Warehouse and distribution center receiving operations are highly scheduled to optimize labor, equipment, and dock door utilization. An unscheduled delivery disrupts this planned workflow. The standard industry practice is to integrate the unscheduled vehicle into the schedule without causing major delays to planned arrivals. This is typically achieved by having the vehicle wait for the next available time slot when a dock door and receiving personnel are free. This approach, often called a "work-in," maintains operational control and minimizes the cascading impact on other scheduled activities.

A: An unscheduled arrival inherently disrupts the receiving plan and will have an impact on activities and resource allocation.

C: Refusing a delivery is an extreme measure that can damage supplier relationships and is typically a last resort, not a standard procedure.

D: Unloading at an incorrect dock door is a significant operational error, not a planned response to an unscheduled arrival.

1. Richards, G. (2021). Warehouse Management: A Complete Guide to Improving Efficiency and Minimizing Costs (3rd ed.). Kogan Page. In Chapter 5, "Receiving and put-away," the text emphasizes the necessity of pre-notification and booking systems, stating that unscheduled arrivals lead to congestion and that such vehicles will likely have to wait for a free bay, effectively being delayed until an open slot.

2. Frazelle, E. (2016). World-Class Warehousing and Material Handling (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 4, "Receiving," discusses the principle of scheduling carrier arrivals. It notes that carriers arriving without an appointment may face "significant delays" as they must wait for an available dock, reinforcing the concept of waiting for the next open slot. (p. 89).

3. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2006). 1.260J / 15.770J Logistics Systems, Lecture 15: Warehousing I. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lecture notes discuss the importance of managing inbound flow and dock capacity. The principles of scheduling and queuing theory applied here imply that an unscheduled entity (the truck) must enter the queue and wait for service (an open dock), rather than being prioritized or immediately rejected.