Diamond Stone: logistics, drivers and shipping papers

Date: 2026-11-12. Revision 1. Drawn in docs/ui-shell-mockup.html under "Logistics: drivers, routes and papers".

How stone gets from the factory to the customer, what must be known about the driver and the vehicle, and every paper each route needs. It builds on docs/MODULES.md section 2 (tracking levels, the shipment record, proof of delivery) and docs/DOCUMENTS.md section 5 (export papers), and fills what the review found missing: collection by the customer, sea papers, road papers, and how hiding the supplier sits with papers that name an exporter.

Orders go direct from the factory (decided 12 November 2026). So the factory is where every journey starts, and Diamond Stone's part is arranging, witnessing and documenting.

Much of this must be confirmed by a freight forwarder, a customs broker, the bank and the insurer before it is relied on. Section 17 lists what. Rules at borders and ports changed several times in 2026.

1. Five routes

Route	Who carries	Proof	Hardest part
A. Delivery within Oman	A hired carrier, or our own vehicle	Code, name, signature, photographs	Offloading at the site
B. The customer collects	The customer's own driver or carrier	Identity checked at handover; they sign for the crates	Collection is at the factory, which shows the customer where the stone comes from
C. By road to another Gulf state	A carrier able to cross	Proof at delivery, plus the export declaration for our tax records	The border: papers, the driver's own documents, the importer
D. By sea	A forwarder and a shipping line, from Sohar	The bill of lading; the customer's receipt at the far end	The papers, their deadlines, and release against payment
E. Samples by courier	A courier	The courier's tracking	Customs abroad on a low-value parcel

The default is that we arrange the shipping (decided by the owner on 12 November 2026). Every quote starts as delivered by us. Collection and the other choices are settings, switched on where the owner wants them.

Setting	Choices	Default	Set for
Who arranges delivery	We arrange · the customer arranges	We arrange	The company; a customer; an order
Collection by the customer	Not offered · from a neutral point (a carrier's yard, or ours) · at the factory	Not offered	The company; a supplier; a customer; an order
Charge for a neutral point	An amount, or none	None set	The company; a supplier
Routes offered	Oman · Gulf road · sea · courier for samples	All four	The company; a destination country
Default delivery term per route	Section 10	As section 10	The company; a customer
Who offloads	We do · the site does · agreed per job	Agreed per job	The company; a customer
What the customer sees of the driver	Section 4	As section 4	The company; an order
Collection needs a named person and an identity check	On · off	On	The company

The narrowest setting wins: an order's over a customer's, a customer's over a supplier's, a supplier's over the company's. A customer is shown only the choices open to them, and never a choice that is switched off.

Collection and the supplier. A customer who collects at the factory learns who the supplier is. That is why "at the factory" is a separate choice from "a neutral point", and why it cannot be switched on for a supplier whose origin is masked without the owner confirming it.

2. Who is involved

Party	Record	Sees
The factory	Supplier	The pickup time, the vehicle, the crate list. Not the customer's name unless the layout needs the drawing
The carrier	Supplier of transport	Pickup and drop points, cargo, weight, the site contact, its own rate
The driver	Section 3	One job
A forwarder	Supplier	The shipment and its papers
A customs broker	Supplier	The declaration's data
The receiver	A person on the customer's side, named on the order	Section 4
The insurer	Supplier	The declared value and route

3. The driver: what is actually needed

Four cases, and the least that each needs. Nothing is collected "in case".

A our own driver · B a carrier's driver, within Oman · C a carrier's driver, crossing a border · D the customer's own driver collecting.

Detail	A	B	C	D	Who needs it	Why
Full name	●	●	●	●	Us; a site or port gate; customs	To hand goods to the right person
Mobile number	●	●	●	●	Us; the receiver, through us	To reach them
Photograph	●	○	○		The receiver, a gate	Only with consent
Identity or residence card number	●	gate only	●	gate only	A gated site; a port pass	Sohar Port needs a police gate pass; free zones need their own
Passport number and nationality			●		Customs; a visa	Saudi's system asks for passport and residence number
Visa for the destination, and expiry			●		The border	For Saudi, reported as issued by the embassy, not at the border
Driving licence: number, class, expiry	●	carrier confirms	●		Us; the insurer; the police	A lapsed licence stops the job being assigned
Date of birth	●				Us	Oman's rule: drivers aged 21 to 60
Medical report date	●				Us; the ministry	Renewed every two years. Possibly sensitive data: see section 5
Language	●	●	●		Us	The job screen is shown in it. The rule asks for Arabic or English
Driving and rest hours	●				The ministry	Eight hours' driving, then eight hours' rest; recorded daily
Authority to collect				●	Us	A named person, sent by the customer in the portal beforehand

● needed · ○ optional · blank: not collected.

The vehicle and the carrier.

Detail	When	Why
Plate and country	Always	Gates, customs, the receiver
Type, payload, crane or tail-lift	Always	Whether it can carry and offload the job
Trailer plate; chassis number	Crossing a border	Customs
Operating card number and expiry	Ours always; a carrier's by its confirmation	Required of every truck in Oman
Year of make	To Saudi	Trucks over 20 years old are reported as refused
Insurance; the Orange Card; cover for goods	Ours; crossing a border	The Orange Card is third-party cover between Arab states; Saudi is reported to use its own border cover
The carrier's name and licence	A carrier's job	The transport document
Where the truck is registered	Always	A truck not registered in Oman needs a ministry permit to load here for a third country

4. What the customer sees of the driver

The owner's rule is that driver details are staff only. The research shows two places that rule meets reality: a gated site needs a name and a plate in advance, and a receiver wants to know who is at the gate.

Shown to the customer	Default	Can be switched on per order
"Your delivery is on its way", the stage, the arrival window	Yes
The vehicle's type and plate	Yes, on the day, so the gate can let it in	Off
The driver's first name	No	Yes
The driver's photograph	No	Yes, with the driver's consent
The driver's phone	Never. A call goes through the office, or a masked number if one is ever bought
Full name and identity number	Never to the customer. Sent only to a named gate or port office that requires them
Position on a map	Only while the truck is on its way to that customer; a region, not a point, where origin is masked
The carrier's name	No	Yes

Everything stops being shown when the job closes.

5. The driver's data and the law

Oman's data protection law has been fully enforced since February 2026 (as law firms report it; to be confirmed by the lawyer).

Point	Plan
Basis	Explicit consent on first use of a job link, in the driver's language. For our own drivers, the employment contract and the law's requirements as well
Location	Collected only between the start of a job and delivery; said plainly before it starts; never in the background from a web page
Medical date	May count as sensitive data, which is said to need a permit. Hold the date only, never the report, until the lawyer answers
Sharing abroad	A broker or a gate in another country gets only what that border or gate requires. The law is said to need consent and a check of the recipient. A sentence in the consent covers it
Keeping	A carrier's driver: the job's record, with identity numbers removed after a set time. Proposed: 12 months, to cover the one-year limit on transport claims
A request to see or delete	Answered within 45 days, as the law is reported to require
Never	A copy of a passport or licence kept "for the file" when a number will do

6. A job, from loading to delivered

#	Step	Who	Recorded
1	The job is planned: route, vehicle type, date, who offloads	Purchasing	The shipment and its legs
2	A carrier is asked and agrees a rate, valid to a date	Purchasing	The quote
3	Driver and vehicle named	The carrier, or us for it	Section 3, the least needed
4	Gate, port or site passes asked for, where needed	Purchasing	Asked, granted, valid to
5	The transport document is issued (section 8)	Us or the carrier	Its number
6	Loading at the factory. Crates counted against the layout plan, labels and seals checked, the load photographed on the truck from four sides, straps counted	Our person, or the driver if nobody from us is there	Photographs; crate count; who witnessed
7	Left	Driver	Time and place
8	At a border: arrived, cleared	Driver or broker	Times
9	Arrived at the site	Driver	Time and place
10	Offloaded; crates counted with the receiver; damage noted then and there	Driver, receiver	Count; photographs
11	Proof: a code sent to the named receiver, or name and signature; the layout plan handed over	Driver, receiver	Proof
12	A-frames or returnable crates coming back	Driver	Out and returned
13	The carrier's bill	Carrier	Against the agreed rate

Rules built in.

Rule	Source and status
Eight hours' driving, then eight hours' rest; the driver checks the load is tied and checks again on the way	Oman's land transport regulation, read directly
Gross weight 46 tonnes; axle limits; an overloaded truck is offloaded at the carrier's cost	The same
Truck bans on Muscat's main roads at set hours on Thursdays and Saturdays, and at other hours in Ramadan	Press; hours change. Kept as an editable notice
No outdoor work from 12:30 to 15:30, June to August	Press. Offloading at a site falls within it. A delivery window in those hours is refused
Slabs stand on edge on a frame that cannot topple or slip; nobody stands in the fall zone while straps are fitted or removed	The UK safety regulator's bulletin on slab handling, after six deaths in five years
The phone is never touched while moving	Already in the plan

Offloading is where stone is broken and people are hurt. Every job says, before it is booked: who offloads, with what (a crane on the truck, the site's forklift, hands), and whether the site can take the vehicle. The quote says it too.

7. Which papers, by route

● always · ◐ when the destination or the payment asks · blank: not needed.

Paper	Oman	Collect	Gulf road	Sea	Issued by	From
Order confirmation	●	●	●	●	Us	The order
Tax invoice	●	●	●	●	Us	The order
Delivery note, with the layout plan	●	●	●		Us	The shipment
Collection authority		●			The customer, in the portal
Packing list, crate by crate	◐	◐	●	●	Us	The crate list
Transport document (Oman's electronic one)	●	◐	●	● to the port	Us or the carrier: to confirm	The shipment
Commercial invoice			●	●	Us	The shipment
Export declaration (Bayan)			●	●	A broker, or our own registered person	Invoice, packing list, customs code
Certificate of origin			● until a broker says otherwise	◐ most destinations	The Chamber or the Ministry	The declaration
Land manifest; the destination's own truck permit			●		Carrier, broker
Booking; shipping instructions				●	Forwarder	The shipment
Verified container weight				●	The shipper named on the bill of lading	Crate weights and the container's own weight
Bill of lading, or a sea waybill				●	The shipping line or forwarder	Shipping instructions
Insurance certificate	◐		◐	◐ by delivery term	Insurer	Value and route
Wood packing: the treatment mark on each crate			●	●	A licensed treater
Fumigation or packing declaration				◐ some countries	Fumigator or packer
Conformity certificate			◐ Saudi	◐ by country	A certification body	The stone's test reports
Test reports; declaration of performance			◐	◐ Europe	A laboratory; the maker
Letter of credit papers: draft, beneficiary's certificate, shipment advice				◐	Us	The credit's own wording
Advance cargo data for the destination				◐	Importer, carrier, forwarder
Receipt for payment	●	●	●	●	Us

8. The papers that were missing or thin

Paper	What to know
Oman's electronic transport document	Required before a truck moves freight, and becoming mandatory through 2026. Press reports name two platforms for it and say the user of the truck issues it, which may mean us. Its fields are not published. The first thing to ask the forwarder
Delivery note	Now carries the crate count, crate numbers, the layout plan's number, seal numbers, and a place for damage noted at offloading
Packing list	Per crate: number, marks, pieces, size, thickness in mm, m², net and gross weight, dimensions, lot. No prices. Thickness on every line also answers Oman's rule against exporting slabs over 3 cm
Commercial invoice	For Gulf road and sea. Its description, quantities and weights come from the same record as the packing list and the bill of lading, so they cannot differ
Export declaration	Filed in Bayan by a licensed broker or by the company's own registered user. It is also our evidence for charging no VAT on an export, so it is stored against the invoice
Certificate of origin	The Chamber issues the general one online (a fee of OMR 4 is published); the Gulf one for national products comes through the Ministry's platform. India's new agreement needs its own certificate; who issues it in Oman was not found
Bill of lading	Three originals, a sea waybill, or a release by message. Originals are not released until the balance is in, unless a letter of credit says otherwise. The draft is checked against the invoice and packing list before it is issued
Verified container weight	Signed by the shipper named on the bill of lading, before the line's cut-off. The system adds crate weights and the container's own weight
Insurance	Bought by us under delivery terms that include it. The carrier's own liability is low (international road rules cap it by weight, far below stone's value), so goods in transit are insured separately, with breakage named. Poor packing is excluded by insurers
Wood packing	Every wooden crate bears the international treatment mark. Countries that enforce it do not accept a certificate instead. Australia also wants a packing declaration
Conformity	Saudi Arabia: a product certificate and one per shipment through its SABER system, with the importer matching the bill of lading. Europe: marking under the stone standards with a declaration of performance. China: a radioactivity report is likely to be asked for. Egypt: the importer's advance number must be on every paper before loading
Letter of credit set	Everything worded exactly as the credit. Presented within 21 days of shipment unless the credit says otherwise. First presentations are often refused; the often-quoted "60 to 70 %" is an old estimate, and one study found about a quarter
Sample parcels abroad	A customs invoice marked as samples, with a value. Not researched further

9. Hiding the supplier, and papers that name names

The owner's rule: the customer does not learn the supplier. On export this is legitimate if Diamond Stone is the exporter of record and the shipper from the start. Then no "switched" bill of lading is needed, which is the risky practice.

Can show Diamond Stone alone	May reveal the factory
Invoice, packing list, order confirmation	The certificate of origin, if its form has a producer's box
The export declaration, as exporter	The treatment mark on the crates: it carries the treater's code, which is the crate maker, not the stone factory
The bill of lading, as shipper	Test reports made for the factory
Insurance, container weight, shipment advice	A product certificate that names the manufacturer
The delivery note	A customer collecting at the factory (section 1)

Three rules.

Never state a false origin, date, quantity or condition. Masking is leaving out a name, not changing a fact.
Test reports are commissioned in Diamond Stone's name, on its own samples, so they can be shown.
Photographs taken at the factory have their location data removed before any leaves the company (docs/REVIEW.md section 8).

To confirm with the broker: whether a trader with no factory can be exporter of record for Omani stone; whether the certificate of origin names the producer.

10. Delivery terms

One default per route, on the quote in plain words as well as by its code.

Route	Default	In plain words	Avoid
Oman	Delivered to the site, offloading as agreed
Collect	The customer collects, loaded onto their vehicle	Risk passes when loaded
Gulf road	DAP: delivered to the named place, not cleared for import	The customer is the importer and pays the import VAT	DDP, unless we have an importer there
Sea	FCA Sohar or CIP the destination port	Risk passes when the container is handed to the line; with CIP we also buy freight and insurance	EXW (a foreign buyer cannot clear export here); FOB (written for cargo that is not in containers)

11. Payment and the release of goods

Paid by	Goods or papers are released when
Transfer, advance and balance	Road: the balance is in before loading. Sea: the balance is in before the originals or the release message go
Letter of credit	The papers are presented to the bank; the credit's own terms govern
Credit terms	By the customer's terms, within their limit

A trader who must hide the supplier under a letter of credit asks the buyer for a transferable credit, or one that accepts third-party papers. For the bank to advise.

12. Packing and loading stone


Slabs	On edge, on a frame or in a bundle that cannot topple; corners protected; a sheet between polished faces
Tiles	In crates, on edge, packed tight, strapped; never stacked crate on crate
Wood	Treated and marked
Moisture	Stone stains from wet packing. Dry before crating; photographed dry
Each crate	Our label and code, crate number "2 of 5", the piece numbers inside, gross weight, handling marks, our seal
In a container	Weight centred and low; gaps blocked; nothing free to move; photographs at empty, half, full and sealed. An insurer's case describes an off-centre marble load overturning a container
How much fits	Stone fills a container by weight before volume, so it ships in 20-foot boxes: roughly 400 to 460 m² of 20 mm tiles, 22 to 25 tonnes, in 12 to 16 crates. Road limits to the port may be lower. A calculator, not a promise

An insurers' club attributes about two-thirds of cargo damage to poor packing and securing, across all cargo. No breakage rate for stone was found.

13. Claims and time limits

These are short, and they are why the claims window in the terms cannot be vague.

Where	Limit	Status
Road, under Oman's commercial law	Notice of damage within 7 days of delivery; a case within 30 days; one year at the latest	A law firm's note
Sea	Notice at delivery, or within three days for damage not visible; one year to sue	General rules; to confirm
Our terms with the customer	Must be no longer than what we can still claim from the carrier	So: counted and damage noted at offloading; anything else within a set number of days from delivery, and before fixing
Our terms with the factory	Must cover a piece refused after cutting, and the spare kept at the factory	For the purchase terms

The system starts each clock at delivery and shows it on the order.

14. Conditions in 2026, as reported

Found in research on 12 November 2026. Each must be confirmed with a forwarder; none was verified at source.

Reported	If true, it means
The Strait of Hormuz closed to commercial shipping since about March 2026; Sohar, outside the strait, became a diversion port	Sohar is busier; sea routes through Jebel Ali are disrupted; an emergency surcharge of about USD 1,800 per 20-foot container was quoted
Sohar's terminal accepts export containers only within five days of the ship, with firm cut-offs and less free storage	Loading at the factory must be timed to the ship
The Oman-India trade agreement in force from June 2026	A certificate of origin for India; duty reductions and price floors on stone by tariff line. The importer confirms the line
Saudi Arabia requires its own electronic transport document from foreign trucks, with heavy fines	Often a Saudi carrier takes over at the border

The system therefore treats surcharges, cut-offs and free days as dated settings per port and line, not constants.

15. What the system does, and what stays by hand

The system	A person, outside it
Holds one shipment record and makes the invoice, packing list, delivery note, container weight and letter-of-credit papers from it	Files the export declaration in Bayan
Keeps a checklist per route and destination as data that staff edit: which papers, who issues, how many originals	Applies for the certificate of origin on the Chamber's or Ministry's site
Checks papers against each other, and against a letter of credit's wording	Books the ship; issues the bill of lading
Runs the clocks: cut-offs, free days, presentation, claims, passes, a driver's licence and visa	Applies for gate passes and visas
Holds the least about each driver; shows the gate what the gate needs	Drives
Tracks by stage buttons; later by an app or a tracker
Stores the proof of export against the invoice
Works out a container load and a truck's weight against the limits	Decides the load

16. Screens

Screen	For	Drawn
Plan a shipment: route, term, vehicle, who offloads	Purchasing	●
Driver and vehicle, the least needed for this route	Purchasing	●
Papers for this shipment: a checklist by route and destination, each made, asked for or missing	Purchasing	●
Loading at the factory: crates, seals, four photographs	Purchasing, driver	●
The driver's job: crates, plan handed over, damage at offloading	Driver	●
A collection: who is authorised, identity checked	Purchasing, warehouse	●
The customer's view on the day: stage, window, vehicle and plate	Customer	●
Authorise someone to collect	Customer	●
A sea shipment: cut-offs, bill of lading, release held for payment	Purchasing, accountant	●
Delivery settings: who arranges, collection, routes, terms, offloading	Administrator	●
Route and destination checklists, as settings	Administrator	○
Carrier's bill against the rate; demurrage	Accountant	○
A transport claim with its clock	Sales, purchasing	○

17. To confirm before relying on this

Freight forwarder 1. Oman's electronic transport document: its fields, the platform, the date it is mandatory, and whether we or the carrier issue it. 2. Current Sohar restrictions, surcharges, free days, cut-offs and transit times. 3. Whether land borders to each Gulf state are working normally, and the usual wait. 4. Whether an Omani truck delivers into Saudi Arabia or hands over at the border. 5. Road weight limits to Sohar port for a loaded 20-foot container.

Customs broker 6. The driver and truck details each border's system asks for. 7. Whether a trader with no factory can be exporter of record; whether the certificate of origin names the producer. 8. Whether any ministry permit is needed to export stone of 3 cm or less, and how thickness is checked. 9. Whether a certificate of origin is asked for Omani stone entering the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. 10. Who issues the India certificate.

Tax adviser 11. What proof of export is accepted for charging no VAT, by road and by sea, and any time limit.

Bank 12. Letter of credit and transfer charges; transferable credits; electronic bills of lading.

Insurer 13. Goods-in-transit cover for stone with breakage named; war risk; what survey is needed for a claim.

Lawyer 14. The basis for holding and sharing driver data; whether a medical date needs a permit; the wording of consent.

18. Decisions for the owner

Collection: settled. We arrange shipping by default; collection and the other choices are settings (section 1).
What the customer sees of the driver: the defaults in section 4.
Own vehicles: none for now (orders go direct), so case A of section 3 is planned but not built first.
Default delivery terms per route (section 10).
Who witnesses loading when nobody from us is at the factory.
Insurance: one annual goods-in-transit policy, or per shipment.
A forwarder and a broker to appoint; they answer most of section 17.

19. Sources and limits

Read directly: the English text of Oman's land transport regulation (driver age, medical, hours, weights, the carriage document, foreign trucks); Oman Customs on Bayan registration; the government page on the Chamber's certificate of origin; Saudi customs' transit guide; Abu Dhabi Customs on advance declarations; the UK safety regulator on stone slabs; a Sohar terminal operator's customer guide; the Jebel Ali free zone's gate pass guide; law-firm notes on Oman's data protection law, transport law, time limits and electronic transactions law; Oman Observer and Times of Oman on the transport document, truck bans, the midday ban, the 2019 marble export rule, the Sohar restrictions and the India agreement.

Seen in summary only, or general trade practice: most of the sea papers, delivery terms, letters of credit, insurance clauses, wood packing, Saudi and European conformity, advance cargo filings, container loads.

Not found: an official checklist for any Oman-Emirates crossing; the driver fields in Bayan or the Emirates' systems; border waiting times; a breakage rate for stone; any independent study that electronic proof of delivery reduces disputes or that tracking reduces "where is my order" calls (vendors' figures only, not used); Oman's position on electronic bills of lading; the Emirates' and Saudi data laws.

The Hormuz closure rests on one tracking site and press reports. It is recorded because it would change sea routing, and must be confirmed.

20. After the critique (12 November 2026)

From docs/CRITIQUE.md: the job link is bound to the named driver's number; a release code at the factory; a held press (600 ms) on a stage, with a minute to undo; "delivered" needs the receiver's code or confirmation, otherwise "pending"; the driver's screen follows the outdoor template (COMPONENTS.md 115); the receiver signs "counted, not inspected for appearance"; laying advice is on the crates. Which portal role may authorise a collector: the approver, confirmed with their own sign-in. The transport document may state the loading place: to confirm, and if so a neutral transfer point is the only way to keep the origin masked by road.