Count the Load Before the Truck Leaves

The problem in one breath

The load lands at seven. Nobody counts it, somebody scribbles on the driver's clipboard, and the truck is gone. At two o'clock you're six bundles of ridge cap short and two pallets are a shade off the rest of the roof.

Why it happens

Signing feels like signing for a pizza. The driver's in a hurry, your men are already stripping, and the paper looks like a receipt for something sitting right there in the drive. It's not a receipt. It's your word that what the ticket says is what came off the truck, and after the truck pulls away you're arguing about a number nobody wrote down.

The play

1. One named man signs, and signing means he counted it. Not the closest body, not a homeowner. Sign for what you counted, never for what the ticket says. You've heard it as a promise after a load went wrong — "I recount the load at the truck by noon" (Module 2, Play 4). Make it the habit, not the apology.

2. Count by line, against the order. Pull out the order that was placed (Play 1) and walk it: field shingle, starter, cap, underlayment, ice-and-water, drip edge, valley metal, vents, boots, nails. Memory counts squares and forgets the small lines, and those are what stop a roof at four in the afternoon.

3. Color and lot before one bundle goes up. Check the color against her signed selection and the order confirmation — the roll list checked that on paper; this checks the bundles. Then check the wrappers against each other: a load filled out of two runs can leave a shade line she looks at from her driveway for the life of the roof. The wrapper is the only place that number lives, so shoot it — a wrapper with the lot number readable, on the shot list you already run (Module 3, Play 10). Don't start a second photo routine. Product, color and the invoice are also the first things a material claim asks for years later (Module 13, Play 4).

4. Shorts and damage go on the ticket before the driver pulls away, and the branch hears it the same day. Written on the ticket, initialed by the driver, photographed. A torn corner you mention Thursday is your word against his. A torn corner written on Tuesday's ticket is the only version anybody can argue from. How long your supplier gives you to report a short or a damaged load, and what your signature on a clean ticket concedes, is set by that supplier's own terms and the account agreement you signed — ask your rep and read your paperwork.

   Charging a short back to a sub crew is a different play (Module 12, Play 4).

5. Then the third match, and this one's pure money. The ticket has to match what you counted, and the invoice has to match the ticket. Nobody checks this. A price per square that isn't the price you were quoted, or a freight line you never asked for, sails straight through and lands in the miss you find months later (Play 2). Read it the day it comes, not the month it comes due; a balance read (Module 6, Play 12) never sees a wrong line, only a wrong total.

6. The drop spot and the window ride on the order; the site gets checked the afternoon before. You gave the branch both when you placed it (Play 1); whether the site is actually ready for them is the roll list's call (Module 14, Play 2). What's yours at the curb is the count, the color, the ticket and the invoice.

Do this this week

Print the load count and write one name at the top — the man who signs for every delivery from here on — then tell him tonight. He carries it with the order on the next drop.

The tool

The load count is one card, printed and kept with the order. He counts down the order line by line and writes what came, not what should have come. He works it in the order it prints: the count first, then color and lot before one bundle goes up. Anything short, broken or wrong goes on the ticket while the driver's still there, name and time on the card. The bottom block is the office's half, when the invoice comes. Keep the cards in the job folder: a year later, that card is the only proof the load was ever counted. A Spanish version lives on the Spanish cards page — the foreman's half of this card, plain jobsite Spanish.

THE LOAD COUNT — count it before the truck leaves

Job / address: __________________________  Date: ___________
Counted by: ____________________  Driver / truck: __________
Order in hand? [ ] yes - we count against the order, not memory

COUNT BY LINE - order says / we got
  Field shingle    ______ / ______   Color: ______________
  Starter          ______ / ______
  Ridge / hip cap  ______ / ______   Color: ______________
  Underlayment     ______ / ______
  Ice-and-water    ______ / ______
  Drip edge        ______ / ______
  Valley metal     ______ / ______
  Vents / boots    ______ / ______
  Nails / coil     ______ / ______
  Other __________ ______ / ______

COLOR AND LOT - before one bundle goes up
  [ ] Color matches her signed selection and the confirmation
  [ ] Lot / run numbers on the wrappers all match each other
  [ ] Wrapper photo taken - it goes on the shot list, job folder
  Lot numbers seen: ________________________________________

SHORT OR DAMAGED - write it on the ticket before he pulls away
  What is short or broken: _________________________________
  Photos taken [ ]    Driver initialed the ticket [ ]
  Branch called: ______  Time: ______  Who: _______________
  What the branch is going to do about it: _________________

SIGN FOR WHAT YOU COUNTED, NOT FOR WHAT THE TICKET SAYS.

THE THIRD MATCH - the office, when the invoice comes
  [ ] Ticket matches this count
  [ ] Invoice matches the ticket
  [ ] Price per square matches the order
  [ ] No line on it we never ordered
  Anything off, call the branch the day you see it.

If your crew is 1099

A sub crew that beats you to the driveway and signs for your material has just signed away your claim on a short load. Say who signs before the season starts: your man, or his lead with your card in his hand and your phone number on it. If his company supplies the material, the count is his and so is the loss — the supply split is written line by line on the job ticket (Module 12, Play 2).

One more thing: this play is how we run a shop — it's not legal advice. Rules change by state and by contract, so before you act on the legal-sounding parts, run them past your own attorney or accountant. It's your business, and what you do with any of this is your call and your responsibility.