Container Loading
Checklist (Excel)

It is the list of checks a loading supervisor works through while your goods go into a container: container condition (dry, sound, clean, pest-free), carton count against the packing list, carton condition, dunnage and weight distribution, the photo evidence set, and the container and seal numbers. It is the last control point before the goods become a claim.

Because once the doors are sealed, everything inside is the buyer's problem. A leaking roof, a damp floor or a failed door gasket turns cartons soft and mouldy in transit — and the carrier will not accept a claim for damage that existed before loading. Ten minutes of checks prevents a whole container of unsellable goods.

Someone who does not report to the production line — a third-party inspector, your sourcing agent's QC team, or a loading supervisor hired by the buyer. The factory's own staff can load, but whoever signs the tally sheet and the container record should be independent, because that signed record is what you rely on if the count or the condition is disputed.

A 20ft or 40ft container is normally loaded in one to three hours. Loading supervision in China covers the container condition check before loading, the count as cartons go in, the photo set and the seal record after closing — typically half a working day on site including travel.

The minimum set: the empty container from all four sides plus roof and floor, the container number plate, the carton markings close-up, the load at one-third, one-half and two-thirds full, the final full load with the doors still open, and the doors closed with the seal fitted so the seal number is readable. Any damaged carton should be photographed before it is moved.

A pre-shipment inspection checks the quality of the goods — the AQL sample, function, appearance, labels and packaging — while the goods are still on the factory floor. Loading supervision checks the container and the loading: that the right cartons, in the right quantity and condition, go into a sound container, and that the seal number is recorded. Buyers who care about shortage claims do both.

Stop loading and resolve it before the doors close: either the missing cartons are found in the warehouse, or they were never produced, or they shipped on an earlier container. The buyer must be told the same day, in writing, with photos of the staged cartons and the actual number loaded — because once the container is sealed, a shortage is almost impossible to prove later.