A pallet leaves a dock in good order and arrives crushed, wet, short, or not at all. This article explains what actually happens next, and why the answer depends less on fault than on paperwork almost nobody read. It works through the Carmack Amendment's near-strict liability rule and its five exceptions, the bill of lading terms that quietly cap recovery at a fraction of the loss, and the difference between a carrier, a broker, and a freight forwarder that decides who can be sued at all. It covers the nine-month claim deadline, the two-year suit deadline, and the documentary proof that wins or loses a claim before anyone argues about damage. It explains intermodal shipments where ocean law follows the box inland, freight charges and the collect-shipment trap, detention and demurrage, and the liens carriers assert over goods they are still holding. It closes with what to do in the first forty-eight hours after a bad delivery.