You open a container at your Doral warehouse and find crushed boxes, water-stained pallets, or a forklift hole punched through the side wall. Somebody owes you money. The question is who, and whether you documented enough to collect.
Types of Container Damage
Container damage falls into two categories: damage to the steel box itself, and damage to the cargo inside. Both cost money. Both require different claim processes.
At Port Miami, POMTOC and South Florida Container Terminal log structural damage on their Equipment Interchange Receipts (EIR) when trucks enter and exit. That EIR becomes your first piece of evidence.
Who Is Liable
Three parties handle your container between the origin port and your warehouse. Each one carries liability for the time the box sits in their possession.
The tricky cases involve damage discovered at the warehouse with no clear origin point. Your container traveled 6,000 miles by sea and 15 miles by truck. Pinpointing where the damage occurred requires paperwork from every handoff.
Document Before You Move Anything
The moment you spot damage, stop unloading. Every minute of continued handling weakens your claim. Insurance adjusters and steamship line claims departments look for one thing first: contemporaneous photo evidence.
- Photograph the container seal before breaking it. Capture the seal number clearly. A matching seal proves the container wasn't opened between port and warehouse.
- Photograph all four exterior sides of the container, plus the roof if accessible. Note any dents, rust holes, or damaged corner castings.
- Open the doors and photograph the cargo as it sits before touching anything. Wide shots and close-ups of the damage.
- Photograph individual damaged items with a ruler or known object for scale.
- Record the container number, booking number, and bill of lading number. Write them on a whiteboard and include the whiteboard in one photo for timestamp context.
Smartphone photos with GPS and timestamp metadata embedded work fine. Claims adjusters in 2026 accept phone photos. Print-quality images from a dedicated camera add credibility but aren't required.
Get your warehouse crew to sign a damage report noting the date, time, container number, and description of what they saw. First-hand witness statements carry weight when claims go to arbitration.
Filing Against the Steamship Line
Ocean carrier claims follow the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), which limits liability to $500 per "package" unless you declared a higher value on the bill of lading. Most importers don't declare higher value because it costs more. That means a pallet of electronics worth $25,000 gets capped at $500 under COGSA unless your customs broker noted otherwise.
File your claim in writing. Email the carrier's claims department with your bill of lading number, container number, photos, and a damage description. Include a dollar amount. Vague claims that say "cargo damaged, amount TBD" get pushed to the bottom of the pile.
Major lines calling Port Miami (MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, Evergreen) each have their own claims portal or email address. Your customs broker can point you to the right contact.
Filing Against the Drayage Carrier
If damage occurred during the truck leg from Port Miami to your warehouse, the drayage company's cargo insurance covers it. The Carmack Amendment governs domestic truck freight claims and provides broader protection than COGSA.
The EIR from the port terminal matters here. If the gate-out EIR shows "no damage" and the cargo arrives damaged at the warehouse, that points to the drayage leg as the source. Your drayage carrier's insurance adjuster will request this document first.
At One A Trucks, we photograph containers at gate-out and again at delivery. Our drivers note any pre-existing damage on the EIR before leaving the terminal. If something goes wrong during transit, we have documentation from both ends of the trip.
Deadlines That Kill Claims
More claims fail from missed deadlines than from weak evidence. Each party in the shipping chain has different filing windows.
A Friday afternoon container opening creates a weekend problem. If your warehouse crew cracks a seal at 3 PM on Friday and finds water damage, you need to notify the steamship line by Monday. Have your claims contact information ready before you open any container. Don't scramble for email addresses while the clock runs.
Common Mistakes That Sink Claims
Insurance adjusters and carrier claims teams process thousands of claims per year at Port Miami. They know every shortcut and every gap. These are the mistakes that give them a reason to deny.
- Breaking the seal without photographing it first. Once the seal is cut, you can't prove the container wasn't opened between port and warehouse.
- Continuing to unload after discovering damage. Moving damaged cargo mixes the evidence. Adjusters question whether warehouse handling caused additional losses.
- Filing without a dollar amount. "Damaged goods, value unknown" tells the carrier you haven't done your homework. Include the commercial invoice value for every damaged item.
- Not checking the EIR at the terminal. Your driver should review the gate-out EIR and note any pre-existing structural damage. A clean EIR that your driver signed without checking becomes evidence against you.
- Missing the 3-day notice window for ocean carrier claims. Three calendar days, not business days. A Saturday delivery with Monday discovery already burns two of those days.
Importers who file clean, documented claims within the first 48 hours recover money at a higher rate than those who submit partial paperwork weeks later. The evidence doesn't improve with age. Memories fade, photos get lost, and warehouse staff forget the details.
If you're importing through Port Miami and need a drayage carrier that documents every handoff, reach out to our team. Proper documentation at pickup protects your claim before you know you'll need one.