The outside of the folder should provide for the name and address of the consignor or consignee, as the case may be, name of the railroad on which claim is made, the shipper's claim number, and the railroad's claim number, as shown in Fig. 11. In this folder, copies of the bill and of all letters to the railroad company should be filed. The folders are filed numerically, in the order of the shipper's claim numbers. To follow up the claim, and to provide an index to the file of claim folders, a card, similar in form to the one shown in Fig. 12, should be used. This card provides for a complete history of the claim. At the head of the card is shown the name of the consignor or the consignee, shipping point, shipper's and railroad's claim numbers, dates of shipment, receipt, and filing of claim, the railroad on which claim is made, and the name of the claim agent. This is followed by a brief statement of the nature and amount of the claim. The two bottom lines provide for a record of the payment or rejection of the claim. All of the information most likely to be needed is found by turning to this card, without the necessity of consulting the correspondence in the claim files. [Illustration: Fig. 12. Card for Follow-Up of Claims] The manner of filing the card depends somewhat on circumstances. The usual plan is to file alphabetically, under the name of the consignor, first grouping by railroads. If goods are received and shipped over but one road, all of the cards would be filed in one index. But if more than one road is used, an index card would be used for each road, and the cards arranged alphabetically back of the index cards of the roads involved. This arrangement brings the cards of all claims against one road together, which is a logical plan, since it is the railroad with whom the claimant is dealing. Across the top of the card is a series of numbers, from _1_ to _31_. These represent the days of the month, and are used in connection with the follow-up of the claim. Metal tabs are placed over the dates on which it is desired to have the claim brought to notice--that is, if the claim is to be followed up on the 20th, a tab is placed over the number _20_. On that day all cards with tabs over this number are removed from the file, and, after the claims have received proper attention, the tabs are moved forward to the next follow-up date, and the cards returned to the file. [Illustration: Fig. 13. Record of Correspondence on Back of Follow-Up Card] A record of all correspondence in connection with the claim is made on the back of the card, which is ruled and printed for the purpose, as shown in Fig. 13. This constitutes a tracer which shows, without reference to the files, just what correspondence has been required in the adjustment of the claim.