Warehouse custody

A loading handoff connects a warehouse transfer to its parent load and operating organization. It can carry the warehouse name, driver name, pallet count and handover time. These details describe the physical custody event. The handoff also has a revision and a lifecycle: draft, submitted, approved, rejected or completed. That separation lets the warehouse team prepare a transfer while a different person decides whether the submitted version is acceptable.

A typical case begins when pallets are ready for a planned load. The Warehouse Lead records the load, warehouse and intended driver, then submits the handoff. The reviewer sees the frozen handoff scope and its parent load revision. The decision is a separate record on that load with reviewer, source revision, decision time and reason. The transfer reaches completed only after the operation receipt for the custody action has been persisted.

• Prepare. Warehouse Lead records the physical scope and checks it against the planned load.
• Review. Independent Reviewer approves, rejects or returns the submitted revision with a reason.
• Complete. Warehouse Lead records the handover time and verifies the custody operation receipt before completion.

A review decision is about the parent load’s source revision and the frozen submitted scope. If a pallet count or driver changes after submission, the Warehouse Lead resubmits the changed scope for a new decision. Keep one custody transfer for the agreed manifest scope. That prevents a repeated action or a second record from suggesting that the same goods changed hands twice.

Define the manifest scope that identifies one transfer. Agree what the Warehouse Lead must check before submission: load reference, warehouse, driver and pallet count where used. Decide which evidence file should accompany a handoff and whether it may be shared outside the operating team. Establish the person who can review without also preparing the transfer.

Define the moment of physical handover. The decision may be recorded before the goods cross the boundary; the handover time records when custody changed. The receipt records the action’s durable result. If a driver or partner acknowledgment comes from an external system, arrange that connection and decide how its reference is retained. Do not treat an approved decision alone as the completed transfer.

Prepare one transfer for a planned load and submit its current revision. Have the Independent Reviewer inspect the load and evidence, then record approval with a reason. Record the actual handover time and the operation receipt. Confirm that the completed handoff still points to the reviewed parent load and frozen scope.

Repeat with a change in pallet count after submission. The old decision must not authorize the changed transfer. Test a rejected decision, then a returned decision requiring a new submission. Finally, repeat a custody request with the same operation key. The team should find the existing outcome and should not count another transfer of the same manifest scope. The Operations Manager can inspect any failed receipt before treating the transfer as complete.

• Custody handoffs awaiting review — Submitted transfers with the parent load and revision needed for a decision.
• Custody board — Draft through completed handoffs grouped by current state.
• Review decisions — The decision, reason, reviewer and source revision behind the transfer.

See custody review and exception review.