Transport document
Proof of Delivery
A proof of delivery records that a consignment was handed over, when, and to whom. What it does not record is whether the goods inside were sound — and that difference decides claims.
Evidence of handover, not of condition
A signed proof of delivery evidences that the consignment was presented and accepted at a place and time. It is the document that closes the carriage from the carrier's point of view and, in a dispute about whether goods arrived at all, it is the answer.
It is a much weaker statement about what condition the goods were in. A signature applied to a delivery note usually confirms the number of handling units received; it says little about what is inside them, and the person signing has rarely opened anything.
The note written at delivery is where the value is
Where damage or shortage is visible at delivery, recording it on the document at that moment is what preserves the position. A specific note — which pallet, what damage, how many units — is evidence. A signature with no comment, followed by a complaint two days later, is a much harder case.
This is the single most useful thing a consignee can be told about receiving freight, and it costs nothing: look, and write down what you see before the driver leaves.
Signed subject to inspection is not a substitute
Writing an unexamined reservation across every delivery is a common practice and a weak one. A blanket note that is applied to everything conveys no information about this consignment, and is treated accordingly.
Where goods genuinely cannot be inspected on arrival — sealed units, palletised loads that must be broken down under conditions the delivery point cannot provide — that is worth stating specifically, along with when the inspection will happen.
Electronic and paper records serve the same purpose
Signature capture on a handheld device and a signed paper note do the same job. What matters is that the record identifies the consignment, the time, the place and the person, and that any exception is recorded rather than being remembered.
Where an electronic record is used, being able to retrieve it later is part of its value. A proof of delivery that cannot be produced when a claim is made is not doing the one thing it exists for.
What it does
The job this document performs.
- Records that a consignment was handed over, at a time and place, to a named person
- Closes the carriage from the carrier's perspective
- Answers the question of whether goods were delivered at all
- Carries any exception noted at the point of delivery, which is where its evidential weight sits
- Exists in paper and electronic form, with the same purpose in both
Cautions
What goes wrong.
- A clean signature is not evidence that the goods inside were sound
- Damage or shortage should be described specifically at delivery, not reported afterwards
- Blanket 'subject to inspection' wording applied to everything carries little weight
- An electronic record that cannot be retrieved later is not serving its purpose
- How a claim is handled depends on the contract of carriage and the applicable convention, and is a matter for the parties and their advisers
Use the reference
Apply the definition to the actual contract and shipment.
A reference explains the role of a rule or document. The applicable edition, terms and requirements still need to be confirmed for the case.
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