Damage Photos

Photos are the backbone of every claim

Claims without photos rarely win disputes. Claims with clear, well-labeled photos almost always do. Treat photos as your primary evidence.

Before and after

For every damage claim, aim to capture two sets of photos:

1. Before — the condition of the trailer at pickup, taken by you or the renter via the mobile app's inspection flow. This is your baseline.
2. After — the condition when the trailer comes back, taken immediately upon return.

TrailerBase automatically pulls before photos from the pickup inspection attached to the reservation, so you usually only need to take after photos.

Uploading photos

1. Open the damage claim.
2. Click Upload photos in the Photos section.
3. Drag files in from your desktop, or tap Take photo on mobile to use your camera directly.
4. Wait a few seconds as TrailerBase processes and auto-organizes them.

Automatic organization by angle

Our AI classifies every uploaded photo into one of six angles:

• Front
• Rear
• Left side
• Right side
• Top / interior
• Close-up / detail

The Photos section groups by angle automatically, so reviewers can flip through in a logical order. If the AI gets one wrong, drag it to the correct bucket manually.

Captioning

Every photo should have a caption that states:

1. What the photo shows (e.g., "driver-side fender, rear quarter")
2. What the damage is (e.g., "3-inch dent with paint chip")
3. When it was taken if relevant (e.g., "at return, 4/15/2026 2:14 PM")

Click any photo to add or edit its caption. Captions appear in the insurance packet PDF next to each image.

Photo best practices

• Shoot in good light — natural daylight is ideal, cloudy is fine, indoor fluorescent is poor.
• Include a reference object — a coin, ruler, or hand near the damage makes scale obvious.
• Take wide and close shots — wide establishes location, close shows detail.
• Multiple angles — shoot the same damage from at least two angles.
• Keep originals — TrailerBase stores full-resolution files; do not compress on your phone.

Insurance packet export

When you are ready to send the claim to an insurance carrier, click Export insurance packet. TrailerBase builds a PDF that includes:

1. Cover page with renter, trailer, and claim summary
2. Every photo, full-page, with its caption
3. The original contract
4. Damage description and severity
5. Cost estimate
6. The full communication thread

The PDF is typically 2-4 MB and can be emailed directly from the claim page with one click.

Privacy

Photos are stored privately — only you, your team, and (on Advanced plan) explicit insurance-carrier shares can see them. Renters see only photos you explicitly share on their claim.