How do you inspect your shipment at delivery before signing?

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Inspect before you sign, not after. At delivery you reconcile the items that came off the truck against your inventory, check what you can see for damage, and note any problem in writing on the delivery paperwork before your signature goes on it. The delivery receipt is the last point where your record carries full weight. Once you sign a clean receipt, you have told the mover everything arrived in good order, and walking that back is far harder than getting it right at the door.

Reconcile against the inventory first

Start with counts, not condition. Keep your numbered inventory in hand and check items off as the crew brings them in. Boxes and pieces should match the list. If something on the inventory never appears, that is a missing-item issue, and it belongs on the paperwork now rather than as a phone call next week.

Federal guidance for interstate moves puts this plainly: check the delivered items against the inventory, and if anything is damaged or missing, record it on the inventory and call it to the mover’s attention so the note lands on the mover’s copy too. The same approach protects you on an in-state Georgia move.

Check condition while the crew is still there

Once the count holds, look at condition. You cannot open and test every box at the door, and no one expects you to, but you can do a meaningful pass:

  • Look over furniture and large items for new dents, scratches, gouges, or breaks.
  • Open cartons marked fragile or high-value and check the contents.
  • Scan for water damage, crushing, or torn packaging that suggests rough handling.
  • Compare against the condition you and the crew recorded at pickup.

Anything you find goes on the paperwork in specific language. “Dresser top, deep scratch, right side” is a record. “Some damage” is barely one.

Read the receipt before you sign it

Before signing, read what you are signing. Do not sign a delivery receipt that contains language releasing or discharging the mover from liability. If it does, strike that language out before signing, or decline to sign a receipt the mover will not correct. Your ability to recover for loss or damage can depend on the notations on this form, which is exactly why the signature comes last.

A short order of operations

When the truck arrives, work in this sequence:

  1. Check items off your inventory as they come in.
  2. Inspect visible condition and open fragile or valuable cartons.
  3. Note every discrepancy or damage on the delivery paperwork, in detail.
  4. Strike out any liability-release language.
  5. Sign only after the notes reflect what you actually saw.

Why timing is the whole game

The temptation is to sign first and sort it out later, especially when the crew is tired and you want them gone. Resist it. After signing, the burden shifts toward you to explain why a clean receipt does not mean a clean delivery. The inspection is the moment your claim is strongest, and a few unhurried minutes at the door protect it. Reconcile the inventory, note what you find, and let your signature be the last thing that happens, not the first.

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