A container receiving checklist your 3PL can follow

Unloading an ocean container, often called devanning, follows the same six checks every time. Match the paperwork. Photograph the container. Check the seal before it's cut. Count every piece against the paperwork. Write down exceptions before the driver leaves. Post the received stock in Shopify.

Each check needs one piece of proof, not just a ticked box. That proof is what a shortage or damage claim rests on later.

The dock steps rarely change. The screens do. Shopify changed how purchase orders are received this year, so a screenshot from last quarter can send someone to a button that no longer does the job.

The six checks

The order matters. Each check settles a question the next one can't. Once the seal is cut, nobody can prove what state it was in. Once the driver leaves with a clean signature, a missing carton is much harder to claim.

Checking the seal before anyone cuts it

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sets out a four-step check for seals on inbound containers, done with a witness before the seal is cut. It calls it View, Verify, Twist, and Tug.

1. View: look at the seal and the door's locking parts for damage.
2. Verify: check the seal number against the shipping documents.
3. Twist: turn the seal to make sure it isn't loose.
4. Tug: pull on it to confirm it's actually fastened.

Photograph the seal in place, then cut it. CBP's guidance also says cut seals should be thrown away somewhere nobody can get at them, so they can't be reused.

The piece count and exceptions

Count cartons as they come off the container, on a tally sheet, not from memory at the end. Then match the total against the packing list and the bill of lading. The person who counted signs the sheet.

For high-value stock, do a blind count: the counter doesn't see the expected quantity, so they can't round towards it.

Write any shortage, overage or damage on the delivery receipt before the driver pulls away. That signed note is what a later damage claim rests on, and a shortage claim works the same way. A clean signature with nothing written makes both much harder.

This step is worth getting right. The Fulfillment Advisor's 2025 warehousing survey found that the average cost to unload a container rose from $350 to $500 in a year. You are paying more for every container, so it's worth making sure you get what you paid for.

Posting received stock in Shopify

Who does this step depends on your setup. If your 3PL's system syncs stock to Shopify, the count reaches Shopify through that connection, and your job is to check that the numbers landed. If you receive stock yourself, or your 3PL doesn't sync, you post it using Shopify's purchase orders.

Shopify's help center now says receiving happens on the inventory transfer linked to the purchase order, not on the purchase order itself. The purchase order records what you agreed with the supplier. The transfer tracks the goods arriving.

1. Mark the purchase order as Ordered.
2. Click Create transfer and pick the destination location. The supplier and items copy across.
3. When the container is unloaded, go to Products, then Transfers, open the linked transfer and click Receive items.
4. Give every line one action and a quantity.

The three actions are not interchangeable:

• Accept: the stock becomes available at the destination location.
• Reject: it is recorded on the transfer but doesn't add to stock anywhere. Use it for damaged goods.
• Cancel: for items the supplier never shipped.

The transfer stays In progress until every expected unit has an action, then changes to Transferred. Each purchase order can have one linked transfer at a time. If the supplier ships in several containers, receive each shipment as it arrives. Shipping costs and customs duties that weren't known at order time go on the shipment as cost adjustments.

A transfer stuck at In progress is your signal that something wasn't counted. If the numbers still don't agree after it closes, the inventory reconciliation SOP for Shopify and your 3PL covers the full count-against-system check.

Why last quarter's checklist goes wrong

The dock half of this process barely changes. The software half keeps moving. Shopify releases product changes in batches it calls Editions, and portals and 3PL forms change without notice. A screenshot from last quarter can point at a button that has moved or now does something different.

That is SOP drift: the document stops matching the work, and nobody is told.

What to re-record at the next container

Not the whole checklist. Just the three screens that change without telling anyone:

1. The carrier or terminal portal. Booking the pickup appointment, confirming the container left the terminal, and the free-time counter.
2. The 3PL's receiving form. Reference fields, exception categories, photo rules, and who signs.
3. The Shopify receiving path. Purchase order, linked transfer, Receive items, and which action each kind of problem gets.

Keep the seal and count steps as plain written steps. They don't depend on a screen, so they're cheap to keep current.

Where this checklist still fails

The clock doesn't wait for paperwork. AB Group Shipping, a Miami freight forwarder, notes that a customs exam freezes your container but not your billing. It puts free time before storage charges at 4 to 5 calendar days at PortMiami. Free time varies by port and carrier, so check the window for yours. If an exam happens, ask the carrier for a free-time extension in writing.

Nobody reviews the recording. Whoever ran the last container may have used a shortcut nobody wrote down. If the checklist is re-recorded from that run without anyone checking it, the checklist now teaches the shortcut.

The 3PL owns half the steps. Your checklist can say "check the seal", but the person doing it works for your 3PL. Agree which steps they own and what proof they send you after every container.

Next step

Pick the next container that's already booked and use it as the recording session. Record the portal while the pickup is booked. Record the 3PL's receiving form as it's filled in. Record the Shopify receiving path. Write the seal and count steps as plain text. You end up with a checklist that matches how this container was actually received, with a date on it.

ReccordSOP turns a screen recording into a step-by-step SOP, with a screenshot for each step and the clicked button highlighted. Re-record the same task later and it compares the new recording with the existing SOP, flagging the steps that changed instead of overwriting them, and keeps version history. An SOP can also go out as a checklist run: the receiver ticks off each step, and the run records which version they followed.

A recording shows one person's way of doing the task, so someone still has to check it. The free plan covers 3 SOPs in total. Team is $19 per user per month, with a 3-user minimum. Not sure this process needs a tool at all? The 90-second check will tell you.