Transit, Containers, and Bulk Handoffs

Safe sequence

Create the shipment with source and destination, add uniquely tagged containers, pack item quantities, verify membership, seal if required, dispatch, then receive against expected contents. Container scans accelerate bulk work but do not erase item membership.

State controls

draft → packed → dispatched/in_transit → partially_received/received is the normal path. Shortage, overage, damage, rejected receipt, broken seal, missing container, repack, or delay stays an explicit exception.

The certified command set covers creation, pack, same-shipment repack, dispatch, carrier handoff, partial/full receipt, exception recording, unpack, and provenance-linked return-to-sender shipment creation. Sensor evidence automation, yard/dock scheduling, and EPCIS capture/query exchange remain phase-gated.

Recovery paths

• Repack: move selected active members from an eligible source container into an open destination container in the same shipment; the old memberships are retained as removed history.
• Carrier handoff: record carrier, tracking reference, signed-in operator, time, and reason while moving the shipment to in_transit.
• Return to sender: select received assets, provide a new shipment reference and container tag, and create a direction-reversed shipment linked to the original shipment. Dispatch that return as a separate controlled leg.
• Exception: preserve expected and actual quantities plus evidence; never rewrite the original manifest to hide a discrepancy.

Receipt proof

Record receiver, server time, destination, received members/quantities, discrepancies, condition, seal status, and attachments. Never infer receipt merely from a carrier tracking update.