Incoterms rule
DPU — Delivered at Place Unloaded
DPU is the only rule in the set under which the seller must unload the goods at the destination. That obligation sounds minor and is the entire reason to choose the term — or to avoid it.
One obligation nothing else in the set carries
Under every other delivered rule the seller places the goods at the buyer's disposal ready for unloading, and the unloading itself is the buyer's. DPU reverses that: delivery is not complete until the goods are off the vehicle.
The rule was renamed in the 2020 revision from a term that referred specifically to a terminal, in order to make clear that the named place can be any place — a terminal, a warehouse, a works, a construction site. Some parties still use the older name, which is worth knowing when reading an older contract.
An unloading obligation is a promise about equipment
A seller agreeing DPU is undertaking that the goods will come off the vehicle at a place they may never have seen. Whether that is achievable depends on the site: whether there is a dock at the right height, a forklift with adequate capacity, a crane where one is needed, and someone authorised to operate it.
Where the site cannot unload and the seller has not brought the means to, the seller is in breach of an obligation they agreed without checking. This is the most common way DPU goes wrong, and it goes wrong at the destination, in front of the buyer, with a loaded vehicle waiting.
Risk passes after unloading, which changes who owns a handling accident
Because delivery completes only once the goods are unloaded, damage caused during unloading falls on the seller's side of the line rather than the buyer's. For fragile, heavy or awkward goods that is a meaningful reallocation of risk and not a technicality.
It also means the seller has an interest in how the unloading is done, which is an odd position to be in at a site they do not control. Where the goods are genuinely difficult to handle, the parties are usually better served by agreeing expressly who does what than by relying on the rule to settle it.
Import clearance is still not included
DPU does not make the seller responsible for import formalities, duties or taxes. Only DDP does that, and the difference between the two is often the deciding factor in which is appropriate.
A seller who agrees DPU to a destination in a country where they have no presence should establish that the buyer can clear the goods, because a consignment stuck in customs has not been delivered and the unloading obligation cannot be performed.
In practice
What this means for a shipment.
- Establish what unloading equipment exists at the named place before agreeing the term, not after
- Name the place precisely — a site address is not the same as a city, and the obligation attaches to a point
- Agree who physically operates the unloading equipment where the site provides it but not the labour
- Remember that damage during unloading sits on the seller's side of the delivery line
- Confirm the buyer can and will handle import clearance, which DPU leaves with them
An original summary for shippers rather than the rule text. The International Chamber of Commerce publishes and copyrights the authoritative wording and revises it periodically; DPU was renamed at the 2020 revision, so a contract referring to the earlier term is referring to an earlier version and should say so.
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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