What this is
What is a gate entry and exit log?
What is a gate entry and exit log?
A continuous log of every vehicle movement at the gate: direction, time, registration, carrier, driver, whether the arrival was expected, and whether seals and site rules were handled correctly. It is completed as movements occur, not reconstructed afterward.
Why does an unexpected arrival matter this much?
Because an unannounced vehicle is the scenario the FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule treats as a vulnerability at the receiving and shipping process step: nobody was watching for it, its contents are unverified against any booking, and by the time anyone notices it is already inside the perimeter.
Who should complete the log?
Whoever staffs the gatehouse for that shift. It needs to be the person present at the physical event, because a log reconstructed from memory at shift end loses exactly the detail, an unchecked identity, a seal not recorded, that the log exists to catch.
Scope
When is a gate entry and exit log required?
The gate log is one step in the Yard and Gate Control programme. Using it to record equipment presence or a dock schedule outcome produces a log that cannot answer the one question it exists for: who and what came through the gate, and was it expected.
Use this template when
- Any vehicle, goods or visitor, crosses the gate in either direction
- A driver or vehicle arrives without a matching appointment and needs to be flagged as unexpected
- A seal number needs to be checked and recorded at receipt or dispatch
- A security concern is raised at the gate and needs a case reference created
- The workspace is being set up, or the log needs continuous entries added as movements occur
Do not use it for
- Yard Check Record, which walks the yard and records what is actually parked where against what the system believes.
- Trailer and Equipment Inventory, the ongoing snapshot of equipment currently on site, not the stream of movement events.
- Dock Schedule Adherence Review, which assesses schedule performance, not who physically passed the gate.
- Security Incident record itself, which the gate log should point into rather than absorb once a concern goes beyond routine.
- Anything outside KnowLogistics, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process.
Compliance mapping
Which FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule requirements does this satisfy?
The gate log sits under food defense regulation on one side and supply-chain security practice on the other. Neither prescribes its format; both expect access to the site to be demonstrably managed.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule, 21 CFR 121.126 | Mitigation strategies must be implemented at each actionable process step, of which inbound receiving and outbound shipping access is one | Movements |
| FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule, 21 CFR 121.138 | Monitoring, corrective action and verification records must be maintained for each mitigation strategy applied | Shift summary |
| C-TPAT minimum security criteria (conveyance and physical access control) | Vehicles and drivers verified against expected activity, with gate records retained as evidence of the control | Movements |
| BRCGS Food Safety Standard, Site Security element | Vehicle and visitor access to the site controlled and recorded, with unauthorised or unexpected access identifiable | Header |
| SQF Code, Food Defense Plan element | Unauthorised access at receiving and shipping points prevented and evidenced as part of the site's food defense plan | Movements |
| Contract carrier-security requirements (basis: FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule) | Appointment reconciliation and identity verification applied consistently to every arrival, not only where convenient | Shift summary |
What it does not cover
- Yard Check Record, the physical walk verifying what is actually parked where, independent of the movement that put it there.
- Trailer and Equipment Inventory, which holds the ongoing snapshot of equipment presence rather than the individual movement event.
- Security Incident record, the full investigation and corrective-action record a flagged concern must be routed into, not concluded within the gate log.
- A documented food defense vulnerability assessment, the separate exercise under 21 CFR 121.130 that identifies actionable process steps in the first place.
- Seal Check, the dedicated record confirming seal integrity against the shipping documentation, which this log only flags as done or not done.
Global
Gate Entry and Exit Log requirements by country
Food defense obligation for gate control is concentrated in the United States by statute; elsewhere it is enforced through certification schemes rather than a dedicated law.
FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule (21 CFR Part 121); C-TPAT minimum security criteria
Covered facilities must implement and monitor mitigation strategies at actionable process steps, including inbound and outbound shipping access, and keep records evidencing that monitoring.
An uncontrolled or unlogged gate is itself an inspection finding under the rule, independent of whether any adulteration actually occurred.
BRCGS Food Safety Standard, Site Security element
No dedicated intentional-adulteration statute; site access and vehicle control are assessed by the certification body under the site security requirement, driven by retailer expectation rather than law.
A weak gate log risks a certification non-conformance and loss of customer approval rather than direct statutory enforcement.
GFSI-benchmarked schemes (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000) carrying a food defense or site security element
Gate and vehicle access control is assessed wherever the site holds a GFSI-recognised certificate, regardless of local food law.
One consistently completed log can support both a US FSMA inspection and a GFSI audit, provided the same expected-status and identity checks are captured either way.
How to complete it
How to complete a gate entry and exit log, step by step
The log fields are simple to fill in. Whether the log demonstrates a working mitigation strategy depends on judgement the fields alone do not enforce.
The mitigation strategy at this process step concerns conveyances as much as people. A gatehouse that logs visitor identity carefully but treats a familiar-looking delivery truck as routine traffic is logging the wrong half of the risk, and it is the half the rule is actually about.
Expected Arrival exists to answer one question directly: was this vehicle anticipated. Recording it consistently, including when the honest answer is no, is what lets the log demonstrate the mitigation strategy is working rather than merely present.
Seal Number Recorded is most often treated as an inbound receiving control. An outbound seal discrepancy, cargo leaving with a seal that does not match the shipping documentation, is at least as significant a food defense and security finding, and the log should capture it either way.
Any Security Concern flagged as Yes should generate a Case ID at the point it is noted, connecting to the Security Incident record. A concern noted in free text with no case reference is a concern the site cannot later show it acted on.
What auditors find
Most common gate entry and exit log findings
The log is usually present and usually filled in for the movements someone remembered to record. The findings concern what the log does not show.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle logged without recording whether the arrival was expected. | 21 CFR 121.126 | Make Expected Arrival mandatory and reconcile it against the appointment or scheduling system, not the driver's word. |
| Seal number not recorded on inbound loaded trailers, or checked only on receipt and never on dispatch. | SQF Code, Food Defense Plan element | Require Seal Number Recorded before Directed To The Correct Dock is marked complete, in both directions. |
| Driver identity not checked, or checked but not recorded against the specific movement. | C-TPAT minimum security criteria | Enforce Identity Checked before Site Rules Issued, and log it against the individual entry, not the shift. |
| A security concern is flagged with no Case ID and no evidence of follow-up. | 21 CFR 121.138 | Raise the Security Incident record and populate Case ID at the moment the concern is noted, not at shift end. |
| Barrier or camera fault noted but not routed into an action. | BRCGS Food Safety Standard, Site Security element | Route Barrier And Camera Working = No directly into Action Required with an owner and priority. |
| Shift summary totals for movements and unexpected arrivals do not reconcile against the individual entries logged. | 21 CFR 121.138 | Total Movements Recorded and Unannounced Arrivals from the logged rows rather than estimating them at shift end. |
Case in point
Case in point: the tanker nobody was expecting
A food manufacturing site ran a careful visitor sign-in but treated goods vehicles as routine traffic. A tanker arrived outside its booked delivery window; the driver looked like the site's usual contractor, so the gatehouse waved it through and it connected to the offload line before anyone checked the appointment system against the vehicle actually present.
The delivery turned out to be legitimate, but the review that followed found no record in the gate log of the arrival being unexpected, no identity check against that movement, and no note that it had bypassed the appointment reconciliation the schedule was built to enforce. The finding was not that anything went wrong on the day; it was that the log could not demonstrate the mitigation strategy had worked, because whether an arrival was expected had never been captured as a data point at all.
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.
3 sections
- Reference
- LOG-022
- Archetype
- Log
- Record ID
- GATE-2026-000
- Scoring
- Unexpected arrivals
- Direction
- High is bad
- Singleton
- Yes
- Basis
- FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule
- Links
- Links Seal Check and Security Incident
- Tags
- Yard, Security, Access
- Sections
- 3
- Fields
- 34
- Follow up fields
- 4
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 4
Header
8 fieldsLog ID*
Auto sequence. Format GATE-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*
Shift*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
The First Control On Security And Food Defense
Everything that could contaminate product or leave with it passes this point. A gate log that only records visitors is a gate log that misses the vehicles.
Movements
Repeats12 fieldsDirection*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Time*
Vehicle Registration*
Carrier Or Company
Driver Name
Identity Checked*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Expected Arrival*
Booked, expected, or unannounced. Unannounced arrivals are the food defense question.
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Appointment ID
Links to LOG-001 Appointment ID
Load Description
Seal Number Recorded*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Site Rules Issued*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Directed To The Correct Dock*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Shift summary
14 fieldsMovements Recorded*
Unannounced Arrivals*
Refused Entry
Any Security Concern*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Case ID
Thread key
Barrier And Camera Working*
- 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
Gatehouse*
Signature*
Security*
Second Signature*
LOG-022 · record IDs look like GATE-2026-000 · Links Seal Check and Security Incident
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The log is straightforward to fill in. What fails is the surrounding judgement: which vehicles get the same scrutiny as visitors, and whether a flagged concern actually reaches an owner.
Holds the gate log against the appointment schedule, flags movements with no matching booking, and routes unresolved actions to the gatehouse.
Tracks the log's coverage against the site's food defense mitigation strategies, so gaps in monitoring evidence surface before an inspection does.
Watches unexpected-arrival and security-concern trends across shifts, raises patterns worth a human look, and holds every write for approval.
This template lives in KnowLogistics — supply chain execution. Inbound, outbound, inventory, yard, claims, supplier lifecycle and customs.
Glossary
Gate Entry and Exit Log definitions and key terms
- Actionable process step
- A point in the process where the FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule requires a documented mitigation strategy, including inbound receiving and outbound shipping access.
- Food defense
- Protecting food from intentional adulteration or tampering, distinct from food safety's focus on unintentional contamination.
- Mitigation strategy
- The specific control applied at an actionable process step to significantly minimise or prevent an identified vulnerability.
- Seal (cargo seal)
- A tamper-evident device applied to a loaded trailer or container, whose number is checked at each transfer of custody.
- C-TPAT
- Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a voluntary US supply-chain security programme with defined minimum criteria for gate and conveyance control.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about gate entry and exit log
Does the gate log satisfy the FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule on its own?+
No. It is the monitoring and record-keeping evidence for the mitigation strategy applied at this process step, but the vulnerability assessment and the mitigation strategy itself are separate requirements the log supports rather than replaces.
What counts as an unexpected arrival?+
Any vehicle that does not match a booked appointment or an anticipated pattern of activity, regardless of whether the carrier or driver is familiar. Familiarity is not the test; reconciliation against the schedule is.
Do outbound vehicles need the same scrutiny as inbound ones?+
Yes. An outbound seal discrepancy or an unrecorded departure is as significant a food defense and security gap as an inbound one, and both directions belong on the same log.
Who should complete the gate log?+
Security or reception, whoever staffs the gatehouse for that shift, and it should be completed at the point of the movement rather than reconstructed from memory afterward.
What happens when a security concern is raised at the gate?+
It should generate a Case ID immediately and connect into the Security Incident record. A concern noted only as a comment with no case reference cannot later be shown to have been acted on.
How does this differ from the trailer and equipment inventory?+
The gate log is a stream of movement events, one row per vehicle crossing the gate. The inventory is a snapshot of what equipment is currently on site, built partly from these events but tracking presence rather than movement.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Yard and Mobile Plant
Yard Check Record
Walks the yard and records what is actually parked where against what the system believes
Trailer and Equipment Inventory
Holds every trailer, container and piece of transport equipment on site, whose it is and how long it has been here
Dock Schedule Adherence Review
Reviews how the dock schedule performed against plan, covering slot adherence, turnaround and idle doors
Empty Equipment Release
Releases an empty trailer, container or pallet load of equipment back to its owner and records the condition it left in
Detention and Demurrage Log
Records time a vehicle or container spent beyond its free period, why, and who is liable
Loading Dock Safety Check
Checks dock levellers, edge protection, lighting, restraints and pedestrian separation before and during loading
More in Yard and Dock
Yard Check Record
Walks the yard and records what is actually parked where against what the system believes
Trailer and Equipment Inventory
Holds every trailer, container and piece of transport equipment on site, whose it is and how long it has been here
Dock Schedule Adherence Review
Reviews how the dock schedule performed against plan, covering slot adherence, turnaround and idle doors
Empty Equipment Release
Releases an empty trailer, container or pallet load of equipment back to its owner and records the condition it left in
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:
- FSMA Intentional Adulteration rule, 21 CFR Part 121 (sections 121.126, 121.130, 121.138)
- C-TPAT minimum security criteria for highway carriers and importers
- BRCGS Food Safety Standard, Site Security requirements
- SQF Code, Food Defense Plan element
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.