JFK and EWR Cargo Recovery Checklist

Published 8 October 2026 · Reviewed by Azzurro Operations Team

Air freight recovery is a short move wrapped around a long wait. The driving is an hour; everything else is whether the freight is physically available, legally released, correctly identified, and whether somebody at the other end can receive it. Nearly every failed recovery traces back to one of those four.

The list below is what a dispatcher needs before committing a vehicle. Most of it comes straight off your arrival notice or from your broker.

JFK or EWR

Say which airport. They are different operating environments with different handlers, different traffic patterns and different access arrangements, and freight is sometimes trucked between them after arrival, so the airport on the air waybill is not always where the freight sits.

If a shipment was recovered to an off-airport facility, that address is what matters, not the airport code.

Airline and cargo handling facility

Name the airline, and the handler if you know it. This trips people up more than anything else on the list: many airlines contract warehouse handling to third-party companies, so the building a driver collects from often carries a different name than the carrier on the air waybill.

Sending the airline alone usually works, but the handler and building number remove the guesswork. A driver at the wrong facility is a wasted trip that may result in additional charges.

Air waybill information

The air waybill number is the one field nothing works without. It is how the handler locates the freight and how release is authorised.

• Master air waybill — identifies the shipment the airline is holding.
• House air waybill — identifies your shipment inside a consolidation, where one applies.

Send both if the shipment is consolidated, and say which is which. A collection attempted against a number the handler cannot see does not get released.

Availability and release status

"Landed" and "collectable" are not the same thing. Between them sit several steps, each run by someone different:

1. Flight arrived. The aircraft is on the ground. Nothing can be collected yet.
2. Freight on hand. ULDs broken down, pieces checked into the handler's warehouse and showing on their system.
3. Airline release. Charges settled and the airline authorising release.
4. Customs release. Cleared by the relevant authorities where an entry is required.
5. Available for collection. All of the above, and the facility is open.

Tell us where the shipment sits in that sequence. You do not need it fully released to ask for a quote — knowing it is two steps away is itself useful planning information.

Customs release

Send your broker's name and contact details. When a question arises at the facility, the fastest resolution is usually a direct conversation between the broker and the handler, and that only happens if we have the contact.

Pieces, dimensions, weight and stackability

These decide the vehicle, and a wrong vehicle is a second trip:

• Piece count — and whether loose cartons or palletised.
• Dimensions — per piece or per pallet, including height. Air pallets can be tall and oddly shaped.
• Total weight — actual gross, not chargeable weight, which is often higher.
• Stackability — whether pieces can be stacked, and how many high. Non-stackable freight consumes far more floor space than its footprint suggests.

If the handler has already built the freight onto skids, the skid dimensions are what matters, not the original carton dimensions.

Freight type and special handling

Describe what the freight actually is, and flag anything that changes handling: hazardous materials and their classification, high-value goods, fragile or shock-sensitive items, oversized or out-of-gauge pieces, live or perishable goods, and anything requiring a specific orientation or seal.

Not every shipment type can be carried on every vehicle or by every carrier. Saying so up front means we confirm what can be arranged rather than discovering it at the warehouse.

Temperature requirements

If the freight is temperature-sensitive, send the requirement in writing, in the units it is specified in, along with any permitted excursion window. "Keep cold" is not a specification.

Written requirements decide whether the shipment needs refrigerated capacity, and let us say honestly when a requirement is beyond what we can commit to. Our reefer box truck and sprinter van service covers temperature-controlled equipment, and refrigerated and specialized cargo covers pharmaceutical and perishable work in more depth.

Facility hours and access

Cargo facilities have their own hours, which are not the airport's hours and can include closures the public never sees. Some require advance notice, a booked collection slot, or specific documentation presented at the counter.

Access to cargo areas is controlled and credential-dependent, and it varies by facility. We confirm per shipment what a given collection requires rather than assuming any particular level of access. Where a shipment cannot be collected under the applicable requirements, we say so before dispatching rather than after.

Pickup and delivery timing

Tell us the earliest the freight is expected to be available and the time the consignee needs it. Where the two are incompatible, it is better to know at quote stage.

What nobody can responsibly promise is a pickup or delivery time that depends on breakdown, release, customs, documentation, facility queues, traffic or equipment availability. We will give you a realistic window and tell you what it is contingent on.

Delivery address and receiving

The destination decides as much as the origin does:

• Full delivery address, with building or suite references
• Receiving hours, including any cut-off
• Whether a delivery appointment is required, and who books it
• Whether there is a dock, or a liftgate is needed
• Whether a forklift and crew are available to unload
• Site contact name and mobile number

Where the destination is a job site or a commercial address with no dock, see commercial final-mile and job-site delivery. For a single urgent carton rather than palletised freight, NJ expedited courier and same-day delivery is usually the better fit.

Vehicle selection

Equipment follows from the pieces, the weight and the destination:

• Sprinter van — cartons and small consignments, tight urban destinations.
• Refrigerated Sprinter or box truck — temperature-controlled freight.
• Box truck, with liftgate where needed — palletised air freight, and destinations with no dock.
• Larger equipment — multi-pallet consignments and long-haul continuation.

If you have a preference, say so. Otherwise the vehicle is chosen from the dimensions and the delivery conditions, and confirmed with the rate.

Documents and contacts

Have these to hand, even if not all are needed on the day:

• Arrival notice
• Master and house air waybill numbers
• Commercial invoice and packing list
• Delivery order or release authorisation, where one is required
• Customs broker name and contact
• Consignee contact with a mobile number
• Any reference the consignee needs on paperwork

Why airport recoveries are delayed

In rough order of frequency:

• Freight not on hand — landed but not yet broken down and checked in.
• Not released — an airline or customs hold still open.
• Air waybill mismatch — the handler cannot locate the number presented.
• Documentation — a required document missing at the counter.
• Dimension or piece-count surprises — the freight does not match what was quoted and will not fit the vehicle sent.
• Facility queues — peak periods at the cargo building.
• Receiving constraints — the delivery site cannot take it when it finally becomes available.

Every one of these is visible in advance from the information above.

The checklist, ready to copy

Paste this into an email or quote request. Write "unknown" rather than leaving a blank, so nobody assumes.

Send it to dispatch@azzurrolog.com, use the form on our JFK and EWR airport freight recovery page, or call dispatch on 908-341-0893. Coverage detail is on our freight service areas page.