This timeline is part of the interchange exception resolution guide. The main guide explains which records settle a missing handover; this page puts them on a clock.
What disappears first: the order of loss
Records tied to people and devices go before records tied to money. In a typical upgrade the order runs like this:
- Tracker pairing history. When devices are re-paired to new chassis or the tracker is re-integrated with the new platform, older geofence events can lose the link to the equipment they described. This happens at cutover, not months later.
- Personal and departed mailboxes. Delay decisions often live in individual dispatchers' inboxes. In Microsoft 365, a deleted user can be restored with their data within 30 days; after that the account and mailbox are permanently deleted. A mailbox only becomes inactive, and survives, if a hold or retention policy was applied before the account was deleted.
- The old platform's dispute module. Disputes logged inside the dispatch platform last as long as access to it, which a vendor contract usually sets.
- Copies of receipts and images. Copies of Equipment Interchange Receipts, or their electronic equivalents and recorded images, may sit as attachments in the old platform. Note that the provider created them.
- Credit memos and invoices. These sit in accounting, which usually outlives the dispatch platform. They also fall under tax record-keeping: the IRS says to keep records until the period of limitations for the return runs out, generally three years, longer in listed cases.
Microsoft 365The retention timeline, record by record
Use the table as a prompt for the operations director and the controller. The middle columns describe what usually ends a record's life; the company's own policies and contracts give the real dates.
| Record | Where it sits | What usually ends it | How long it tends to last | Who approves keeping it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracker events and pairing history | Tracker vendor service | Re-pairing, re-integration or contract end | Set by the vendor contract | Operations director, with counsel |
| Dispatcher decisions in shared mailbox | Email system | Mailbox clean-up policy | Set by company retention policy | Records owner |
| Dispatcher decisions in personal mailboxes | Email system | Account deletion when a person leaves | 30 days after deletion in Microsoft 365, unless held beforehand | Records owner and counsel |
| Loads, pairings and dispute log in old platform | Dispatch platform | End of vendor contract or read-only period | Until access ends | COO |
| Copies of receipts and images | Old platform attachments | Same as the platform | Until access ends | Counsel, as provider-created |
| Credit memos and rebills | Accounting | Company retention schedule | At least the tax limitation period, generally three years | Controller |
The gap between the rows is the risk: credit memos may survive for years while the dispatch reasons that justified them were gone within a month of a dispatcher leaving.
A twelve-month upgrade, month by month (Illustrative)
A fictional 300-person drayage carrier plans to replace its dispatch platform. The months are an example, not a recommendation.
| When | Event | What the inventory should have captured by then |
|---|---|---|
| Month minus 6 | Upgrade contract signed, cutover date set | Record classes, years covered and owner for each system |
| Month minus 3 | Data migration scope agreed | Whether pairings, dispute log and attachments migrate or stay behind |
| Month minus 1 | Two dispatchers leave | Whether their mailboxes hold delay decisions, and whether the records owner chose to keep them before deletion |
| Month 0 | Cutover; trackers re-integrated | Pairing history captured or confirmed lost |
| Month plus 3 | Old platform read-only access ends | Dispute log and attachments either migrated, exported under company authority, or gone |
| Month plus 6 | Accounting archive reviewed | Credit memos still tied to dispute IDs |
The documented dates here are the contract signature, the cutover and the end of read-only access. A partner records only dates like these, taken from contracts or project plans, never an estimate of when something might be deleted.
Who must approve keeping it
Nobody outside the company decides what is kept. The usual roles are:
- Records owner or COO: decides which classes are kept, for how long and in what form.
- General counsel: checks retention against privacy obligations, vendor and provider contracts, and any litigation holds.
- Controller: owns the accounting archive and its schedule.
- Operations director: knows which records matter and when systems change, and sponsors the inventory.
A partner can ask the questions in this page and write down the answers. Recommending that the company export, copy or keep data beyond its own policy is outside the partner's role, and copying anything for safekeeping is never appropriate. Carriers working with outside IT support often run upgrades through that provider; IT support for trucking companies covers who usually holds admin rights. If the upgrade is part of preparing the business for sale, selling a business with outdated technology covers that context, and the ServiceNow incident data page shows the same retention questions in a different system.
ServiceNowWhat the inventory tells SourceX, and what it does not
A completed inventory says which records exist, for how many years, in which systems, with which owners and against which documented deadline. It also shows whether the joins described in the system map survive the upgrade. It does not show demand, the rights result or the value of anything. Those stay unknown until SourceX reviews the opportunity. The referral brief template turns the inventory into a one-page introduction, and the freight audit and payment page covers the billing side of similar disputes.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If a carrier has a documented cutover date and its dispute history is still intact, register as a partner, confirm the company on who qualifies and read the program terms before you introduce the executive who owns the records.