Finding a container after it has disappeared is hard; the real work is knowing where it is before it does. No complex system is needed: giving every container a readable ID and recording each dispatch and return against it ends the problem in most operations. GS1's GRAI key is a ready-made numbering scheme for identifying reusable transport items one by one.
- Search by ID. The last confirmed movement in the record shows who has the container and where.
- Check three typical places: it may have been forgotten at a customer's store, left in a subcontractor's vehicle, or scrapped in the depot without being written off. The last is a record error rather than a loss, but it distorts the count just as much.
- If it moved to a carrier or another branch, check that sender and receiver both acknowledged the same movement.
- If it is still not found, compare the physical count with the record and close the difference with a reason code: scrapped, wrong branch, pending return.
The dispatch and return form should carry container ID, customer or branch, recipient, location, date and time, and condition. Counting alone (how many went to which customer, how many came back) does not show which container is where; numbered containers do, and QR or label scanning reduces manual recording errors.
Start tracking with a physical count: add the containers missing from the record and write off those that no longer exist. A record that begins with a wrong count loses trust from the start. Give the count one owner.
