Freight Rework

What it means

Rework fixes a mismatch between the freight and someone's requirements. The usual jobs are:

• Restack: cartons that moved are stacked back square on a sound pallet.
• Rebuild: freight is moved onto a replacement pallet when the pallet itself failed. See repalletizing.
• Rewrap and re-band: containment that failed is replaced.
• Relabel: labels are reapplied to the receiver's specification, often to match an advance ship notice.
• Sort and segregate: mixed freight is split by SKU, purchase order or destination.
• Re-weigh and redistribute: weight is moved so each axle group is back within limits.

Two federal rules frame the work. Stacked material has to be "stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so that they are stable and secure against sliding or collapse,"^[1] and once reloaded, cargo has to be secured so it cannot shift enough to affect the vehicle's stability.^[2]

Rework fixes packaging, pallets, labels and weight distribution around product that is intact. Product that is itself damaged is a claims decision: when a carrier holds damaged freight that was refused, the claims rules have it notify the owner and dispose of the goods through salvage.^[3]

Why it matters

Most refusals and scale failures are mechanical problems with a mechanical fix. The catch is the specification: rework done to the wrong spec gets refused twice, so the receiver's routing guide, label format and pallet rules come before any work starts, together with written approval of who authorized it and who pays.

Example

A receiver refuses 4 of 22 pallets because their labels do not match the advance ship notice and one pallet is leaning. With the owner's approval, the leaning pallet is rebuilt on a new pallet, labels generated by the vendor's system are applied, and the four pallets are photographed and booked back as a smaller delivery.