the network portal, searches the first number, opens the record, downloads the signature image, saves it with a sensible name, and moves to the next. Some show a clear signature and a photo, some a scrawl and a name that does not match, one shows nothing yet. An hour later the email goes back with eleven attachments and an apology for the twelfth.
PODs live where you cannot easily reach them
The delivering depot captures the POD on its handheld and it flows into the network system. That is good for the network. For you, the originating depot, it means the proof your customer needs is held somewhere you can only reach one consignment at a time.
- The portal is built for looking up single consignments.
- Bulk POD downloads, where offered, are rarely set up.
- Customers cannot see PODs themselves unless you give them access.
- Invoices go out without PODs, so disputes start later.
What POD hunting costs
It is office time, and it arrives in bursts: a big customer's month-end dispute can take a whole day. It also slows the customer's own work, because they cannot close the dispute with their buyer until you reply.
Where PODs are missing or unclear, you find out weeks after delivery, when the delivering depot's driver no longer remembers the drop.
There is a commercial cost too. Customers who ship goods to their own buyers on account need PODs to get paid. A depot that can hand over proof quickly becomes part of how the customer runs their business, and one that makes them wait becomes a reason to try another depot next time a salesperson calls.
How we collect and share PODs
- We use whatever the network offers members for retrieving PODs: an API, bulk export or scheduled report.
- For each of your consignments, the POD signature, name, time and any photos are collected once delivery is recorded, and stored against the consignment.
- Consignments marked delivered but without a usable POD after a set time go on a chase list, so you ask the delivering depot while it is fresh.
- Customers can look up their own PODs on a simple portal, by consignment or by their own reference.
- Where you invoice with PODs attached, the invoice run picks them up automatically.
- Bulk requests are answered by uploading the customer's list and downloading a single file of PODs.
| Request | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Single POD | Search the portal, download, email | Customer looks it up |
| Twelve PODs | An hour of downloads | Upload list, download one file |
| Missing POD | Found weeks later | On a chase list within days |
What we can collect depends on what the network makes available. If its system does not allow it, we say so before building.
What changes for the office
POD requests stop being a chore. Most customers find what they need themselves, and the rest are answered without a long search. Missing PODs are chased while the delivering depot can still find the driver's record.
Disputes with your customers' buyers close sooner because the evidence is ready when asked for.
Sounds familiar?
- Staff download PODs one at a time from the network portal.
- Big customers send batches of POD requests at month end.
- Missing or unclear PODs are found long after delivery.
- Customers cannot see their own PODs.