Amazon Carrier Rules

Requirements for unloading goods at the Amazon distribution centers

1. How should the trailer be loaded?

→ All Amazon pallets should be loaded lengthwise. See image.

→ It is required to keep 30cm of space between the top of the pallets and the roof of the trailer.

→ There needs to be 30cm of space between the backside of the last pallet and the back of the trailer.

WATCH OUT!

Below a few examples of pallets that will be declined by Amazon:

Inaccessible freight

Inaccessible freight

Inaccessible freight

Inaccessible freight

Loaded horizontally

Loaded horizontally

2. Vehicle Requirements

→ The back of the vehicle needs to be accessible for a pallet truck or forklift.

→ The vehicle needs to weigh more than 7,5 tons and it is required to have a reinforced floor.

→ The vehicle needs to be able to safely handle 5 tons of weight.

→ Pallet shipments require a minimum of 30cm of space at the top and at the back of the vehicle.

→ The vehicle needs to be free of obstacles that can cause health or safety issues.

→ It is prohibited to use ‘Drag and Drop’ and ‘Wagon and Drag’ trailers.

3. Pallet requirements

→ For amazon warehouses in the United Kingdom, you are required to use block pallets. The dimensions for these pallets are 100 x 120 cm.

→ For all the other countries within Europe, you are required to use euro pallets. The dimensions for these pallets are 80 x 120 cm.

→ All pallets – no matter the destinations – need to be of good quality. Pallets with broken or missing planks are likely to get rejected. Disposable pallets will be rejected by Amazon.

→ DO NOT paint the pallets. The pallets are required to be in the natural wooden color.

4. How do I pack and stack Amazon pallets?

→ All FBA labels on the goods are required to face outward. Amazon needs to be able to scan these.

→ There can only be 1 FBA number per pallet. Every FBA number requires its own pallet.

Double stacked pallets may get refused. This is at your own risk.

→ No items are allowed to stick out. Everything needs to remain within the dimensions of the pallet.

→ Shipments are NOT allowed to exceed 180 cm in height. This includes the pallet.

→ The maximum weight per pallet is 500kg.

5. How do I seal Amazon pallets?

amazon pallet

→ The pallets are required to be sealed with transparent wrapping material.

→ The shipment needs to be completely sealed, pallet included.

→ Every corner of the pallets is required to be sealed at least three times.

→ Do NOT use the wrapping material to create knots.

WATCH OUT!

Below a few examples of pallets that will be declined by Amazon:

Goods sticking out

Goods sticking out

Stacked higher than 1.80 m

Stacked higher than 1.80 m

Damaged goods

Damaged goods

Damaged pallets

Damaged pallets

6. Scheduling an Amazon Delivery Appointment

→ All delivery requests have to be entered into the system of Carrier Central 24 hours prior to the delivery.

Go to Carrier Central

How do I schedule a delivery appointment for Amazon in Carrier Central?

1. Select at the right-top the delivery country
2. Select “Create a request” at the top
3. Select the applicable FBA warehouse code for “Target FC”
4. Select no for “is a storage bridge/trailer”
5. Select either Less Than Truckload (LTL) or Truck Load (FTL) for “Freight Type”
6. Select palletized for “Cargo type”
7. Select no for “Is the cargo clampable”
8. Tag number – Not mandatory, leave this open
9. Fill in the “desired delivery date” and time
10. Comment – Not mandatory
11. ARN/PER – Not mandatory
12. BOL number – Fill in the FBA/BOL/ASN number
13. Dealer name – Fill in the vendor / Seller name
14. Fill in the amount of pallets, boxes and articles.
15. PO – Fill in the Purchase order code

WATCH OUT!

If there are multiple PO’s for the same warehouse from different vendors / sellers; use the + button and enter them into the Carrier Central.

If there are multiple PO’s for the same warehouse from the same vendor / seller; use the same bar and place commas between each BOL number and PO number. You are only allowed to use one Carrier Central bar per vendor / seller.

16. Select “request an appointment”
17. Select your preferred date and time slot. Keep the Delivery window of the PO code in mind when doing this. NOTE: the driver must be at the Warehouse half an hour ahead of time.
18.You will receive a confirmation of the delivery appointment in your inbox with all the relevant codes. The ISA code is mandatory for delivery. Please make sure that the driver has this code with him on the day of delivery.

IMPORTANT: 1 ISA = 1 Truck. You are not allowed to have more ISA’s in one truck.

7. Controlling your Amazon delivery appointment

You can check the status of your time slot in Carrier Central via Search> List all active appointments > Submit

This shows you an overview of your appointments. In case the delivery slot of a shipment does not work for you, you can edit the slot via the Edit button or cancel it via the Cancel Appointment button.

Editing and / or canceling a booking needs to be done at least 24 hours prior to the delivery appointment.

8. Unloading at the Amazon warehouse

Facing a delay?

Not in time for your delivery slot due to an unforeseen delay? Contact Quicargo or Amazon immediately to report this. For delays of less than 2 hours, the Amazon ROC team can try to ensure you can still unload the pallet(s).

Amazon contact:

carp-support-xx@amazon.com
xx=uk, de, pl, cz, fr, it, es, be

Quicargo contact:

service@quicargo.com
or +31 20 808 7290

Delivery and unloading process

Delivery without waiting time caused by Amazon


1- Arrival (30 minutes in advance)
→ Please ensure the driver arrives at the Amazon warehouse half an hour before the delivery appointment. In case the driver arrives later, waiting costs cannot be charged to Quicargo.

2- Registration at the gatehouse + providing the ISA number (Inbound Shipment Appointment)

3- Go to the dock assigned to you by Amazon

4- Unload the pallet(s). If Amazon declines the pallet(s), request an Amazon Delivery Record from the warehouse stating the refusal reason. This document is mandatory in order to declare costs at Quicargo.

5- Get the POD/CMR signed and stamped by Amazon

6- Once all these steps have been completed, you may leave the Amazon premises.

Delivery with waiting time caused by Amazon


1- Arrival (30 minutes in advance)
→ Please ensure the driver arrives at the Amazon warehouse half an hour before the delivery appointment. In case the driver arrives later, waiting costs cannot be declared.

2- Registration at the gatehouse + providing the ISA number (Inbound Shipment Appointment)

3- Go to the dock assigned to you by Amazon

4- Unable to unload due to delays and/or waiting time caused by Amazon? Drive back to the gatehouse and let them know you cannot wait any longer and need to leave.

5- Request an Amazon Delivery Record. Send this document to service@quicargo.com. Without this piece of evidence, we are unable to accept extra costs.

6- Once all these steps have been completed, you may leave the Amazon premises.

9. Amazon Refusal Reasons

When Amazon refuses a shipment, they have to provide a refusal reason. The document below states all the possible reasons for refusal. Please make sure you have read through these refusal reasons, to prevent your pallet(s) from being declined by Amazon.
Rejection ReasonExplanation
More pallets delivered than stated in the booking form More pallets delivered than stated in the booking form
Invalid or no booking Invalid (no valid ISA number) or no booking (freight that arrives without a previously scheduled appointment)
Driver pulled out Driver refused to wait to be unloadede due to FC unloading delays and decided to pull out
Arrived late Arrived late (after scheduled appointment time)
Wrong FC POs which are not for the FC they have delivered (Amazon retains the right to accept stock if freight has been redirected by Amazon)
Missing or incomplete delivery paperwork No delivery valid paperwork is available to identify the freight being delivered
Unsafe vehicle
  • Unsafe flooring
  • Roller bed trailers
  • Infestation
  • Doesn't fit to dock
  • Electrical hazards
  • Incorrect vehicle Incorrect vehicle that does not comply with specific FC requirements
    Pallets exceeding height limit
  • Pallet stacked more than height requirements
  • Stacked pallets that may cause a risk to health and safety or damage to Amazon unloading equipment will be rejected.
  • Non-compliant pallet
  • Not accepted: pallet-sized box, one-way pallet
  • Accepted pallets: UK → 100x120cm 4-way access wood pallets with quality EPAL, CHEP, UIC or EN 13698-1 norm; MEU/SEU → 80x120cm 4-way access wood pallets with quality EPAL, CHEP or UIC 435-2, all based on the EN 13698-1 norm
  • ! For vendors located in the US delivering into Europe, the quality requirements to follow are GMA grade B or higher.
    Damaged pallet
  • A single upper or lower edge board is damaged so that more than one nail or screw shank is revealed
  • A board is missing
  • A block is missing or split to the point where more than one nail shank is visible
  • Skewed blocks may not protrude more than 10 mm
  • A board is broken transversely or diagonally
  • More than two lower or upper edge boards are damaged and reveal one nail or screw shank for each board
  • Incorrectly bound pallets Two pallets are bounded on the 120 cm side (should be on the 80 cm or 100 cm side)
    Overhanging pallets Large item being shipped cannot fit on a pallet without overhanging the edges (should be put on bounded pallets)
    Pallet exceeding weight limit Pallet weighs more than 500 kg
    Damaged/tampered freight Damaged/tampered freight at the point of receipt.
    Carrier POD needs to be signed and the number of cartons rejected to be indicated on the document. It is vital that the carrier paperwork is annotated to state the number of cartons received/ not received.
    Carton exceeds weight limit No carton containing more than 1 ASIN should weigh more than 15kg. Any item above 15kg should be properly labelled. Any item weighing above 30 kg should be palletized.
    Open Load Open cartons at the point of receipt - suspicion on theft
    Food/ pet food quality impaired Food/ pet food quality impaired, e.g. temperature of grocery and pet food goods should not exceed 40°C. The demperature of chocolate and medicine should not exceed 25°C.
    Hazmat Hazardous goods are delivered to inappropriate FC
    Disregarding safety and security guidelines on site Driver disregarded safety and security guidelines (e.g. DE-yard checklist, use of handbrake, reject to give the keys etc.) and instructions of Amazon staff
    Banned/ abusive driver/ inappropriate behaviour
  • Uncooperative behaviour or usfficient reason to believe driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs
  • The driver was previously banned
  • Failure to read and sign acceptance of site rules
  • Dock leveller cannot be engaged Unable to unload as dock leveller cannot be engaged (less than 15cm between the stock and the rear lip of the vehicle) or securing straps are preventing engagement of dock leveller
    Unable to offload from rear of vehicle Unloading possible only from the side
    Chemical risk Split chemicals with risk of absorption or inhalation
    Loose cartons added to a palletized delivery Non-palletized loose cartons that place the associate at risk of injury
    Inaccessible stock No access to Amazon goods: access blocked by rejected goods or access blocked by goods of a third party
    Health and Safety risk
  • Damaged freight resulting in handballing of load (manual handling) - applies to cartons over 15kg only
  • Unauthorized removal of Susie lock, jack stand or chocks once the vehicle is on a bay
  • Entrapment risk/ fall from height risk
  • Dangerous fumigation/ gas concentration in container
  • Livestock - family, pets or loaded livestock
  • 10. Costs for waiting time, refusals and returns

    Waiting time with unloading

    Did you have extra waiting time at Amazon, but were the pallet(s) eventually unloaded?

    Waiting time must always be reported to the Quicargo Service Team immediately. The waiting costs can only be declared under the following conditions:

    – The waiting time has to be on the POD/CMR.
    – A CARP screenshot needs to be provided that shows at what time the driver arrived and what time the driver left.


    Waiting time without unloading

    Did you have extra waiting time at Amazon, but were the pallets eventually not unloaded?

    Waiting time must always be reported to the Quicargo Service Team immediately. The waiting costs can only be declared under the following conditions:

    – An Amazon Delivery Record stating the waiting time. This document is mandatory in order to start a case at Amazon.
    – A CARP screenshot showing the time the drive signed in.


    Refusal of the pallets by Amazon

    Refusal by Amazon must always be reported to the Quicargo Service Team immediately. The costs caused due to the refusal can only be declared under the following conditions:

    – An Amazon Delivery Record stating the refusal reason. This document is mandatory in order to start a case at Amazon.

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