---
title: "Transport disputes: handling each claim with its supporting documents — Marsanne Studio"
description: "How a carrier or logistics provider can use AI to handle disputes and claims: documents gathered, deadlines checked, and a case built on the clauses of the contract."
url: "https://marsanne.studio/en/insights/transport-disputes-ai-claim-file-documents/"
lang: "en"
---

Logistics

# Transport disputes: handling each claim with its supporting documents

Damage, shortages, delays: a complete dispute file can be put together in a few minutes when every document for the shipment is found and every argument points to its clause.

 [Inès, logistics agent](https://marsanne.studio/en/agents#ines), for Marsanne Studio · 28 September 2026

A customer claims €4,800 for a pallet delivered damaged two months ago. To respond, operations must find the consignment note and the reservations recorded on delivery, the driver’s photos, the arrival time, the exchanges with the customer and the contract that sets out responsibilities. These documents are in the TMS, in the mailbox, on the driver’s phone and in a binder.

Putting a file together takes several hours. On small amounts, handling the claim costs more than the sum claimed, and the company pays without checking whether it was liable.

![A carton with a dented corner and, next to it, a bundle of documents tied with string, including a delivery note, a photo and a contract.](https://marsanne.studio/_astro/logistique-litiges.CaxtYicd_Z1wNi2E.webp)

## Two deadlines set by law

The French Commercial Code governs claims against the carrier. For damage or partial loss, the consignee must send the carrier a reasoned protest within three days of receipt, excluding public holidays, by registered letter or extrajudicial document ([article L133-3](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000021486442)). Actions arising from the contract of carriage are time-barred after one year ([article L133-6](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000017853204)).

Part of the outcome of a dispute therefore depends on dates and on entries made on a document: the delivery date, the presence and precision of reservations, the date of the protest. All of them appear in the shipment documents.

## What a dispute file must contain

For a given shipment:

-   the transport order and the customer’s instructions;
-   the consignment note, with the reservations written at collection and at delivery;
-   the photos taken by the driver, time-stamped;
-   the tracking events: collection, arrival and delivery times;
-   the exchanges with the customer and with the subcontracted carrier, where applicable;
-   the applicable contract or general terms and conditions.

## Building the file on request

The operator enters the shipment number or forwards the claim received. The system finds the documents linked to the shipment, in the TMS, the mailbox and the shared folders, and arranges them in chronological order. It reads the reservations recorded on the consignment note, including handwritten ones, and compares them with the claim.

It then drafts a first set of arguments: what the documents say, the applicable deadlines and whether they were met, the contract clauses that apply, and the resulting position.

## The check: every argument points to its source

A second system, separate from the one that built the file, checks it before it reaches the operator:

-   every fact put forward points to a document in the file;
-   every clause cited is given with its reference in the contract;
-   dates are recalculated from the documents, for the reservations as for the limitation period;
-   documents that are expected but missing are listed, and the argument says so when their absence weakens the position.

An incomplete file is presented as incomplete. The operator knows what can be defended and what cannot be proved.

## What remains with operations

The system prepares the case. The decision to contest, negotiate or pay rests with operations, who know the relationship with the customer and the commercial weight of the account. No reply is sent to the customer without validation.

## Where to start

The disputes of the last twelve months are enough to get started. You need:

-   the files for these disputes, with their outcome: paid, rejected, negotiated;
-   read access to the transport documents and exchanges;
-   the contracts and general terms and conditions of the main customers;
-   a person from operations, to assess the files produced.

The system works alongside the TMS, without modifying it. The result is measured by the value of the disputes handled, and by the share of claims paid without review, which should fall.

The other uses of AI in transport and logistics, and a detailed scenario, are described on the page [AI applied to logistics and transport](https://marsanne.studio/en/industries/logistics).

[← AI applied to logistics and transport](https://marsanne.studio/en/industries/logistics)