Walmart Chargeback Code 23: Shipper Load & Count Shortage

Executive Summary & Quick Answer

Executive summary: On a Shipper Load and Count shipment, the carrier never counts your freight — you load the trailer, you count it, you seal it. That convenience has a price: any gap between the BOL and what Walmart receives is presumed to be your error. Code 23 is that presumption, monetized. The prevention story is entirely at your dock door: verified counts, accurate BOLs, and photographic evidence of the sealed load.

Quick answer: Walmart Chargeback Code 23 is a shortage deduction on Shipper Load and Count (SLC) shipments — loads the supplier counted and sealed. If the bill of lading states more cartons than Walmart receives, the difference is deducted under Code 23. Prevention: verify the loaded count against the BOL before sealing.

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Deep Dive: What Triggers Code 23

Shipper Load and Count (SLC) is a freight term: the supplier loads the trailer and attests to the count; the carrier signs for a sealed box without verifying its contents. The BOL notation shifts count liability to you.

Code 23 fires when that attested count doesn't survive the trip: the BOL says 500 cartons, Walmart's receiving scan says 495, and the seal arrived intact. With an intact seal and an SLC notation, Walmart's working assumption is that the 5 cartons were never loaded — and the deduction lands without much conversation.

The three numbers that must agree:

Number	Lives on	Common failure
Physical count loaded	The trailer	Miscount during self-loading
BOL carton/pallet count	Bill of lading	Written from the pick plan, not the load
856 ASN counts	EDI	Generated from the PO/pick plan, not the physical load

The classic failure: the BOL is copied from the planned pick (500), two cartons get short-picked or left on the dock, nobody reconciles, and the trailer seals at 498. The paperwork confidently lies, and the deduction is mathematically guaranteed.

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Business & Financial Impact

• Deduction = cost of the short cartons.
• Presumption works against you. On SLC freight with an intact seal, the burden of proof is effectively yours — Walmart's count vs your attestation.
• Dispute economics: winnable mainly with load-time evidence (verified count records, photos of the loaded/sealed trailer, seal numbers). Without them, disputes are expensive coin-flips.
• Repeated Code 23s also invite scrutiny of your loading operation in supplier reviews.

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Root Causes (Ranked)

1. BOL written from the plan, not the load — the count was never physically verified at the dock door.
2. Self-loading miscounts — mixed pallets, partial layers, or staged cartons that never boarded.
3. In-transit loss on SLC loads — rarer with an intact seal, but real on multi-stop runs.
4. ASN/BOL divergence — the 856 says one number, the BOL another; receiving mismatches cascade.
5. No load evidence — nothing to dispute with even when you were right.

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Step-by-Step Prevention Workflow

staging count ──► LOAD BY SCAN ──► loaded count vs BOL vs 856
                                        │ mismatch? fix BEFORE sealing
                                        ▼
                photograph load + seal ──► record seal # on BOL ──► release

1. Load by scan, not by eye. Each carton/pallet scanned onto the trailer; the loaded count is a system number, not a tally mark.
2. Reconcile three ways before sealing: physical loaded count = BOL = 856. Any mismatch stops the trailer.
3. Photograph the loaded trailer and the applied seal; record the seal number on the BOL. Two minutes of photos is your entire dispute file.
4. Generate the 856 from the loading scans so the ASN attests to what actually boarded.
5. Audit monthly: compare Code 23 deductions against load records; a recurring lane or shift pattern points to the fix.

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Code 23 vs Code 24 (who counted the truck?)

	Code 23 (SLC)	Code 24
Count liability	Supplier loaded & counted	Carrier/dock interaction — freight bill signed short
Walmart's presumption	Never loaded	Lost/miscounted in the carrier chain
Winning evidence	Load scans, photos, seal record	Signed BOL/POD showing full count
Fix lives at	Your loading dock	Pickup/delivery documentation

Related: Code 24 · Code 22 · Code 21

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Supplier Checklist

• SLC loads scanned onto the trailer (no eyeball counts)
• BOL count written from the loading scans, never the pick plan
• 856 generated from loading scans; BOL = 856 = physical, verified pre-seal
• Loaded trailer + seal photographed; seal number on the BOL
• Monthly Code 23 audit against load records

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FAQs

What is Walmart chargeback Code 23? A shortage deduction on Shipper Load and Count shipments: the supplier attested to the count on the BOL, and Walmart received fewer cartons. The difference is deducted.

What does Shipper Load and Count (SLC) mean? The supplier loads, counts, and seals the trailer; the carrier signs for a sealed unit without verifying contents. Count liability stays with the supplier.

Can I dispute a Code 23? Yes, through the APDP in Retail Link — but you need load-time evidence: scan records, photos of the loaded/sealed trailer, and the seal number. Without evidence, an intact seal argues against you.

How is Code 23 different from Code 24? Code 23 is SLC freight (you counted). Code 24 is a shortage documented on the freight bill at the dock (the carrier chain counted). The evidence that wins each dispute is different.

What's the single best prevention step? Write the BOL from loading scans instead of the pick plan — the majority of Code 23s are paperwork that never matched the physical load.

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