Such situation meets: after transportation or long storage of any goods, its final quantity appears less initial. And not always the reason of this unpleasant phenomenon – banal theft. In some cases, it is about so-called "natural losses".
For example, shipped crushed stone or sand in open cars containers and sent these raw materials to the consumer – the construction organization located for many hundreds of kilometers. What occurs in way? Cars shiver on joints of rails, in their walls there can be cracks, openings. Again, during the movement – a strong head wind (and cars, we will remind, open). Whether it is worth being surprised if any amount of raw materials fails in a crack or will roll over too much from jolting and wind? Any theft, and at control weighing the shortage will be recorded.
Or meat is stored in fridges. For weeks, months. The next audit fixes shortage. What, plunder? Not always. The meat products (as well as any food, to a word) are subject to such natural phenomenon as "shrinkage" which, naturally, leads to some reduction of weight.
Therefore in normative documents it is accurately recorded: "Natural losses are the loss (reduction of quantity of goods when maintaining its quality) happening owing to natural change of biological or physical and chemical properties of any given values, or owing to the natural difficulties connected with their transportation". In other words, there is a loss of quantity of the stored or transported goods for the objective reasons which are not depending on the person. Special standard tables of natural losses, depending on a period of storage or the extent of a transport way are developed for each group of goods. And also the documents regulating goods write-off on natural losses and reflection of it in accounting records.
Certainly, the above norms work only when storage (or transportation) goods occurred in the conditions conforming to the adopted standards and rules. For example, in the described case with crushed stone transportation. These raw materials can be transported in open cars as even inevitable losses with interest will pay off the speed and convenience of loading unloading. And possible precipitation (a rain, snow) will not affect its qualities. Quite another matter, if in the same way decided to transport goods which spoil at contact with water. In this case, possible losses are not natural losses any more, and have to be regarded, as a result of negligence of specific officials on whom responsibility has to be conferred.