Delivery Order (DO): The Ultimate FAQ Guide

This guide covers all information you need to know about delivery order.

So, if you want to learn more about delivery order, read this guide.

What is a Delivery Order (DO)?

It is a release document issued by the carrier while releasing cargo to the consignee mentioned in the Bill of Lading.

Ensure the cargo is given to the right entity failure to which the reverse process is very difficult.

A delivery note is the climax of the shipping process; it indicates the end of the contract between the carrier and consignee for that precise shipment.

What is the Importance of Delivery Order?

1. Is a crucial document in international trade that gives the consignee a go-ahead to clear cargo with customs and take from the port to final destination.
2. It ensures safety of goods; cargo is released under strict measures only to the party mentioned in the BOL.

What should a Delivery Order Include?

A delivery order entails the following:

1. A description of goods contained in the shipment.
2. Quantity of each type of product.

• The name and address of the shipment receiver.

1. The name of the person who will pay if payment is to be made on delivery.
2. The delivery date; which helps the carrier keep time so that cargo can get to the buyer on the designated date.
3. The container used to deliver the products.

• May include a delivery confirmation where the carrier is supposed to sign to confirm goods were delivered according to the given instructions.

The consignee also signs the confirmation to ascertain the carrier goods were delivered and received.

Who issues a Delivery Order in International Shipping?

This is important document can be issued by the following people:

1. It’s granted directly by the carrier of your cargo if they have offices at the given location or by an approved agent on the behalf of the carrier.
2. If goods are Less Container Load, the document can be issued by a Groupage Operator for LCL.

• If your House Bill of Lading (HBL) was issued by a freight forwarder, the freight broker’s agent at a given location to collect the original HBL.

1. He supplies a release letter to the main carrier asking a delivery order to be issued to the recommended consignee.

Can a Freight Forwarder or NVOCC issue a Delivery Order?

Well, there are no regulations that can limit a freight forwarder and Non-Vessel Owning Common Carrier (NVOCC) from issuing a delivery note.

Both parties are mentioned in the Master Bill of Landing. As stated above, a delivery order is issued to the freight forwarder or NVOCC named in the MBOL.

FF and NVOCC supply a house bill of lading.

There are no requirements or restrictions to issue a delivery order, however, they can issue the document depending on the internal orders and in-house practices.

Is Delivery Order the same as Invoice?

No, they are totally different.

A delivery order contains product description and quantity but doesn’t include a bill and is issued before the release of cargo to the consignee.

An invoice on the other hand is a bill that shows the total amount the buyer should pay.

It is sent after dispatch or along with the goods.

What is the Difference Between a Delivery Order and a Bill of Lading (BOL)?

Below are variations between Delivery Order and BOL:

Delivery order is a release document issued by the carrier while releasing cargo to the consignee mentioned in the Bill of Lading.

It is not a negotiable document and it doesn’t act as a receipt.

In addition, it doesn’t include means of transport of the goods delivered.

Bill of lading is a document issued by the carrier to the shipper with details of the type quantity and final destination of goods.

It confirms the transportation of goods to the carrier.

It also acts as a receipt as it’s signed by the consignee after delivery of shipment.

Similarly, it is a negotiable document; it also represents the title of goods.

Is a Delivery Order a Negotiable Document?

No, it is not.

A negotiable document means one that is negotiable according to article 7 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

It is a document that incorporates the rights to delivery of tangible assets and also satisfies the requirements for negotiability.

Negotiable simply means ownership can be easily transferred from one party to another.

Examples of such documents include an original bill of lading and a warehouse receipt.

Does a Delivery Order Act as Evidence or Receipt of Goods?

Unlike the Bill of Lading, you can’ use a Delivery Order as a receipt for your goods.

When is a Delivery Order Issued?

This document is supplied by the Master Carrier to the consignee.

when all handling bills have been cleared and the contract of carriage has been taken out as a detailed bill of lading.

Essentially the carrier issues a delivery order in exchange for a bill of lading of the delivered shipment from the consignee.

When BOL is not surrendered to the carrier, the carrier holds the cargo until proper documents are submitted so that goods can be transferred to the consignee.

What are the Conditions for the Issuance of Delivery of Order?

If the shipment named consignee is actual intended owner of the goods and there are no freight forwarders involved, the BOL used is Master Bill of Lading.

Because no third parties or any intermediaries are involved.

This means different BOL have different ways of surrendering the document.

It may sound complicated but I will break it down for you; don’t worry.

1. Surrendering of original BOL- Most shipments have three bills of lading. All these three must be submitted to a shipping agent.

That means no copies are supposed to be circulating among the shipper and consignee.

For surrendering to be accepted, it must be done physically to the shipping agent.

I hope we are together up to there.

When the documents are processed, the shipping agent can go ahead and issue the delivery order to the named consignee or recommended agent.

In addition, the back part of a BOL has to be accepted and endorsed by the following partied:

• the named shipper and consignee
• Appointed consignee’s agents
• Issuing bank of Letter of Credit.

In a Waybill of lading endorsement the parties above sign at the back of the document followed by the signature of the qualified person.

This is meant to ensure the terms of Contract of Carriage are accepted by all parties.

Sometimes the appointed agent doesn’t appear on the consignee section.

In such a case the carrier may ask for confirmation with a Letter of Indemnity from the consignee.

I know it sounds strict but it’s meant to prevent them from releasing goods to the wrong entity.

Once all these conditions of Original BOL have been met then they can release a delivery note.

1. Seaway Bill for the surrender of D.O- This one is simpler than the previous one.

When the Seaway bill is used to arrange shipment the carrier doesn’t supply the original copies of BOL to either party.

This makes the documentation process simple.

Besides, this is common where there is a lot of trust between the shipper and consignee or the transport arrangement is via the sea and is short.

The shipping agent issues the delivery order once ordered by the shipper.

The consignee or the agent is left paying the pending payment charges to the carrier.

• After settling the available debt- Carriers have adopted this from businesses like supermarkets.

You only walk out with what you have paid for.

In ocean carrier charges may include

• Detention
• Demurrage
• Ocean freight
• Telex release fee etc

The carrier will send you a notification once the goods arrive and a tax invoice of all charges related to your shipment.

The entity meant to pay for the cargo should do so before the release of the delivery order.

1. Once E-Delivery Order is issued- a while back D.O was physical documents and payments were done in physical cash or cheques.

Meaning you had to be present in the premises.

Today most countries have adopted Electronic Delivery Order Release.

If shipment is not planned with a seaway bill or telex release bill, instead of offering original BOL, consignee doesn’t get D.O, it’s done electronically.

Similarly, payments are done online.

You only need to issue a shipping agent with a slip.

They will then notify terminal operators of E-DO release and update the system.

What are the Consequences if Delivery Order is Not Issued in Strict Conformity With, and in Exchange, for the Relevant BOL?

A Delivery Order should be issued in exchange for all and I  mean all original Bills of Lading failure to which dire consequences may follow.

If both Bill of landing and delivery order of the same shipment are surrendered to the carrier can lead to a lot of complication.

As earlier stated a delivery order is not a document of title hence the holder of BOL will be held accountable for goods until stated otherwise.

Also, the entity holding the D.O is allowed to claim damages from the carrier to cover for the losses encountered.

To avoid such consequences, carriers should ensure all original Bills of Lading have been released.

Equally, they should ensure the number of goods outlined in the D.O are the same as the ones in BOL.

A D.O should also contain all information in the BOL including the loading time

So that in case all BOL has not been submitted, a D.O can be issued in exchange for a Letter of Indemnity.

A delivery Order is a very valuable document but it can complicate the entire shipment process in case of any minor mistake.

Carriers should be very careful.

Is there a Difference Between a Delivery Order and a Delivery Note?

Yes, there is.

These two terms sound the same because of ‘delivery’ however they are worlds apart.

Here are the differences:

A delivery order is issued by a carrier in exchange for a bill of Lading.

It is issued before goods are released by the carrier to the designated party.

Similarly, it doesn’t act as a receipt and it’s not signed.

While as a delivery note also called a dispatch note or goods received note, is a document that follows shipment.

It provides a list of goods and their quantity.

It is mostly printed but sometimes can be emailed to you as a soft copy.

It’s used as a checklist by the consignee to verify whether everything is present.

Sometimes the delivery note is signed by the consignee then sent to the shipper as proof of delivery.

Both documents contain products however the time they are issued and the purposes they serve are different.

A delivery order paves way for the release of the cargo while the delivery note is the final phase of delivery.

What are the Documents Required for Delivery Order?

For you to obtain a delivery order, you need to issue your shipping agent with the original Bills of landing.

Sometimes the carrier may request for a Letter of Indemnity from the consignee.

How does Delivery Order Differ from Delivery Instructions in Logistics?

These two terms are used interchangeably however they are different.

A delivery order is used to release cargo from the port.

Delivery instructions are precise specifications to the inland carrier regarding plans made by the freight broker to deliver goods at a particular dock.

Does Delivery Order Contain Provisions of the Contract of Carriage?

No, it doesn’t.

A Contract of Carriage is an agreement between the consignor, carrier, and consignee.

It spells out the rights, duties, and liabilities of the parties.

A delivery order is only a document used in regards to transportation of goods to the designated party not a Contract of Carriage or transportation document.

What is an e-Delivery Order and what are its advantages?

Electronic Delivery order is softcopy D.O sent electronically.

It’s very convenient and time-saving. Unlike D.O for an E-Delivery Order, you don’t have to go physically to the shipping agent’s offices.

You can receive the document from wherever you are online.

All you need to do is make payment online then send the payment slip as proof to the terminal Operators and finally, you receive the document.

What is Ships Delivery Order vs Merchants Delivery Order?

Below are the differences between these two terms:

Ship delivery order, is a document that contains Bill of Lading and an agreement by the carrier to deliver goods to the person named in the document.

Merchant Delivery Order is where a seller who has shipped goods, issues a merchant delivery order to carrier.

Ordering delivery of part or all shipments the carrier has to a specific entity.

If MDO is supplied by a third party, then presented to ship the carrier needs to acknowledge it before it becomes attached to him.

The document is considered ineffective until the attornment time occurs.

After the acknowledgment, it becomes similar to the ship delivery order.

How Can You Request a Delivery Order from your Carrier?

Below is a step by step procedure a consignee can select haulage type, fill in relevant details for requesting a delivery order:

1. At the top right corner of your home page, select account then login.
2. In the delivery section, key in shipment and click request delivery order.

• View task status.

1. Select the preferred haulage mode either carrier or merchant haulage.
2. Select request delivery order.
3. Modernize haulage details such as release date and release to.

• Also, update haulage instructions for any precise details necessary then click apply to all containers.
• Add a working email address to where your final delivery order will be sent to.

1. Update details of the entity responsible for paying the demurrage and detention fees.
2. Verify all the information, if it’s correct submits.
3. Customer service will receive the request, wait for your document.

What is the Relationship Between Delivery Order and Sales Order?

Delivery order and a sales order are very similar in that both documents contain

• Details of the shipment
• Quantity and quality of the goods
• Name and address of the customer
• Delivery date

What is the Process of Delivery Order?

A delivery order is processed in two steps.

Once the shipping agent receives D.O request, they begin to prepare for the release of the cargo.

Step 1 is the picking step- goods are moved from the stock to output.

Step 2 is the shipping step goods are moved from output to customer ready for shipping.

Is Delivery Order Form Similar to a Packing List?

Yes, they are similar.

Moreover, there is a slight difference.

A Delivery order form has additional instructions for the Bailee to ship goods they have in custody.

A D.O form is typically one page, it can be printed or you can get softcopy from legal software programs.

What are the Legal Effects of Delivery Order in Shipping?

Once ship Delivery Order is accepted, rights against the carrier under the Contract of Carriage are transferred from  shipper, to the person mentioned in the D.O.

The holder of D.O can take action against the carrier on the terms under the contract of carriage if he was among the parties in the contract.

The carrier is there for attached to the terms of contract present in the D.O.

This shows the similarity between the D.O and BOL because of the transfer of rights against the carrier.

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