A method is performed by a base station centralized unit (CU) node that is in communication, using a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), with a user equipment (UE) via one or more intermediate integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes of a radio access network (RAN). The CU node receives one or more PDCP packets over a radio link control (RLC) layer utilizing hop-by-hop automatic repeat request (ARQ) at each intermediate IAB node. In response to a trigger, the CU node sends an uplink (UL) data delivery status report to at least one of the intermediate IAB nodes.