PROPERLY SUBMITTING A CLAIM TO GLOBALTRANZ CLAIMS DEPT
( INTERNAL DOCUMENT SHARED SO WE ALL AWARE OF THE CLAIM PROCESS REQUIREMENTS)
The more information you provide, the better we will be able to analyze and begin claim without having to come back requesting additional information
Email: claimsdpt@globaltranz.com
Phone Number: 866.275.1407 x 9012
Fax number: 928.759.2579
Step 1: Check for Concealed Damage/Shortage
The definition of a concealed claim is simply that the damages/shortages were:
Not:noted on the Delivery Receipt upon delivery
Noticed until packaging was opened and packaging was un-harmed
If your customer presents you with a concealed claim, the Agent OR the Customer must report this to the Carrier directly. The GTZ Claims Department is NOT responsible for reporting concealed damages/shortages, nor are we responsible for educating customers on this process:
This is how you report:
It must be done within 5 business days from the date of delivery:
If past this time-frame, we cannot submit claim unless:
You provide written proof that the Carrier’s Claims Dept. will accept our claim
You can provide substantial physical evidence that proves the Carrier is at fault
It must be done in writing:
You may email the carrier directly (Call the Carrier’s Customer Service and request an email address)
You may fax the carrier directly
You are NOT submitting a claim or any documentation
On your fax or email, you are simply stating that there are concealed damages/shortages on the shipment and you are reporting them so that the GTZ Claims Department may file a claim
Step 2: Check to see if 3rd Party Insurance was purchased
If additional insurance was purchased, please advise GTZ Claims Department of this and provide the certificate with the claims documents
We will provide further instruction at that point
Step 3: Give Carrier Disposition for damaged items
The Customer is responsible for retaining all damaged products and packages until claim is entirely resolved
If the Carrier is still in possession of freight, please give them instruction on where to take items BEFORE
submitting claim to GTZ Claims Department
Step 4: Request Inspection from Carrier
This is a step that has produced a lot of frustration, anger, delays, and confusion, so I hope to alleviate any
concerns/issues. The reason we ask Customer to not dispose of damaged items or packaging (or get repairs) before
submitting claim is because Carriers have the right to inspect the products, salvage the products, both, or neither.
Typically, the Carrier will waive their right to inspect if damage is under $1000, but we never want to assume. So we
prefer that products/packaging always get inspected BEFORE claim if possible
You have two options:
1.) Attempt to get items inspected before a claim gets submitted
2.) Wait until after a claim is submitted to get an inspection
If you submit a claim first, the carrier may request an inspection or salvage pickup at any time during the claims process.
I’ve seen Carriers request inspection at DAY 120 or more. By then, the Customer has typically disposed of products and
claim gets declined because the Carrier was unable to inspect.I prefer not to go with Option 2.
Option 1 is more viable for expediting the claims process. The primary issue I’ve seen with this option is that the
responsibility to get this handled falls on Customer or Agent, but it saves a tremendous amount of time on the claim and
gives the Customer more flexibility on how to handle the actual freight while the claim is being investigated.
To request inspection:
1.) Contact the Carriers OS&D Department at the nearest terminal (usually the destination terminal)
a. The phone number should be listed on the GTZ Bill of Lading Document
2.) Provide the PRO # and explain the situation to the representative
3.) Schedule an appointment to have the freight inspected
4.) The Carrier may refuse to schedule an inspection and will advise that a claim must be filed first
5.) If they decide to inspect, please do not submit a claim to our department until the Carrier provides you a copy of
the Inspection Report, so you may attach that to the claim you send to GTZ Claims Department er format
Step 5: Gather all documents and information
1.) Completed GTZ Claims Form
2.) Original Manufacturers/Vendors Invoice
3.) Sales Invoice
4.) Pictures (if applicable)
5.) Signed BOL
6.) Delivery Receipt
7.) Explanation of what occurred
8.) MISC Documents
Completed GTZ Claims Form
Please use as many GTZ Claim Forms as needed to itemize every item being claimed
Do not leave any box empty
Unless you don’t require every box in the “Details of Claim” section
Please list the QTY, Exact product description, Total Weight for each line item, and Total Claim AMT
Ex: Do not list weight for 1 bag if you are listing 10 bags in the QTY section; list the total weight and amount for all 10 bags
Read the Blue section to understand what FRT charges can be claimed
If a replacement was ran, please provide BOL #
If a return shipment was ran and charged to customer, please provide the BOL #
Please do not put an explanation of what happened in the “Product Description/Item” section
Please be very specific with what you are claiming
If some items are lost and some are damaged, please specify
Original Manufacturers/Vendors Invoice
This is the invoice that shows what the Shipper or Customer paid to make or buy the product.
This is to show original value of products
The parties and products should match the BOL
Sales Invoice
This is the invoice that shows what the Shipper or Customer sold the product for and who they sold it to
The parties, products, and dates should match the BOL
Pictures
Please provide pictures of both the damaged packaging AND the damaged product
The more you can provide, the better
If you have pictures of item BEFORE shipment, please provide those as well
Signed BOL
This will show what piece count the driver signed off for
They typically list this on their Carrier stamp or next to their signature
In a shortage situation, this number will determine what count they are liable for
If shipment is entirely lost, this document will show whether driver signed off on pickup
In a damage situation, if driver notated damages upon pickup, this will prevent them from being liable for damages upon delivery
Delivery Receipt
Most of the time, our Claims Department can pull this document ourselves, but since you must confirm whether damages/shortages are concealed or not, you should have it already
If shipment was entirely refused, please advise in your explanation
Please note: Verbiage such as, “Subject to count/inspection”, “Possible Damage”, “Hole in box” or anything else
that is vague or not specific notation of damaged/shorted items will be considered Concealed
This is a legally binding document, so the more specific a consignee can be when notating the damage/shortage, the better
If it’s not noted, it will be considered concealed
Explanation of what occurred
This will be listed on the email (See Step 6)
MISC Documents
Any other documents you have that you believe will substantiate your case against the Carrier, please provide
Step 6: Submit claim directly to GTZ Claims Department
PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT A CLAIM TO OUR DEPARTMENT UNTIL YOU’VE COMPLETED ALL FIVE (5) PREVIOUS STEPS
You can send claim via fax or email (contact information on first page of this document). Our preference is via email.
When sending in an email, there are four (4) specific items we would like you to put in the email to help expedite the claims process:
List Subject Line like so: “(CARRIER) Claim – GTZ BOL # 1234567 // PRO # 0987654321”
Re-name all Documents with basic names
a. EX: Invoice, Claim Form, Pictures, etc
b. Convert to PDF if possible
c. Attach to email
Give a detailed summary of what happened to cause damage/shortage and what’s been done so far in regards
to communication with the customer, inspection, etc.
Please provide Current Location of freight/packaging along with the contact name and number for that location
If you only want the GTZ Claims Department to correspond with certain people, please note that in the body of the email as well