The supplier has pushed the cargo-ready date back. You have found another sailing, obtained approval and received a revised booking PDF. The customer is waiting for an update, and the haulier still has the original collection date.
Before you close the booking amendment, put the supplier’s message, the approval and the amended booking confirmation alongside each other. Check that the carrier has confirmed the change you were authorised to make, then deal with the instructions and charges that still need attention. A colleague picking up the file should be able to see exactly where it stands.
Use this checklist for a confirmed ocean freight booking when the full container has not yet gated in. Print it or use the headings in your booking-change record. An unchecked item needs a next action, an owner and a due time.
1. Establish the booking and equipment position
- Save the current booking confirmation. Record its reference, revision or issue time, carrier, booking product or contract, origin and destination.
- Keep the supplier’s revised ready-date message. Record who supplied the date, when, and whether “ready” means available for collection or another agreed handover point.
- Record the original and revised ready dates, with local times and time zones where they matter to the plan.
- Confirm whether equipment is unreleased, released but uncollected, or already collected. Keep the relevant release or collection reference.
- Confirm that the full container has not gated in. If it has, or the position is unclear, ask the carrier or responsible local team for the handling route that applies to that state.
- Save the current sailing and applicable cargo, shipping-instruction and verified gross mass (VGM) cut-offs. Record where each deadline came from and when you checked it.
For Hapag-Lloyd bookings handled through its UAE service, the local FAQ points operators to the booking confirmation and Navigator for cut-off information. If the records show different dates, resolve the difference before committing to a plan.
2. Match the proposed option to its approval
- Give each proposed sailing or handling option a reference. Record its availability, deadlines and any conditions still awaiting confirmation.
- Check the collection, preparation and delivery plan against those deadlines. Allow for the work between the supplier becoming ready and the container reaching the terminal.
- Record quoted cost changes and unquoted items separately: freight, amendment charges, haulage and relevant local costs.
- Retain the decision-maker’s approval, its time, the selected option and the exact fields authorised to change.
- Record spending limits and conditions. Where a cost is unknown, obtain an explicit decision on how to handle it.
- Name the operator authorised to submit the amendment and record the carrier channel they will use.
Maersk’s Spot amendment guidance describes an online journey showing available options, deadlines and applicable revised charges. Save the information for the option being approved so the next person can check the same decision.
3. Check what the carrier has accepted
- Keep the submitted amendment, submission time and carrier reference or acknowledgement.
- Identify what the response actually says: request received, more information needed, rejected, or changed values confirmed.
- Obtain the revised booking confirmation or applicable carrier acceptance record and link it to this request.
Maersk’s amendment instructions describe a revised confirmation issued once the change is confirmed. Keep that returned record alongside the outgoing request so the comparison is easy to repeat.
4. Compare the amended booking confirmation
Check the return against the approved option. Read the rest of the confirmation too: another field may have changed while the sailing was being amended.
| Check | Compare with the approval and original booking | Keep the amendment open if |
|---|---|---|
| Booking and revision | Booking reference, request reference and issue times | The return belongs to another booking or cannot be tied to this request |
| Sailing and routing | Approved vessel, voyage or service; relevant transhipment details | The confirmed option or routing differs from the approval |
| Ports and places | Loading/discharge ports, terminal and inland locations | A location changes without approval or an instruction uses the old location |
| Dates and cut-offs | Schedule, cargo, shipping-instruction and VGM deadlines; time zones | The plan cannot meet a deadline, a required value is missing or sources disagree |
| Quantity and equipment | Approved number/type; container and release references where relevant | The return changes equipment or quantity, or release instructions need resolving |
| Cargo and other amended fields | Exact authorised values and relevant restrictions | A material field differs or a condition remains unresolved |
- Record the result for each applicable row. Give a reason for any field marked not applicable.
- Ask the responsible party to resolve missing or conflicting values.
- Refer a different option, charge or material condition back to the decision-maker. Retain the new approval if the authorised change is revised.
Example. Booking EX-001 covers one 40HC container. The ready date moves from 8 to 12 November 2026, and no empty container has been collected. The operator obtains approval for Option B with the equipment unchanged. The amended confirmation names Option B but shows one 40GP. The sailing matches; the equipment does not. Record the equipment mismatch and obtain a corrected confirmation or a new approval before closing the amendment.
5. Update the people and instructions affected
- List affected collection, haulage, depot, warehouse and terminal arrangements. Name the person changing each instruction and retain the update.
- Check shipping-instruction and VGM preparation, document work and customer communications. Make clear which dates are confirmed and which still depend on a response.
- Keep quoted, approved, invoiced, disputed and unknown charges in distinct states. Name the owner of each unresolved charge and record any customer-recovery decision.
- Give every remaining task a next action and due time, including follow-ups waiting on another party.
6. Leave a clear completion record
- Name the returned confirmation or acceptance record, the approved option and the person who compared them.
- State which applicable fields match and list any discrepancy still being resolved.
- Record the carrier amendment, downstream tasks and charge items separately so their status is visible.
- Close the carrier-amendment task when the accepted values match the authorised change and material discrepancies are resolved. Leave other tasks with their owners until their own completion evidence is recorded.
For EX-001, the equipment mismatch keeps the carrier amendment open. Once that is resolved, a haulage update or unquoted charge may still need attention. The handover note should identify those items and their owners so the next operator can continue without rereading the whole email chain.
Put the checklist to work on one booking change
Use the cargo-not-ready playbook to work through the full amendment, or read why a cargo-ready date change needs one connected record.
If your team keeps chasing approvals or finding mismatches in revised bookings, Let’s talk. Tell us where the work gets stuck and who handles it. We can discuss the records, decisions and follow-ups involved, then scope the workflow with your team. See the booking-rescheduling workflow for the proposed approach.