What this is
What counts as a carrier service failure?
What counts as a carrier service failure?
The template recognises six failure types: late collection, missed collection, late delivery, refusal, damage, and no show. Each is raised as its own record against a specific load, not batched with other failures on the same lane. Anything outside those six — a quantity mismatch, a demurrage charge, a quality defect in the goods themselves — belongs to a different template.
What does 'basis: Contract requirements' mean for this record?
It means the failure is measured against whatever the carrier services agreement or rate contract says, not a statute or industry code. A late collection is only a failure because the contract set a collection window; there is no external rule to fall back on if the contract is silent.
How does a service failure differ from a freight claim?
A service failure is an event: the carrier missed a window, refused a load, or delivered it damaged. A freight claim is the monetary pursuit that can follow once loss or damage is established. This record captures the former and hands a claim reference forward rather than settling the money itself.
Scope
When is a carrier service failure record required?
This record is one step in a larger claims and performance programme. Using it for work that belongs to a neighbouring template produces entries that are hard to report on later.
Use this template when
- The carrier failed to deliver the agreed service on a specific load — late collection, missed collection, late delivery, refusal, damage in transit, or a no-show.
- Transport needs to record the failure at the time it happens, with the load reference, so the detail isn't reconstructed from memory afterwards.
- The failure needs to feed the carrier's scorecard or a routing guide review, and a dated record is the only way that evidence survives to the next contract cycle.
- The carrier's response — did they notify proactively, explain, accept the reason, offer recovery — needs to be captured while the conversation is still fresh.
- A pattern is forming on a lane or with a carrier, and this record is what turns 'it happens a lot' into a dated, counted case.
Do not use it for
- Freight Claim Record (LOG-025), which pursues the monetary claim once loss or damage is established — this record establishes the failure, that one recovers the cost.
- Detention and Demurrage Log (LOG-026), which covers time a vehicle spent beyond its free period and who is liable, not a missed or refused delivery.
- Shortage Investigation Record (LOG-028), which investigates a quantity mismatch between what left and what arrived — not a carrier missing its window.
- Over Short and Damaged Report (LOG-003), which records what was found wrong with the load at the dock, independent of the carrier's timing.
- Supplier Scorecard (QUA-041), which rolls up supplier performance generally — carrier failures belong here first, feeding the narrower Carrier Scorecard.
Compliance mapping
Which Contract requirements requirements does this satisfy?
There is no statute to cite here. The obligations below come from whatever the carrier services agreement or rate contract sets, and the record exists to test the carrier's conduct against those terms rather than against a legal standard.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Agreed collection and delivery window | The carrier failed to collect or deliver inside the window the transport contract sets for this lane. | Header |
| Notice of non-performance | The carrier is expected to notify the shipper proactively once a failure is imminent or has occurred, not wait to be asked. | Carrier response |
| Explanation and acceptance | The carrier provides a reason for the failure, and the shipper records whether that reason is accepted. | Carrier response |
| Recovery obligation | The carrier proposes a recovery plan — re-collection, an expedited run — rather than leaving the shipper to arrange alternative transport itself. | Carrier response |
| Downstream customer notification | Where the failure will delay a customer delivery, the shipper's own duty to tell that customer before they find out themselves. | Impact |
| Contractual remedy or service credit | A financial remedy under the carrier contract is applied where the contract provides for one on a failure of this type. | Outcome |
| Performance data feed | Each failure is tagged into the carrier's ongoing scorecard and, where a lane or carrier repeats, triggers a routing guide review. | Outcome |
What it does not cover
- Recording the failure without a load reference, which makes the record impossible to reconcile against the carrier's own tracking or the freight invoice later.
- Leaving Carrier response blank because nobody called the carrier back, which turns a defensible pattern of unexplained failures into a record that looks like the shipper never asked.
- Marking Customer Informed as Yes with no note of timing or channel, which leaves no way to show the customer was told before they found out for themselves.
- Closing the record before Estimated Cost To Us is entered, which strips out the one figure a rate negotiation or a linked claim actually needs.
- Answering Recurring Failure On This Lane or By This Carrier from memory instead of the register, which turns the flag meant to trigger a routing guide review into a guess.
Global
Carrier Service Failure Record requirements by country
This template is built against contract requirements, not a statute, but the contract itself sits inside a wider carriage regime depending on where the load moved. Which regime applies changes what 'Contractual Remedy Applied' can actually mean.
Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 14706
Sets a statutory default liability floor for interstate motor carriers, which the contract can raise but not ignore.
A US shipper's record sits alongside a statutory backstop. Even where the carrier's contract is silent, Carmack liability for loss and damage can still apply, so 'Contractual Remedy Applied: No' doesn't mean there's nothing to recover.
CMR Convention, given force in UK law by the Carriage of Goods by Road Act 1965
Governs liability for international road carriage between contracting states, independent of the shipper's own carrier contract.
Where the load crossed a border under CMR, the carrier's liability limits and time bars come from the convention, so Estimated Cost To Us and any Freight Claim need checking against CMR limits before assuming the full loss is recoverable.
The carrier services agreement or rate contract itself
No statutory carriage regime applies; liability runs entirely on what the contract says.
For most domestic, non-CMR movements the contract is the only source of obligation, so a lapsed rate agreement means there is genuinely no external standard to hold the carrier to — Contractual Remedy Applied can legitimately be No with nothing further to escalate.
How to complete it
How to complete a carrier service failure record, step by step
Filling in the fields is mechanical. The judgement calls below are what make the record either a fair account of the failure or a document that quietly favours whoever completed it.
Accepting a carrier's explanation closes the record faster, but if the same explanation — driver shortage, depot backlog — has appeared on this carrier's last three records, accepting it again isn't neutral. It's the difference between one bad day and a pattern.
This should turn on the product's own characteristics — temperature sensitivity, remaining shelf life, fragility — not on whether the load happened to arrive intact. A box that survived a delay by luck isn't the same as one that was never at risk.
Both flags need a genuine look at the register, not the completer's recollection. A carrier can be clean everywhere except one lane, or a lane clean except with one carrier — the two questions test different things and are easy to answer wrong from memory.
Routine service variance and a failure that justifies documented corrective action aren't the same threshold. The judgement call is whether the cost, the recurrence, or the customer impact is enough to warrant tracked follow-up rather than a filed record.
What auditors find
Most common carrier service failure record findings
Patterns that show up when a batch of these records is reviewed together, rather than one at a time.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier response section left entirely blank on failures marked Closed. | Notice of non-performance | Require the three carrier-response fields — Notified Us Proactively, Explanation Provided, Reason Accepted — before Status can move to Complete or Closed. |
| No show and Refusal failures logged under Late delivery because it's the first plausible option on the list. | Agreed collection and delivery window | Retrain transport on the six Failure Type categories with one worked example each, and spot-check a sample against the load's actual event. |
| Estimated Cost To Us left blank on failures that later fed a Freight Claim. | Performance data feed | Make the field mandatory whenever Escalated To The Carrier or Contractual Remedy Applied is Yes, and reconcile against the linked Claim ID. |
| Recurring Failure On This Lane and By This Carrier answered from recollection rather than the register. | Performance data feed | Point both fields at a saved filter on this register, by lane and by carrier, and require the result be referenced rather than recalled. |
| Customer Informed marked Yes with no note of when or how the customer was told. | Downstream customer notification | Add a short free-text or attachment requirement whenever Customer Delivery Missed is Yes, capturing the time and channel of notification. |
| Action Required marked No on failures that also carry an entered cost and an applied contractual remedy. | Contractual remedy or service credit | Cross-check automatically: cost above a set threshold, or Contractual Remedy Applied Yes, should trip Action Required rather than rely on judgement. |
Case in point
Case in point: the same carrier, the same lane, four late collections in six weeks
Four Carrier Service Failure Records over six weeks, each closed the same day it was raised, each marked Reason Accepted: Yes, because the carrier's dispatcher always had an explanation — a driver shortage, a depot backlog, a mis-booked slot. Read alone, each record supports closing the file: an isolated, explained delay.
Read together, against the lane and the carrier, they were the evidence a logistics manager needed for that quarter's rate review: four failures, one lane, one carrier, four different excuses accepted individually, never once flagged as Recurring Failure By This Carrier because nobody checked the register first. The renegotiation happened anyway — six weeks later than it should have.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
4 sections
- Reference
- LOG-027
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- CSF-2026-000
- Scoring
- Service failures
- Direction
- High is bad
- Singleton
- Yes
- Basis
- Contract requirements
- Links
- Feeds Carrier Scorecard and Freight Claim
- Tags
- Claim, Carrier, Performance
- Sections
- 4
- Fields
- 41
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 4
Header
15 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format CSF-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Carrier*
Vendor ID*
Format VEN-0000.
Links to FDN-005 Vendor ID
Failure Type*
Late collection, missed collection, late delivery, refusal, damage, or no show.
Load Reference*
When It Happened*
Origin
Destination
Hours Late
Individually Forgettable, Collectively The Negotiation
One late collection is an apology. Forty of them, recorded with dates and reasons, is the strongest position you will ever hold in a rate discussion.
Impact
6 fieldsProduction Or Despatch Delayed*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Customer Delivery Missed*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Overtime Incurred*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Alternative Transport Arranged*
- Yes3 pts
- Not needed3 pts
- No0 pts
Product At Risk*
- No3 pts
- Possibly1 pt
- Yes0 pts
Customer Informed*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Carrier response
6 fieldsNotified Us Proactively*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Explanation Provided*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Reason Accepted*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Recovery Plan Offered*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Recurring Failure On This Lane*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Recurring Failure By This Carrier*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Outcome
14 fieldsEstimated Cost To Us
Escalated To The Carrier*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Contractual Remedy Applied*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Claim ID
Links to LOG-025 Claim ID
Feeds Carrier Scorecard*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Routing Guide Change Considered*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Transport*
Signature*
Logistics Manager*
Second Signature*
LOG-027 · record IDs look like CSF-2026-000 · Feeds Carrier Scorecard and Freight Claim
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The form is the easy part. Keeping it current, routing it to the right owner, and holding the evidence together is the work that actually slips.
Holds the Carrier Service Failure Record register itself, links each failure to its load, carrier and site, and rolls repeat failures into the Carrier Scorecard and routing guide review.
Where the shipper also runs its own vehicles, cross-references a carrier's service failures against in-house fleet performance on the same lane, so a 'no show' is judged against a standard the shipper's own trucks actually meet.
Feeds carrier-specific failures into the broader Supplier Scorecard where the carrier also supplies packaging or materials, keeping one contractual performance picture instead of two.
Chases the Carrier response fields transport tends to leave blank, flags a lane or carrier crossing the recurring-failure threshold, and holds every write for your approval before it touches the record.
This template lives in KnowLogistics — supply chain execution. Inbound, outbound, inventory, yard, claims, supplier lifecycle and customs.
Glossary
Carrier Service Failure Record definitions and key terms
- Failure Type
- The six-option classification — late collection, missed collection, late delivery, refusal, damage, no show — that determines what evidence the record needs and how it's read downstream.
- Recovery plan
- The carrier's own proposal to put right a failed collection or delivery, such as a re-collection or an expedited replacement run, rather than leaving the shipper to arrange alternative transport.
- Routing guide
- The ranked list of approved carriers assigned to a given lane. A routing guide change moves volume away from a carrier that keeps failing on that lane.
- Contractual remedy
- A financial adjustment the carrier contract provides for when an agreed service level is missed — distinct from a freight claim, which pursues the cost of loss or damage in transit.
- Carrier Scorecard
- The aggregate performance record, fed by this template among others, that a carrier is measured against at each contract or rate review.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about carrier service failure record
What is a carrier service failure record?+
It's the record of a single instance of a carrier failing to deliver the service its contract promised — a late collection, a missed collection, a late delivery, a refusal, damage in transit, or a no-show — raised against the load it happened on.
Who completes it, and when?+
Transport completes it, at the time the failure happens rather than reconstructed afterwards. Completing it live preserves detail like hours late and whether the customer was told before the memory of the call fades.
How is this different from a Freight Claim Record?+
This record establishes that a service failure happened and captures the carrier's response to it. A Freight Claim Record is the separate pursuit of the monetary cost — the two are linked by a Claim ID field, not merged into one.
How is the carrier service failure record scored?+
Scoring runs on service failures, and high is bad. Fields like Customer Delivery Missed, Overtime Incurred, and both recurring-failure flags are scored so a 'yes' pulls the score down rather than up.
What happens to the record once it's closed?+
It feeds the Carrier Scorecard directly, and where either recurring-failure flag is Yes, it's meant to prompt a routing guide review. Where a cost was incurred, its Claim ID field links forward to a Freight Claim Record.
Does every failure need a CAPA?+
No. A CAPA ID only applies where Action Required is Yes. Routine, low-cost, non-recurring failures are recorded and left there; the rest are the ones with enough cost, recurrence, or customer impact to clear that threshold.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Claims and Carrier Performance
Over Short and Damaged Report
Records a discrepancy between what was ordered, what the paperwork says and what physically arrived
Proof of Delivery Exception
Records a delivery that did not complete cleanly: refused, short, damaged, late or signed with a notation
Freight Claim Record
Pursues a claim against a carrier for loss or damage in transit
Detention and Demurrage Log
Records time a vehicle or container spent beyond its free period, why, and who is liable
Shortage Investigation Record
Investigates stock that left as one quantity and arrived as another, before anybody assumes theft
Returns and RMA Record
Authorises and tracks product coming back from a customer, from the request through to disposition
More in Claims and Exceptions
Freight Claim Record
Pursues a claim against a carrier for loss or damage in transit
Detention and Demurrage Log
Records time a vehicle or container spent beyond its free period, why, and who is liable
Shortage Investigation Record
Investigates stock that left as one quantity and arrived as another, before anybody assumes theft
Returns and RMA Record
Authorises and tracks product coming back from a customer, from the request through to disposition
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- Carmack Amendment — 49 U.S.C. § 14706
- CMR Convention (Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road), 1956
- Carriage of Goods by Road Act 1965 (UK)
- Contract requirements — the governing carrier services agreement or rate contract
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.