A proof of delivery (POD) is a document that substantiates that goods have been delivered to their intended recipient. For example, a POD can establish that carrier has satisfied its

terms Term may refer to: Language *Terminology, context-specific nouns or compound words **Technical term (or ''term of art''), used by specialists in a field ***Scientific terminology, used by scientists *Term (argumentation), part of an argument in d ...

of a contract of carriage for

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

by confirmation of delivery to the recipient or

consignee A consignee is a person or entity to which goods are consigned. In a contract of carriage, the consignee is the entity who is financially responsible (the buyer) for the receipt of a shipment. If a sender dispatches an item to a receiver via ...

. Proof of delivery is important when legal and financial documents are to be exchanged between two parties. In the United States,

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

, UPS and

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

as well as the US postal service (

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

) provide proof of delivery. Commercial fleet operators also need to be able to confirm proof of delivery of goods to their customers. In

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

, businesses exchange millions of electronic documents to track delivery information using computer to computer communication techniques like email,

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

and EDI. These documents contain a variety of transaction details, including information regarding purchase orders, invoices, shipping details, product specifications, and price quotes. Electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) can exchange new data as well as corrections to previously transmitted messages. Legal complications can arise if the recipient company refutes receiving a corrected product specification or a message about a delayed shipment. Both companies could be in strong disagreement with each other, each proving/not proving the existence of that particular communication. When the sender sends multiple documents through the

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

, there is a possibility of some not reaching the intended recipient. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

may provide an additional service of guaranteed delivery, known as an

avis de réception ''Avis de réception'' (English: advice or acknowledgment of receipt) is a postal service returning to the sender a form or card signed by the recipient. This is evidence that the letter was received, and these forms (or cards) are frequently s ...

(advice or acknowledgment of receipt), wherein they require the recipient to sign a paper, and that paper is filed by the postal service for a specified number of days.

Message-oriented middleware Message-oriented middleware (MOM) is software or hardware infrastructure supporting sending and receiving messages between distributed systems. Message-oriented middleware is in contrast to streaming-oriented middleware where data is communicate ...

(MOM) is a class of software used to implement computer based business document exchange. Such systems provide proof of delivery services by employing techniques such as logging each send/receive activity. Companies also employ intermediate data brokers to exchange information. Employing such services provide not only proof of delivery but also other services like data integrity, multi-point delivery, and single point of contact for data exchange.

References

External links

* {{commons-inline, Proof of Delivery Postal services

See also

References

External links