At each drop-off a courier's driver fills a short mobile form with a photo and the receiver's signature. The automation adds GPS location and time, builds a one-page proof of delivery PDF, emails it to the sender and files it on the job row.
Typical results
≈5 hrs/wk
Office time no longer spent matching paper PODs
≈75%
Fewer disputed deliveries
100%
Jobs with a POD attached at invoice time
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Business senders want proof the moment a parcel arrives, but paper delivery notes travel back to the office in drivers' vans and get scanned a day or more later. Office staff spend hours matching slips to jobs, some go missing, and disputed deliveries drag on because nobody can show who signed or when.
Before and after
Minutes from drop-off to POD sent
−99%Office hours matching paper PODs per week
−83%Disputed deliveries per month
−75%The automation
Each job in Google Sheets has a link to a mobile form. At the drop-off the driver opens it, photographs the parcel at the door or with the receiver, and captures the receiver's signature and printed name. A flow in Make adds the GPS location and timestamp, fills a one-page proof of delivery template, emails the PDF to the sender and saves the link on the job row.
How it works
- 01
Driver opens the job form
At the drop-off the driver opens a mobile form already linked to the job number.
- 02
Photo and signature
The driver photographs the parcel at the door or with the receiver and captures the receiver's signature and printed name.
- 03
GPS and time added
The automation stamps the GPS location and the exact time of the drop-off on the record.
- 04
One-page POD PDF
A one-page proof of delivery PDF is built and emailed to the sender within a minute.
- 05
Saved for invoicing
The PDF link is saved on the job row in Google Sheets, so every POD is in place when monthly invoices go out.
Starts from
- Driver mobile form
- Photo and signature
Delivers
- POD emailed to sender
- POD saved on job row
- Ready for monthly invoices
The impact
Senders receive a proof of delivery within a minute of each drop-off, with a photo, signature, location and time. Office staff save about 5 hours a week of scanning and matching, most disputes are settled from the PDF, and every job has its proof attached when monthly invoices go out.
Questions about this automation
Do drivers need a special app?
No. The form opens in the phone's browser from a link on each job, so drivers use the phones they already carry. It is kept short, with a photo, a signature pad and a name field, so recording a drop-off takes well under a minute.
What if the receiver refuses to sign or nobody is there?
The form offers 'left at door' and 'refused' options. In those cases the driver photographs the parcel in place, the POD is marked with the reason, and the sender's email states what happened, so the office can follow up the same day when needed.
What does the courier need to set this up?
A job list in Google Sheets or an export from the dispatch tool, a mobile form tool, a POD template with the company's details and the email address for each sender account. Simple automations like this are usually live within days.