Delivery order (D/O)

Once the consignee has paid the destination charges and proved its right to the cargo, by surrendering an original bill of lading, through a telex release or as the named party on a sea waybill, the carrier or its agent issues the delivery order. It names the party entitled to collect and lists the containers or packages covered. The terminal, container freight station or warehouse releases the goods against it, usually together with customs release.

The term has two common uses. The carrier's delivery order releases the cargo from the line's control at the terminal or warehouse. In the United States, a delivery order is also the instruction a customs broker or forwarder sends to a trucking company, telling it which container to pick up, where to deliver it and when. Both differ from the arrival notice, which only announces the arrival and lists the charges.

Many ports now issue delivery orders electronically through carrier or port community systems instead of on paper. A container generally needs both the delivery order and customs release before it can leave the terminal; one without the other is not enough. Forwarders plan drayage around the D/O, because every day a container waits at the terminal for a missing release after free time ends adds demurrage to the importer's bill.