n8n Reefer Demurrage Dispute Packet Automation (AI, Dropbox, Airtable)

Automatically generate an n8n Reefer Demurrage Dispute Packet from webhook evidence

Stop chasing reefer incident paperwork. This n8n Reefer Demurrage Dispute Packet Automation receives a reefer-incident webhook, analyzes terminal power events and (when available) reefer telemetry with OpenAI, then creates a dispute packet that’s archived in Dropbox, tracked in Airtable, submitted via a carrier API, and escalated to Microsoft Teams.

What this workflow does

• Receives a POST webhook with a claim ID and one or more reefer container IDs.
• Normalizes the payload, then calls a terminal power-events API to fetch plug/unplug event data for the provided containers.
• Splits results per container and uses OpenAI to generate a strict-JSON evidence narrative (event type, missing fields, and causation notes).
• Calculates unplug duration from terminal timestamps, flags whether the event is complete, and marks events as disputable when unplug minutes exceed a configured free-time threshold.
• If evidence is complete, it fetches reefer telemetry from a telemetry API; otherwise, it emails a request for missing terminal evidence via Gmail.
• Aggregates everything into a single JSON dispute artifact with per-container details and totals.
• If at least one disputable event exists, it uploads the packet to Dropbox, creates a claim in Airtable, submits to a carrier API, and notifies via Microsoft Teams. Otherwise, it logs the non-material incident.

Use cases

• Automate reefer demurrage disputes for logistics teams using n8n.
• Standardize evidence classification for plug/unplug events across multiple containers.
• Reduce manual steps: archive dispute packets, log claims, and notify stakeholders.

Technical details

• Workflow runtime (n8n) using nodes like if, set, code, merge, and Gmail.
• Integrations: terminal power-events API, reefer telemetry API, OpenAI (strict-JSON evidence classification), Dropbox, Airtable, carrier API submission, and Microsoft Teams notification.