Narrative:

Flight was given a weight and balance at xa:58z. The load sheet was incomplete as the loading agent signed the appropriate signature block; but in the verification block was not signed and in its place the letters bs. I asked the loading agent to have the document signed by the person who verified the load as it is a requirement per our procedures. The agent refused to have it signed and proceeded to berate my request by stating that we don't do that and have not for 15 years. This statement is troubling and was odds as the verification is a safety cross check and the [company] operation has not existed anywhere near that long. Cross referencing our procedures again in our guide and the weight and balance manuals volume ii (2) along with a posted description within the ZZZ crew room highlighting the procedures that a signature is required. [Name removed] came out to the aircraft at some point after xb:10z to try to assist and relayed that there was a policy conflict and that he thought there was a pending remedy and that [name removed] was working the conflict of the verification policy. I called the dispatcher and explained to him; the operations manager; and the 'duty pilot' that I needed relief from our procedures to legally proceed with the flight. All appeared to agree. He knew of the discrepancy and that the pending procedures changes that were being worked on and he gave me his initials and time utilizing his FAA authority to override so that we could legally proceed. This exercise exposed a pending fault in a safety system. The verification of the load is an important critical step and that it should have accountability via someone's signature on the line. I'm hopeful that the actual language change will take into account this important critical function. Circumnavigating the weight and balance verification system would be a safety concern. If there is a process being developed that addresses the verification concern please present it to the pilot group and to the relevant ground personnel post haste. The future delays through this particular station can potentially be avoided as this appears to be a station outside the system verification norms.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 Captain reported the company's weight and balance verification procedures are being followed at this particular station.

Narrative: Flight was given a weight and balance at XA:58z. The load sheet was incomplete as the loading agent signed the appropriate signature block; but in the verification block was not signed and in its place the letters BS. I asked the loading agent to have the document signed by the person who verified the load as it is a requirement per our procedures. The agent refused to have it signed and proceeded to berate my request by stating that we don't do that and have not for 15 years. This statement is troubling and was odds as the verification is a safety cross check and the [company] operation has not existed anywhere near that long. Cross referencing our procedures again in our guide and the weight and balance manuals volume II (2) along with a posted description within the ZZZ crew room highlighting the procedures that a signature is required. [name removed] came out to the aircraft at some point after XB:10z to try to assist and relayed that there was a policy conflict and that he thought there was a pending remedy and that [name removed] was working the conflict of the verification policy. I called the Dispatcher and explained to him; the Operations Manager; and the 'Duty Pilot' that I needed relief from our procedures to legally proceed with the flight. All appeared to agree. He knew of the discrepancy and that the pending procedures changes that were being worked on and he gave me his initials and time utilizing his FAA authority to override so that we could legally proceed. This exercise exposed a pending fault in a safety system. The verification of the load is an important critical step and that it should have accountability via someone's signature on the line. I'm hopeful that the actual language change will take into account this important critical function. Circumnavigating the weight and balance verification system would be a safety concern. If there is a process being developed that addresses the verification concern please present it to the pilot group and to the relevant ground personnel post haste. The future delays through this particular station can potentially be avoided as this appears to be a station outside the system verification norms.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.