5 Essential Vehicle Inspection Key Points During Shipping

Carrying out vehicle inspections during shipping is how condition is proven — and how claims are defended — across the finished vehicle logistics chain. A finished vehicle changes hands many times between the factory and the dealership: loading port, vessel, discharge port, compound, and final delivery. Damage can occur at any of these handovers, and without a clear record at each step it becomes almost impossible to establish where it happened or who is accountable. Disciplined inspection at every handover is what turns a dispute into a documented fact.

1. Exterior and bodywork condition

The exterior is where most transit damage shows up and where most claims are won or lost. Check for scratches, dents, paint chips, panel-gap movement, glass and trim damage, and the condition of lights and mirrors. Tyre condition and correct inflation matter too. The key discipline in finished vehicle logistics is not just spotting damage — it is capturing it as timestamped, VIN-linked photo evidence at the moment of handover, so the condition record is defensible later.

2. Interior and trim condition

A finished vehicle’s interior is part of its saleable condition, so it belongs in the inspection. Record the state of seats, dashboard, trim, and flooring, and confirm interior electrics and climate controls respond as expected. Any mark, scuff, or fault noted and photographed at handover is one that cannot later be attributed to your part of the chain.

3. Mechanical and EV readiness

A finished vehicle should arrive ready to drive on and off the vessel under its own power, so basic mechanical readiness is worth confirming at handover.

Electric vehicles add a step that did not exist a decade ago: battery state of charge (SoC) is now actively governed for vehicles moving by sea. The European Maritime Safety Agency’s guidance for alternative-fuel vehicles in Ro-Ro spaces recommends a SoC of 20–50% for vehicles carried on PCTC vessels, and many car carriers set their own ceiling lower — often 30% or below. From 1 January 2026, IMDG Code Amendment 42-24 also introduced a dedicated dangerous-goods classification (UN 3556) for lithium-ion electric vehicles. ECG, the Association of European Vehicle Logistics, publishes a consolidated summary of carrier SoC requirements. The practical point: confirm the receiving carrier’s SoC requirement before the vehicle reaches the quay, and record the charge state as part of the condition check.

4. VIN verification and documentation

Every condition record is only as good as the vehicle it is tied to. Verify the vehicle identification number (VIN) against the booking and manifest so the inspection cannot be matched to the wrong unit. Complete a structured condition report — findings plus photographs — and keep it consistent with the evidence standards your OEM customers expect (for example, AIAG E-21-style condition records). Consistent, VIN-anchored documentation is what makes a record stand up when a claim is contested.

5. Handover evidence and secure data exchange

Inspection data only protects you if it survives the handover. Capture an electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) at each transfer of custody, and make sure the condition record moves securely between trading partners — carrier, terminal, survey company, and OEM logistics team — with a clear audit trail rather than loose photos and paperwork. A single record, shared cleanly across the chain, is what closes the gap between “we think it arrived damaged” and “here is exactly when and where it happened.”

Why it matters

In finished vehicle logistics, a single defended claim can cover the cost of the inspection process many times over. The risk is rarely the inspection itself — it is the missing or inconsistent record that leaves a business carrying damage it did not cause. Disciplined, evidence-grade inspection at every handover protects the vehicle’s condition, holds each party accountable, and keeps high-volume movements running without dispute.

How Bison Grid supports vehicle inspection during shipping

Bison Grid is the finished vehicle logistics quality and claims platform built for exactly this problem. It is the system of record that inspection teams use to capture evidence-grade condition data — mobile inspection, ePOD, damage documentation, VIN tracking, and claims management — with full offline capability for use at sea and in compounds with no signal. The native Bison App for iOS and Android is the field companion: offline-first, with 30-day auto-recovery, Zebra scanner support, and Express Mode for high-volume yards.

Bison Grid runs in production for finished vehicle logistics businesses including Petrucela & Co, alongside Siem Car Carriers, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, and TOTE Maritime Alaska. It is delivered as web SaaS plus native iOS and Android, with the Bison App published on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store under the Bison Grid publisher account. The platform has been built by the same engineering team since 2003 — twenty-three years of engineering history behind a product purpose-built for finished vehicle logistics, not adapted from generic software.

To date, that has meant 10M+ vehicles inspected, 5M+ photos captured, and 50,000+ jobs managed across five continents. Bison Grid is a partner of ECG, a Crown Commercial Service supplier, and Cyber Essentials certified.

Defend every claim. Document every handover.

• Bison App on the Apple App Store
• Bison App on Google Play

Sources

• European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) — Transportation of Alternative Fuelled Vehicles (AFV), including the Guidance on the carriage of AFVs in Ro-Ro spaces (20–50% SoC recommendation for PCTC vessels).
• ECG, the Association of European Vehicle Logistics — EV State of Charge requirements.
• IMDG Code Amendment 42-24, introducing UN 3556 for lithium-ion electric vehicles, in force from 1 January 2026.