To check a timber consignment against the packing list, count and measure every log as each lorry is unloaded, tick it off the supplier’s list the same day, and write down three groups: logs that match, logs that arrived but are not on the list, and logs on the list that never arrived. Do it lorry by lorry rather than at the end of the vessel, because a shortage found after the claim window closes is a shortage you pay for.
This post walks through a method that works with a notebook and a tape, and then shows where it breaks down at volume.
Check a timber consignment against the packing list at the gate
A packing list is the supplier’s statement of what was loaded. It lists logs by tag number, species, length and girth or diameter, with a total volume at the bottom. What reaches your yard may differ for ordinary reasons: a log left behind at the port, a tag torn off in transit, a log loaded that nobody listed, a measurement taken differently at each end.
Once logs are stacked, the evidence is gone. You cannot tell which pile a missing tag belonged to, and nobody remembers which lorry brought what. So the check belongs at the gate, with the lorry still standing there.
Before the lorry arrives
- Get the packing list in a form you can sort: a spreadsheet, not a photograph of a printout.
- Note the unit the supplier used. Many suppliers state volume in CBM, often on a diameter scale, while Indian yards usually buy and sell on quarter girth in CFT. Convert once and write both figures beside each other. A list of 1,000 CBM is 35,314.7 CFT, since 1 CBM = 35.3147 CFT.
- Decide who counts, who writes and who checks. One person calling out and another writing is slower than one person alone, but it catches mistakes.
- Print the list in tag order so a missing number stands out.
At the gate: three groups, not two
Most yards sort logs into “matches” and “does not match”. That loses information. Keep three groups instead.
- Tally: the log is on the list and the tag, species and length agree.
- Non-tally: the log is in your yard but cannot be matched to the list, either because it is extra or because its tag is missing or unreadable.
- Never arrived: the log is on the list but did not come off any lorry.
Keep non-tally logs as a separate pile and note their tag if any, species, length and girth. Many of them will turn out to be listed logs with damaged tags, and matching them back later turns an apparent shortage into a smaller real one. Without that group, you either claim for logs that did arrive or write off logs you are owed.
Measure the log, not only the tag
The tag tells you what the supplier says. The tape tells you what you hold. Measure the girth at the middle and the length, and work out the volume the way your trade does:
- Log CFT (quarter girth, or Hoppus) = (girth ÷ 4)² × length, which with girth in inches and length in feet is girth × girth × length ÷ 2304.
- Sawn timber CFT = length (ft) × width (in) × thickness (in) ÷ 144. A plank 12 ft × 6 in × 2 in is exactly 1 CFT.
Two quick examples. A log with a girth of 60 in and a length of 12 ft is 60 × 60 × 12 ÷ 2304 = 18.75 CFT. A log of 48 in and 16 ft is 48 × 48 × 16 ÷ 2304 = 16 CFT. Hollow logs need the hollow taken off; the log CFT calculator shows how.
If your measured volume is consistently below the supplier’s, the cause is usually the method rather than theft, since a diameter scale and a quarter-girth rule give different answers for the same log. That is still worth knowing, and worth knowing log by log.
Reconcile one lorry in five minutes
When the lorry is empty, write one summary line. Here is an example with round figures, not a real consignment.
| Group | Logs | CFT |
|---|---|---|
| On the packing list for this lorry | 40 | 520.0 |
| Tally (matched to the list) | 37 | 481.5 |
| Never arrived | 3 | 38.5 |
| Non-tally (not on the list) | 2 | 24.0 |
The check: tally 481.5 plus never arrived 38.5 gives back the 520.0 CFT on the list, and 37 plus 3 gives back 40 logs. The two non-tally logs, at 12 CFT each, are held apart. If their tags can be read or matched later, the shortfall shrinks. If not, they go into the claim as unlisted extras.
If the two sides do not add up, the count is wrong somewhere, and it is far easier to find the error that evening than three weeks later.
Keeping evidence for the claim
- Record the lorry number and the time it was unloaded.
- Keep the tag numbers of every never-arrived log in a list that can be sent as it stands.
- Photograph torn tags and non-tally logs before they are stacked.
- Send the claim within the window your supplier or port allows, with the lorry-wise figures attached rather than a single total.
A claim showing which lorries were short, and by which tags, is hard to argue with. A claim saying the vessel seemed light is easy to refuse.
Where manual checking breaks down
This method is sound, and it fails for dull reasons. A vessel can mean hundreds of logs a day across several lorries. Counting is tiring, tags are misread, lists are typed twice, and the summary sheet is finished days late by someone who was not at the gate. The same person who knows the yard is often the only one who can reconcile it.
How Timbba does it
In Timbba’s timber management software, the supplier’s packing list is loaded once. Each lorry is then checked against it at the gate, log by log, by scanning barcodes with the phone camera, so the yard knows on day one what was short, what was extra and what arrived without a tag. Tally, non-tally and never-arrived are known per lorry, with the evidence for a claim. Traders and importers who buy by the vessel can see how this fits into stock and dispatch on the timber merchant software page. Indian plans start at ₹6,250 a month, billed yearly.
If you would like to see your own consignment checked this way, book a demo.
