Legal Definitions - delivery order

A delivery order is a formal written instruction issued by the owner of goods (or someone legally authorized by the owner) to a third party, such as a warehouse or a shipping company. This instruction directs the third party to release specific goods to a designated person or entity. It is typically used when the goods are being held by a professional custodian who would normally issue a document like a warehouse receipt or a bill of lading to acknowledge their possession of the goods.

Here are some examples to illustrate how a delivery order works:

• Scenario: International Trade and Logistics

  An electronics importer receives a large shipment of televisions from overseas. These televisions are stored in a customs-bonded warehouse at the port. The importer then sells a portion of these televisions to a retail chain. To enable the retail chain to pick up their purchased goods, the importer issues a delivery order to the bonded warehouse. This order specifies the exact number of televisions to be released and identifies the retail chain's authorized transport company as the recipient.

  Explanation: This illustrates a delivery order because the importer (owner of the goods) is providing a written instruction to the bonded warehouse (the third-party custodian) to release specific goods (televisions) to the retail chain (the designated recipient).

• Scenario: Domestic Storage and Distribution

  A clothing brand stores its entire inventory of seasonal apparel in a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse. As orders come in from various boutiques across the country, the clothing brand sends a delivery order to the 3PL warehouse for each order. Each order details the specific clothing items, sizes, and quantities to be picked, packed, and shipped to a particular boutique.

  Explanation: Here, the clothing brand (owner) uses a delivery order to instruct the 3PL warehouse (the third-party custodian) to release specific inventory (clothing items) to various boutiques (the designated recipients).

• Scenario: Bulk Commodities and Partial Shipments

  A large agricultural cooperative sells a significant volume of corn to a food processing company. The corn is stored in a grain elevator managed by a separate storage company. The food processing company then decides to sell a smaller portion of that corn to a snack manufacturer. Instead of physically moving the corn, the food processing company issues a delivery order to the grain elevator company, instructing them to release a specific tonnage of corn to the snack manufacturer's designated truck.

  Explanation: In this case, the food processing company (owner of the corn) issues a delivery order to the grain elevator company (the third-party custodian) to release a specific quantity of corn to the snack manufacturer (the designated recipient).