The Trip Audit Log as Evidence in a Cargo Dispute

Short answer

In a cargo dispute, a Smart Lock trip gives you a dated record: GPS arrival and departure at each stop, live-camera photos, every lock command with the user who sent it, and lock events such as tamper. Collect them per trip, export the reports as PDF, Excel or CSV, and ask a lawyer how to present them.

Key takeaways

• Each Smart Lock trip keeps its own audit log: trip created, arrived, departed and photo events, each with a timestamp. There is no company-wide audit screen, so you open each trip on its own.
• Arrival and departure are set by a database rule from incoming GPS, not typed by the driver, and proof photos come only from the live camera, never from the phone gallery.
• Every command sent to a lock is logged with the user who sent it, the time and the result, which answers the question "who opened it, and when".
• Smart Lock reports export as PDF, Excel or CSV, and each export states which parts are a sample, so check that note before you hand a file over.
• Saudi Arabia’s Law of Evidence gives digital evidence the same legal effect as writing in general terms, but whether a specific trip log is accepted is for a lawyer and the court.

01What the trip audit log records, and what it does not

A Smart Lock trip on ENTEK IoT is planned in the office: the truck or container, an optional driver, an ordered list of stops, and whether the driver may unlock at all. From that point the trip keeps its own audit log. Each entry carries a timestamp: trip created, arrived at a stop, departed, and photo events such as “Exited location without sending photo”. Nobody types the arrival or the departure. A database rule marks them when incoming GPS places the vehicle inside, or outside, the stop’s drawn zone, so the office screen and the driver’s app show the same answer. Two limits matter in a dispute. First, the log belongs to one trip: there is no company-wide audit screen, so you open each trip on its own. Second, a stop zone has a minimum size of 10 metres, and a stop with no drawn zone uses a 120-metre circle around its point. “Arrived” therefore means inside that area, not at a specific door.

Steps

1. Record the trip, the container and the disputed time window
2. Capture the full trip audit log
3. Save the stop photos with their review status
4. List every lock command in the window
5. Filter lock events for tamper, unauthorized attempts and geofence exit
6. Keep the original alert messages
7. Export the Smart Lock reports and note any sample disclosure
8. Write a one-page evidence note and give it to your lawyer

02Photos, commands and lock events: who did what, and when

At each stop the driver takes proof photos with the live camera. The app does not accept a picture picked from the phone gallery, which could be old or taken somewhere else. A supervisor then reviews the photos, and a stop can show its photos as missed or expired. In the production example we documented, a stop asked for five photos. Next to the photos sits the command history. Every command sent to a lock, such as top lock, rear lock, or unlocking the main lock with its password, is logged permanently with the user who sent it, the time and the result, for example “Executed”. Each lock reports which commands it supports, and only those appear. The events screen adds the lock’s own side of the story: locked, unlocked, tamper, unauthorized attempts, and geofence entry or exit. Together these answer the three questions a cargo dispute usually turns on: where the cargo was, who opened it, and whether anyone tried to force it.

03What Saudi law says about digital evidence, in general terms

Saudi Arabia’s Law of Evidence, issued by Royal Decree No. M/43 on 30 December 2021, applies to civil and commercial transactions and has a full part on digital evidence. In the official English translation by the Bureau of Experts, Article 53 defines digital evidence as evidence derived from data generated, stored or communicated by digital means and retrievable in a comprehensible form. Article 54 lists digital registers and digital documents among its forms. Article 55 gives proof by digital evidence the same legal effect as proof by writing. Article 57 covers unofficial digital evidence, including evidence derived from a digital means named in the contract under dispute. Article 60 says it is submitted in its original form or another digital form, and Article 63 gives extracts the same value to the extent they match the digital register. This is a summary of public text, not legal advice. Whether a particular trip log is accepted, and how much weight it carries, depends on the case and the court, so speak to a Saudi lawyer before you rely on it.

04The evidence checklist: build the pack on the day the dispute starts

Start the pack on the day the claim is raised, while the details are fresh. Write down the trip name, the truck or container, and the exact time window in question. Open the trip and capture its audit log in full, from creation to the last departure. Where both clocks are shown, note the device time and the server time; in one measured example on production they were about 2 seconds apart, which is normal. Save the stop photos with their review status, including any marked missed or expired. Open the lock’s command history and list every command in the window: who sent it, when, and the result. Filter the events screen for tamper, unauthorized attempts and geofence exit or entry. Keep the alert messages your team received by email, SMS or WhatsApp. Do not edit the trip’s stops after the dispute starts. Then write a one-page note listing each item, where it came from, who collected it and when. That note is usually the first thing a lawyer asks for.

05Exporting the record: PDF, Excel and CSV, and the limits to know

The Smart Lock reports screen has six report types: Overview, Driver, Security and Compliance, Operational Performance, Device Health, and Access Control. Each one exports as PDF, Excel or CSV. Use PDF for a fixed copy to attach to a letter, and Excel or CSV when your lawyer or an expert wants to sort and check the rows. Read each export before you send it: every export states which parts are a sample rather than the complete dataset, and a sample says less than a full record. The trip audit log itself is read on the trip detail screen, and our system books do not confirm a separate file export for it, so capture that screen with the date visible and keep the original trip in the platform. For larger pulls, your IT team can read Smart Lock data through the ENTEK customer API with a named access token. To set up locks and planned trips, see the Smart Lock solution page, and source lock hardware through the ENTEK marketplace and RFQ at entek.ai.

Figures and sources

• The law that governs proof in civil and commercial transactions in Saudi Arabia: Law of Evidence, Royal Decree No. M/43, 30 December 2021 (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Part of the Law of Evidence that covers digital evidence: Part 4, Articles 53 to 64 (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Number of forms of digital evidence listed in Article 54, including digital registers and digital documents: 7 (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Legal effect of proof by digital evidence under Article 55: the same legal effect as proof by writing (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Number of cases in Article 57 where unofficial digital evidence binds the parties unless proven otherwise: 3 (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Value of extracts from digital evidence under Article 63: the same probative value, to the extent the extract and the digital register are identical (Source: Bureau of Experts, Law of Evidence (official English translation, hosted by MISA), as of 2026-10-19)
• Publication date of NIST SP 800-86, a general guide to collecting digital data for investigations: August 2006 (Source: NIST CSRC, SP 800-86 Guide to Integrating Forensic Techniques into Incident Response, as of 2026-10-19)

Questions

Sources

• Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, Law of Evidence, official English translation (Part 4: Digital Evidence)
• NIST SP 800-86, Guide to Integrating Forensic Techniques into Incident Response (an IT view, not legal advice)

Related insights

• Containers Opened on the Way? How a GPS Smart Lock Shows Where and When
• Proof of Locking: Making a Photo Count as Evidence
• Tamper Alerts That Turn Out to Be Nothing? Telling Real Openings From Noise
• Timestamps and Why They Decide the Report
• Electronic Seal vs Mechanical Seal for Cargo Security