diff --git a/batchconsumer/checkpointmanager.go b/batchconsumer/checkpointmanager.go
index 9a877fd..eb755b6 100644
--- a/batchconsumer/checkpointmanager.go
+++ b/batchconsumer/checkpointmanager.go
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@ import (
 type checkpointManager struct {
 	log kv.KayveeLogger
 
-	checkpointRetries int
-	checkpointFreq    time.Duration
+	checkpointFreq time.Duration
 
 	checkpoint chan kcl.SequencePair
 	shutdown   chan struct{}
@@ -24,8 +23,7 @@ func NewCheckpointManager(
 	cm := &checkpointManager{
 		log: log,
 
-		checkpointRetries: config.CheckpointRetries,
-		checkpointFreq:    config.CheckpointFreq,
+		checkpointFreq: config.CheckpointFreq,
 
 		checkpoint: make(chan kcl.SequencePair),
 		shutdown:   make(chan struct{}),
@@ -72,12 +70,8 @@ func (cm *checkpointManager) startCheckpointHandler(
 			}
 
 			if !pair.IsEmpty() {
-				err := checkpointer.Checkpoint(pair, cm.checkpointRetries)
-				if err != nil {
-					cm.log.ErrorD("checkpoint-err", kv.M{"msg": err.Error()})
-				} else {
-					lastCheckpoint = time.Now()
-				}
+				checkpointer.Checkpoint(pair)
+				lastCheckpoint = time.Now()
 			}
 
 			if isShuttingDown {
diff --git a/batchconsumer/consumer.go b/batchconsumer/consumer.go
index 2b6f023..9b16e0b 100644
--- a/batchconsumer/consumer.go
+++ b/batchconsumer/consumer.go
@@ -33,10 +33,6 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// CheckpointFreq the frequency in which a checkpoint is saved
 	CheckpointFreq time.Duration
-	// CheckpointRetries the number of times the consumer will try to save a checkpoint
-	CheckpointRetries int
-	// CheckpointRetrySleep the amount of time between checkpoint save attempts
-	CheckpointRetrySleep time.Duration
 }
 
 // BatchConsumer is responsible for marshalling
@@ -75,12 +71,6 @@ func withDefaults(config Config) Config {
 	if config.CheckpointFreq == 0 {
 		config.CheckpointFreq = 60 * time.Second
 	}
-	if config.CheckpointRetries == 0 {
-		config.CheckpointRetries = 5
-	}
-	if config.CheckpointRetrySleep == 0 {
-		config.CheckpointRetrySleep = 5 * time.Second
-	}
 
 	return config
 }
diff --git a/kcl/kcl.go b/kcl/kcl.go
index c470637..5dbc3a7 100644
--- a/kcl/kcl.go
+++ b/kcl/kcl.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ type RecordProcessor interface {
 }
 
 type Checkpointer interface {
-	Checkpoint(pair SequencePair, retryCount int) error
+	Checkpoint(pair SequencePair)
 	Shutdown()
 }
 
@@ -148,23 +148,23 @@ func New(
 		ioHandler:       i,
 		recordProcessor: recordProcessor,
 
-		checkpoint:    make(chan SequencePair),
-		checkpointErr: make(chan error),
+		isShuttingDown:     false,
+		nextCheckpointPair: SequencePair{},
 	}
 }
 
 type KCLProcess struct {
-	ckpmux  sync.Mutex
-	readmux sync.Mutex
+	ckpmux sync.Mutex
 
 	ioHandler       ioHandler
 	recordProcessor RecordProcessor
 
-	checkpoint    chan SequencePair
-	checkpointErr chan error
+	isShuttingDown     bool
+	nextCheckpointPair SequencePair
 }
 
 func (kclp *KCLProcess) reportDone(responseFor string) error {
+	fmt.Println("%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% Writing report done line")
 	return kclp.ioHandler.writeAction(struct {
 		Action      string `json:"action"`
 		ResponseFor string `json:"responseFor"`
@@ -187,22 +187,29 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) performAction(a interface{}) (string, error) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (kclp *KCLProcess) handleLine(line string) error {
+func (kclp *KCLProcess) handleLine(line string) (string, error) {
 	action, err := kclp.ioHandler.loadAction(line)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return "", err
 	}
 
-	responseFor, err := kclp.performAction(action)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	return kclp.reportDone(responseFor)
+	return kclp.performAction(action)
 }
 
-func (kclp *KCLProcess) Checkpoint(pair SequencePair, retryCount int) error {
+func (kclp *KCLProcess) Checkpoint(pair SequencePair) {
 	kclp.ckpmux.Lock()
 	defer kclp.ckpmux.Unlock()
+
+	if kclp.nextCheckpointPair.IsEmpty() || kclp.nextCheckpointPair.IsLessThan(pair) {
+		kclp.nextCheckpointPair = pair
+	}
+}
+
+func (kclp *KCLProcess) Shutdown() {
+	kclp.isShuttingDown = true
+}
+
+func (kclp *KCLProcess) sendCheckpoint(pair SequencePair, retryCount int) error {
 	sleepDuration := 5 * time.Second
 
 	for n := 0; n <= retryCount; n++ {
@@ -223,6 +230,8 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) Checkpoint(pair SequencePair, retryCount int) error {
 			default:
 				fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Encountered an error while checkpointing: %s", err)
 			}
+		} else {
+			return err
 		}
 
 		if n == retryCount {
@@ -235,14 +244,7 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) Checkpoint(pair SequencePair, retryCount int) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (kclp *KCLProcess) Shutdown() {
-	kclp.Checkpoint(SequencePair{}, 5)
-}
-
 func (kclp *KCLProcess) processCheckpoint(pair SequencePair) error {
-	kclp.readmux.Lock()
-	defer kclp.readmux.Unlock()
-
 	var seq *string
 	var subSeq *int
 	if !pair.IsEmpty() { // an empty pair is a signal to shutdown
@@ -250,11 +252,13 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) processCheckpoint(pair SequencePair) error {
 		seq = &tmp
 		subSeq = &pair.SubSequence
 	}
+	fmt.Println("%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% Writing checkpoint")
 	kclp.ioHandler.writeAction(ActionCheckpoint{
 		Action:            "checkpoint",
 		SequenceNumber:    seq,
 		SubSequenceNumber: subSeq,
 	})
+	fmt.Println("%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% Reading checkpoint line")
 	line, err := kclp.ioHandler.readLine()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -276,7 +280,7 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) processCheckpoint(pair SequencePair) error {
 
 func (kclp *KCLProcess) Run() {
 	for {
-		kclp.readmux.Lock()
+		fmt.Println("%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% Reading process line")
 		line, err := kclp.ioHandler.readLine()
 		if err == io.EOF {
 			kclp.ioHandler.writeError("IO stream closed")
@@ -289,11 +293,28 @@ func (kclp *KCLProcess) Run() {
 			return
 		}
 
-		err = kclp.handleLine(line)
+		action, err := kclp.handleLine(line)
 		if err != nil {
 			kclp.ioHandler.writeError(fmt.Sprintf("ERR Handle line: %+#v", err))
 			return
 		}
-		kclp.readmux.Unlock()
+
+		if !kclp.nextCheckpointPair.IsEmpty() {
+			err := kclp.sendCheckpoint(kclp.nextCheckpointPair, 5)
+			if err != nil {
+				kclp.ioHandler.writeError(fmt.Sprintf("ERR checkpoint: %+#v", err))
+			}
+			kclp.nextCheckpointPair = SequencePair{}
+		}
+
+		err = kclp.reportDone(action)
+		if err != nil {
+			kclp.ioHandler.writeError(fmt.Sprintf("ERR report done: %s, %+#v", action, err))
+			return
+		}
+
+		if kclp.isShuttingDown {
+			kclp.sendCheckpoint(SequencePair{}, 5) // Empty SequencePair is signal to shutdown
+		}
 	}
 }