Free Freight Claim Credit Note Template & Generator
A freight claim credit note records what the carrier actually approved on a damaged, short, or lost shipment, not what was first claimed. It carries the bill of lading and PRO number, the claim number, the exception written on the delivery receipt, and the freight invoice it adjusts. From there it shows the approved cargo value, any line the carrier declined, the salvage the claimant recovered, the share of freight charges being refunded, and the per-occurrence deductible the transportation agreement applies.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved damaged-goods claim credit | 1 | $840.00 | $840.00 |
| Freight charge credit | 1 | $125.00 | $125.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a freight claim credit note
Cargo claims settle on paper months after the trailer left the dock. If the credit note shows one net number, nobody can later reconstruct which pallets were approved, what salvage came off, or whether freight on the damaged portion was refunded, so the claimant's AP team posts a figure it cannot tie to the claim file. That is how a closed claim gets reopened. What a carrier will actually pay is governed by the documents in play, the bill of lading, the tariff and the transportation agreement, and those terms vary from one lane and one contract to the next, so a claimant working from replacement cost plus lost margin may be on a different basis than the carrier is. Read your own agreement, or ask your adviser, before you set an expectation. Naming the approved value, the declined line and the reason, the salvage deduction, and the deductible lets both accounting departments file the same document against the same bill of lading.
- carrier, claimant, shipment, and bill of lading
- claim number, incident, and evidence reference
- original invoice and affected charges
- approved value, freight, deductible, and salvage
- tax, total credit, and settlement
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Approved damaged-goods claim credit | 1 | $840 |
| Freight charge credit | 1 | $125 |
Complete it cleanly
Reference bill of lading, tracking, shipment, claim, incident, original invoice, approved merchandise or freight amount, deductible, salvage, tax, and settlement method.
How to make a freight claim credit note in 6 steps
Open the credit note generator
Start from this page so the credit note opens with fields and sample lines already set up for shippers, carriers, distributors, and logistics providers. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the freight claim lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows carrier, claimant, shipment, and bill of lading, claim number, incident, and evidence reference, original invoice and affected charges.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the credit note a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Reference bill of lading, tracking, shipment, claim, incident, original invoice, approved merchandise or freight amount, deductible, salvage, tax, and settlement method. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
Three crushed pallets settled on claim FC-2026-0413
Ridgeline Freight Systems moved 18 pallets of ceramic floor tile for Kestrel Tile Distributors from Toledo to Charlotte on BOL 4471-882, PRO 118-663420, delivered Mar 4, 2026 against freight invoice FR-90218. The consignee wrote a damage exception on the delivery receipt, and Kestrel filed for four pallets on Mar 11.
- Freight invoice FR-90218, Toledo to Charlotte, 18 pallets, delivered Mar 4, 2026
- $1,842.00
- Value claimed on FC-2026-0413: 4 pallets, 192 cartons at $31.50 invoice cost
- $6,048.00
- Approved after review of the delivery receipt exception and the dock photos: 3 pallets, 144 cartons
- $4,536.00
- Declined: pallet 4, reported Mar 9 with no exception noted at delivery
- $0.00
- Less salvage: recoverable tile sold by Kestrel to a flooring liquidator, credited to the claim
- -$610.00
- Plus freight refunded on the damaged portion (3 of 18 pallets of $1,842.00)
- $307.00
- Less the per-occurrence deductible in the Ridgeline transportation agreement
- -$250.00
- Tax adjusted on this credit note (illustrative, see the note)
- None shown on this example settlement
- Net credit issued on credit note CN-FC-0413 (Apr 2, 2026)
- $3,983.00
- Applied to the open balance of FR-90218, remainder remitted to Kestrel by check
- $2,141.00
The declined pallet is the lesson. Damage found after the driver leaves is far harder to approve than damage counted and described on the delivery receipt, and writing only "subject to inspection" rarely holds it open. No tax line is shown here, and that is a choice made for this example only: whether a claim settlement touches tax at all, and whether tax billed on the underlying sale needs adjusting, depends on the jurisdiction and on the transaction behind the shipment, so confirm yours with your own adviser. Parties and figures here are invented.
When this document is the right choice
Use this credit note to document a reduction or reversal against an issued invoice. A credit note changes the amount owed on an earlier invoice without deleting the original record. Reference the original invoice and state the exact reason for the adjustment.
Frequently asked questions
The carrier approved three of the four pallets I claimed. How should the declined pallet appear?
Put it on the credit note at $0.00 with the reason beside it, exactly as in the example above, rather than quietly dropping it. A declined line shown at zero proves the pallet was reviewed and answers the question your own warehouse will ask when the claim file is pulled. It also gives you a clean starting point if new evidence turns up and the carrier reopens that portion under a supplemental settlement.
Does the credit cover the freight charges as well as the damaged goods?
Only the portion the settlement actually allows, and it should be calculated, not estimated. In the example, 3 of the 18 pallets were approved, so $307.00 of the $1,842.00 freight bill comes back. Show the fraction on the line so the claimant can check it. Whether freight is refundable at all on a damaged shipment depends on your transportation agreement and tariff, so read those, or ask your adviser, before promising it.
We sold the crushed tile as seconds. Does that money come off the credit note?
Yes, and it belongs on its own line at the amount actually recovered, not an estimate made when the claim was filed. Kestrel recovered $610.00, so the settlement credits $4,536.00 of approved value less that $610.00. Settling before the salvage sells forces a second adjustment later. If the carrier takes the damaged goods instead, note that on the line and show no salvage deduction.
Should the approved value be my replacement cost or the invoice cost of the goods?
Use the figure the claim was documented with and say which it is on the line. The example credits 144 cartons at the $31.50 invoice cost carried on the commercial invoice filed with claim FC-2026-0413. Replacement cost, lost resale margin, and downtime are usually argued separately, and whether any of them is recoverable at all turns on the bill of lading and transportation agreement you are working under, so check yours or ask your adviser rather than folding them into the approved value.
The shipper filed the claim, but the consignee owned the tile once it arrived. Who should the credit note be made out to?
Name the party the settlement money is actually going to, and make that the same party shown as claimant on the claim file, so the carrier's records and yours agree when someone reconciles them a year later. In the example the shipper filed, so the credit note is issued to Kestrel, applied against freight invoice FR-90218, and the balance paid out. If your customer absorbed the damaged tile at their end, that is a separate credit from you to them against their own sales invoice, not this one. Stacking both on a single document leaves neither ledger able to tie out. Which party is entitled to file and recover in the first place depends on your terms of sale and the transportation agreement, so settle that before the claim goes in.
More credit note templates
Start with the closest business workflow and adjust the details.