THE WAYBILL - Food Resources Manual

Purpose

The Waybill is the primary document for the receipt and dispatch of food into and out of all warehouses.

Whether CARE or its counterpart arranges for the transport of food from warehouses, warehouse managers or storekeepers should use a CARE waybill to document the dispatch and subsequent receipt of food. If a counterpart insists on using its own waybills, negotiate an agreement that the counterpart’s waybills will contain all the information required in the CARE waybill. If they do not, manually write the information on the waybill prior to signing it. Try, however, to minimize the use of non-CARE waybills.

Information on the Waybill

1. General

CARE's pre-printed, pre-numbered waybills capture information on the donor source, shipment numbers, origin and destination of the dispatch, the transporter, standard weight of unit of food, the type and amounts of food being sent, packages of food received damaged, and the routing of waybills for recordkeeping purposes. A country office may include additional information on the waybill that pertains to the specific country situation.

2. Project Number

Tracking information on the actual amount of food being distributed to projects is important to management. At any given time, managers should be able to determine how much food has actually reached project sites. The CARE waybill also includes a reference for Project Numbers (PNs). This section should only be filled out when food is actually dispatched to a distribution site. The PN on the waybills provides the source documentation for preparing management reports on these distributions.

The following are some examples of when to fill in the PN section of the waybill.

Control of Pre-Printed Waybills

Country offices must control access to pre-printed , pre-numbered waybill forms the same way that they control access to blank checks for cash transactions.

Waybill Authorization

Delegate the authority to dispatch food to a warehouse manager or storekeeper or someone higher up in the organization. Before signing the waybill:

• Insure that the information on the waybill is complete.
• Insure that the type and quantity of food loaded on the truck matches both the information on the waybill and the information in the distribution plan for the project.
• Insure that the delivery location on the waybill matches the delivery location on the distribution plan or the disposition memo for unfit food.
• Obtain the signature of the person taking the food from the warehouse, usually the transporter.

Once these requirements have been met, sign the waybill and the food can be dispatched.