Skip to content

Audit template in the LeanSuite app

Last reviewed

Truck loading and unloading audit checklist

This audit is done by watching a real truck being loaded or unloaded and checking the work against your standard. The 12 questions cover the trailer before loading, how the load is placed, balanced and secured, forklift practice, and the paperwork, seal number and damage notes before the driver leaves. It catches safety gaps and the loading errors that come back as customer claims.

A shipping supervisor or warehouse lead runs it during a real load, standing where the work happens. What a failure looks like: a forklift driving into a trailer that was not chocked or restrained, heavy cases stacked on light ones, a load left unsecured at the tail, or a seal number not matched to the paperwork. Each of those can come back as a damage or shortage claim.

What it is for, as built: Watch a truck being loaded or unloaded and check the process against the standard.

Use this template in LeanSuite

The full question list

The 12 questions in the audit

Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.

Before loading

  1. 1The trailer was checked for damage, cleanliness and floor condition
  2. 2The load is checked against the order or bill of lading
  3. 3Restraints and chocks are in use

Loading practice

  1. 4The load is placed and stacked as the loading plan says
  2. 5Heavy items go at the bottom and the load is balanced
  3. 6Pallets are in good condition
  4. 7The load is secured against moving in transit
  5. 8Operators follow forklift safety rules

Paperwork and release

  1. 9Quantities and labels are checked and recorded
  2. 10Seals are applied and the number recorded
  3. 11Damage or shortages are noted before the driver leaves
  4. 12Documents are complete and signed

Worked example, illustrative

A filled-in example

One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the audit answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the audit reads and scores.

Result: pass, 83.3% against a pass mark of 80

  • 12 questions, all of them count.
  • 2 answered No, so 10 of 12 are Yes: 10 ÷ 12 = 83.3%.
  • 83.3% is at or above 80, so the audit passes. The Nos still need their fix.

What happened next: Load stopped, drums restacked at the bottom and two load bars fitted by the loader before the doors closed.

Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.

Truck Loading and Unloading Audit

Audit, weekly

Dock or door number
Dock 6
Carrier or trailer number
Trailer 48213

Loading practice

  1. The load is placed and stacked as the loading plan saysYes
  2. Heavy items go at the bottom and the load is balancedNo
  3. Pallets are in good conditionYes
  4. The load is secured against moving in transitNo

    Comment: Two pallets of drums stacked on top of cartons at the nose. Last two pallets at the tail had no strap or load bar.

    Photo attached to each No

  5. Operators follow forklift safety rulesYes
Drawn from this template's own questions, not a screenshot of the app. Illustrative answers.

When to use it

  • Once a week.
  • An auditor or leader answers each question from what they see, hear and read in the area.
  • Each record starts with: Dock or door number, Carrier or trailer number.

How it is scored

The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 80. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted audit shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.

Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.

Read and print

More in warehouse and logistics

All warehouse and logistics templates

FAQ

Truck loading and unloading audit checklist: common questions

  1. Weekly, watching a real load on a real dock, with the dock and trailer number recorded. Audit more often when a new carrier or a new loader starts, after a damage or shortage claim, after a trailer creep incident or a forklift near miss at the dock, and when a new product or pallet pattern goes out for the first time.

  2. The shipping supervisor or warehouse lead does it, standing at the dock while the load happens rather than reviewing paperwork later. They need the loading plan for that order, the carrier's restraint rule and the forklift rules for trailers. A failed audit goes to the warehouse manager, who decides what changes on the dock, and to the carrier if the trailer was the problem.

  3. A fail means the load or the loader is at risk right now: a trailer not chocked or restrained, heavy cases on light ones, a load loose at the tail or a seal that does not match the paperwork. Stop the load and fix it before the doors close. If the truck has left, call the carrier. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an audit that scores under its pass mark of 80 is a fail.

  4. Keep the dock, carrier and trailer number, the date and loader, each No with a photo of the load as found, and the seal number. Keep what was corrected and whether a claim followed. Over weeks the record shows which carriers arrive unrestrained and which shifts stack badly, and backs you up when a shortage claim arrives. In LeanSuite each submitted audit is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.

  5. 12 questions in 3 sections: before loading, loading practice, and paperwork and release. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.

Use this template in LeanSuite

It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Truck Loading and Unloading Audit”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.

Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.

Start a 90-day pilotBook a demo