Most packages that go “missing” at work were delivered. The carrier scanned them at the dock, the tracking page says delivered, and then the trail goes cold. Somewhere between the loading dock and the person it was for, the box changed hands without anyone writing it down.
A chain of custody closes that gap. It is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the difference between “we think it went upstairs” and “Alex logged it at 8:52, it sat on shelf B2, Maria was emailed at 8:53 and signed for it at 2:34.”
The five things to record for every package
- 1.Arrival. Who logged it, when, the carrier and tracking number, and ideally a photo of the label.
- 2.Owner. The named person it belongs to, not just a department or a floor.
- 3.Location. Where it is kept: a shelf, a room, a cage. If it moves, the move is a new entry.
- 4.Notice. Who was notified that it arrived, how, and when.
- 5.Handoff. Who collected it, their signature and the time. If a colleague collects for someone, record the colleague’s name.
Five entries sounds like a lot. In practice, a good process captures the first four in the time it takes to scan a label, and the fifth in the time it takes to sign.
Where the chain usually breaks
- Internal moves. Parcels received at a central dock and walked to a mailroom or a floor. Each move is a handoff, and it is the one most often skipped.
- Collecting for someone else. An assistant picks up for a manager and signs their own name, or no name at all.
- Damaged boxes. If nobody records the condition on arrival, a crushed box becomes an argument about when it was crushed.
- Shift changes. A paper log that one person keeps in their own shorthand does not survive the handover to the next shift.
What good looks like on a bad day
The test of a chain of custody is the day someone asks where their package is. With a complete record, the answer takes a minute: search the name, read the history, and either point to the shelf or show the signature. Without one, it takes an afternoon and ends with an apology.
It also changes the conversation with security and finance. A record with names and times turns a lost high-value delivery from a mystery into a short list of who touched it and when.
Keeping the records
Decide how long package records are kept, write it down, and apply it to every record the same way. Some teams keep a year; others match what their auditors ask for. What matters is that the rule exists before the question does.
Where Receivly fits
Receivly records the whole chain as part of the work: the label is scanned and photographed on arrival, the right person is notified, and every handoff carries a signature, a photo and the time, including who signed when someone collects for a colleague. Damaged boxes can be documented with photos when they are logged, and parcels handed between locations stay on the same record. See how it works in mailroom parcel tracking, or book a demo to see it on your own receiving flow.
Questions
What does chain of custody mean for a package?
It is the record of every hand a package passes through after it reaches your building: who logged it, where it was kept, who was notified, and who collected it, with the time of each step.
Is a signature enough?
A signature proves the last step. A chain of custody also covers arrival, storage and notice, so you can show where a package was at any point, not only who took it.
How long should we keep package records?
As long as your own policy or your auditors require. Decide it once, write it down, and apply it the same way to every record.