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KHLOELTL

Claims procedure

What this page covers

What to do when a shipment arrives damaged, arrives short, or does not arrive at all. It gives the deadlines, what to send us, how we work out what a claim is worth, and what happens after you file.

The single most common reason a freight claim fails is the deadline, and the second is a clean signature on a delivery receipt for freight that was already damaged. Both are avoidable and both are dealt with below.

The liability limits that decide what a claim is worth are on our conditions of carriage.

The deadlines

These are prescribed by Ontario Regulation 643/05. We cannot extend them and neither can you, so treat them as hard dates.

Claim deadlines, and when each clock starts
What happened Written notice to us When the clock starts Final statement of claim
Visible damage or shortage Within 60 days The delivery date Within nine months of the date of shipment, with a copy of the paid freight bill
Concealed damage or shortage, found after delivery Within 60 days The delivery date, not the day you found it. Open and inspect promptly. Within nine months of the date of shipment, with a copy of the paid freight bill
Shipment not delivered at all Within nine months The date of shipment Within nine months of the date of shipment, with a copy of the paid freight bill

Notice must be in writing. A phone call to a dispatcher is not notice, and neither is a note on a driver's tablet. Email is fine, and email is what we recommend, because it date stamps itself.

What to do at delivery

Five minutes at the dock is worth more than five weeks of correspondence afterwards.

  1. Look at the freight before you sign. Count the pieces against the delivery receipt.
  2. Write what is wrong on the delivery receipt before you sign it. Be specific: "skid 2 of 4, corner crushed, box torn" is evidence. "Subject to inspection" is close to worthless.
  3. Take photographs before anything is moved. Photograph the freight on the truck if you can, then on the dock, then the packaging and the skid.
  4. Keep the packaging, the skid and the damaged goods. Do not throw anything out until the claim is settled. We may need to inspect it.
  5. If the damage is concealed and you find it later, stop unpacking, photograph it as you found it, and tell us the same day. The 60 day clock has been running since delivery.

How to file a claim

Send us an email with the word Claim and the waybill number in the subject line. Our address is at the bottom of this page. Include all of the following, because a claim missing any of it cannot be assessed and the deadline keeps running while we wait.

  1. The waybill number, and the pickup and delivery dates.
  2. The bill of lading and the delivery receipt, including the note you made on it at delivery.
  3. The number of pieces in the shipment and the total weight of the shipment. The total weight matters: it is what the liability cap is calculated on.
  4. A description of the goods and of exactly what is wrong with them.
  5. Photographs of the damage, of the packaging, and of the skid as it arrived.
  6. The supplier invoice or cost documentation showing the value of the goods at the place and time of shipment.
  7. A repair estimate, where the goods can be repaired rather than replaced.
  8. A copy of the paid freight bill, which the final statement of claim must be accompanied by.

If you are tracking an active shipment rather than filing a claim, start on our claims page.

How we work out what a claim is worth

  1. We pay the lowest of three figures: the value of the goods at the place and time of shipment, the value you declared before pickup if you declared one, and $4.41 multiplied by the total weight of the shipment in kilograms.
  2. The per kilogram calculation uses the total weight of the whole shipment, not the weight of the damaged piece. On a 1,200 kg shipment the cap is $5,292, whatever the damaged skid was worth.
  3. Where goods are repairable, we pay the cost of repair rather than the cost of replacement.
  4. Where damaged goods still have value, we may require that they be held for inspection and we may take the salvage.
  5. You must take reasonable steps to limit the loss.
  6. Filing a claim does not suspend the freight invoice. Freight charges remain payable and a claim may not be set off against them.

The full liability clause, including how to raise the cap by declaring a value before pickup, is at declaring a higher value.

What happens after you file

  1. We acknowledge your claim in writing and tell you who is handling it.
  2. We investigate. That usually means pulling the waybill, the delivery receipt, the proof of delivery photographs and the driver's record of the trip, and it may mean inspecting the freight.
  3. We then pay the claim, make an offer, or decline it. If we decline it we tell you why, in writing.
  4. If you disagree with our decision, reply and say so, and ask for the decision to be reviewed. We will tell you who is reviewing it.

How to reach us

Write to us by email or by post. Email reaches us fastest. If your message is about a specific shipment, quote the waybill number so we can find it.

Khloe Transport Inc
36 Taber Rd
Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 3A8
Canada
dispatch@khloeltl.com

This page was last revised on 19 August 2026.