SENTINEL · TOOLS
All tools Freight hub →
Cold Chain & Produce Compliance

PACA Good Arrival / Good Delivery Calculator

Enter a commodity, the destination inspection's condition-defect and decay percentages, and days since shipment — this checks the result against USDA's published F.O.B. Good Delivery tolerances and tells you whether it lands inside or outside the guideline.

Shipment & inspection

USDA's table gives allowances for 1–5 days since shipment (truck transit). Rail and ocean shipments with longer transit are held to the same maximums as day 5 unless a different market precedent applies.

%

All condition (transit) defects found at destination, by USDA/inspection-certificate count.

%

Subset of total that is serious damage — leave 0 if the commodity's tolerance has no separate serious-damage tier.

%

Subset of serious damage that is decay specifically.

Result

Choose a commodity and enter inspection percentages above.
§ These figures are USDA PACA Division's F.O.B. Good Delivery Guidelines — the industry-standard interpretation used to judge whether produce sold "F.O.B." arrived in normal commercial condition. They are guidelines, not binding regulatory percentages, and the contract's own terms (grade, % specified, "acceptance final," etc.) can change what actually governs a given sale. 7 CFR § 46.44 separately sets out binding Good Delivery requirements, but only for lettuce — see the note below.

Tolerance dial

Defect load vs. allowed maximum
Gauge needle position showing total condition defects relative to the allowed tolerance. 0% 150% of cap
—
Enter inspection percentages
Defects vs. caps, by tier
Stacked bar chart comparing total, serious, and decay defect percentages against their tolerance caps.
Reported % Cap (dashed)

Reference table — common commodities

Shipping-point tolerance and the maximum % of defects allowed at each day since shipment (1–5 days, truck transit), from USDA's F.O.B. Good Delivery Guidelines Table. Format: total – serious (incl. decay) – decay, e.g. 15-8-3 = 15% total, ≤8% serious/decay, ≤3% decay. Two-number entries (e.g. artichokes) have no separate serious-damage tier. This is a subset of the full USDA table — see the link below for the complete, current list and footnoted exceptions.

CommodityShipping-pt. toleranceDay 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5

Entries marked * in USDA's table have additional/special tolerances (grade-specific defect types) not captured by the single percentage series — consult the full table and the applicable U.S. Grade Standard before relying on those. "Destination" tolerance = the commodity's U.S. Grade Standard is set at destination rather than shipping point.

Source: USDA AMS PACA Division, F.O.B. Good Delivery Guidelines · full table (PDF): PACA-GoodDeliveryGuidelines.pdf  +  eCFR: 7 CFR Part 46 (PACA regulations) · § 46.44 (Good Delivery standard — lettuce) · Not a PACA determination or legal advice — confirm current eCFR and AMS materials.

How this tool works

PACA Good Arrival / Good Delivery Calculator runs entirely in your browser. Inputs are evaluated with rules and constants taken from cited public data (Freight & logistics). Nothing is uploaded to a server for the calculation itself.

Use Copy link to share this page (including query parameters when the tool supports them) or Print for a dock/packet copy.

FAQ

Who is PACA Good Arrival / Good Delivery Calculator for?

Anyone who needs a fast, cited freight & logistics reference — especially operators who would otherwise dig through a handbook or regulation PDF mid-task.

Do I need an account?

No. Sentinel Tools are free, public, and run in your browser with no sign-up.

How current is the source?

The tool is built from cited public data. Regulations and agency tables can change — use the source link on this page to verify the latest official text.