Seven in the morning, the cellar hatch open
The dray arrives at seven. The cleaner lets them in, or the assistant manager who lives upstairs comes down in slippers. The crew drop kegs through the cellar hatch, stack cases and collect empties. They hand over a handheld to sign. Nobody knows what was ordered, because the order was placed by the manager on Sunday night. They sign.
Later, the manager counts the cellar and finds one keg of lager missing, a case of tonic instead of slimline and a cask of a different guest ale from the one ordered. The delivery note says everything was delivered. The supplier says it was signed for.
Why deliveries go unchecked
The person who orders is rarely the person who receives. Orders are placed in a portal, by phone or by email, and there is no copy at the cellar door. The person receiving has nothing to check against except the delivery note, which says what the supplier thinks they delivered.
The crew are on a schedule and waiting while someone counts feels awkward. A signature is quick. And once it is signed, raising a shortage later is harder, because the signature says the delivery was complete.
Mixed deliveries make it harder still. A single drop might include kegs, casks, cases of bottles, soft drinks in bag-in-box, mixers and a gas cylinder, some of it lowered through the hatch and some carried through the bar. Counting that against a paper list in a cold cellar at seven in the morning is exactly the job that gets skipped.
What an unchecked dray costs
| Missed at the door | Effect later |
|---|---|
| Short delivery | Paid for stock you never received |
| Wrong product substituted | Lines you did not want, or a line that runs out |
| Damaged containers | No evidence when claiming a credit |
| Empties not collected | Container charges or cellar space taken up |
| Signature on a note nobody checked | Weak position when querying the statement |
Each item is small, but deliveries happen every week, often from several suppliers. The same small losses repeat all year and then show up in your stock results as variance nobody can explain.
It also weakens your position with the supplier. A shortage raised at the door, noted on the handheld with the driver, is usually straightforward. The same shortage raised a week later, against a signed note, becomes your word against theirs.
A delivery check on a phone
- Every order you place is recorded, whether through a portal, email or phone, so there is a list of what is expected on each delivery.
- On delivery day, whoever is opening up sees the expected delivery on a phone, grouped as the crew unload it: kegs, casks, cases, gas.
- They tick each line, change quantities for shorts, mark substitutions and take a photo of anything damaged or of the signed delivery note.
- Empties collected are counted and recorded against the supplier.
- When they finish, the manager gets a summary with any differences, and the stock system is updated with what actually arrived.
- Differences become claims to follow up with the supplier, and are matched later to credit notes or statements.
How you raise a shortage with each supplier, and whether they want it noted on the handheld at the time, is set up per supplier as they tell you.
The next delivery morning
The assistant manager opens the delivery on their phone as the dray pulls up. The crew drop the kegs, and the list shows one lager keg short. They mention it to the driver, who adds it to the note. The tonic substitution is photographed. The manager sees the summary before they are even out of bed. On the statement three weeks later, the short keg is credited.
- Every delivery checked against the order
- Shorts and substitutions recorded at the door
- Photos and notes to support claims
- Stock updated with what actually came
Is your dray checked like this?
- Whoever is in signs for the delivery without the order.
- You find shorts when counting the cellar, not at the door.
- Substitutions arrive without anyone agreeing to them.
- You have no photo or record to support a claim.
- Empties collected are not counted.