Proof of delivery

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Admiralty law
History
Code of Hammurabi Corpus Juris Civilis Digesta Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris Amalfian Laws Hanseatic League
Features
Fishing Illegal Fisheries law Maritime transport Shipping/Ferry Cargo Freight Shipbuilding Merchant marine Cargo ship Passenger ship Mortgage Registration Marine insurance Act of God Cargo Collision General average Seaworthiness Total loss Maritime security Letter of marque Drugs Piracy Pollution Smuggling Wartime prizes
Contract of carriage/Charterparty
Affreightment Agency Barratry Bill of lading Brokerage Chartering Consignment Demurrage Force majeure Invoice Commercial Pro forma Laytime Lien Maritime Manifest Packing list Proof of delivery Salvage Law Terms International Waybill
Parties
Agent Factor Freight forwarder Captain (Master) The captain goes down with the ship Carrier Charterer Freight company Manager Consignee Consignor Principal Owner Seaman Mutiny Stevedore
Judiciaries
Admiralty court Vice admiralty court
International conventions
Hague-Visby Rules Hamburg Rules Rotterdam Rules Maritime Labour Convention International Convention on Salvage United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) International piracy law SOLAS Convention MARPOL Convention Ballast Water Management Convention Anti-fouling Convention International Convention on Load Lines International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea SAR Convention Athens Convention
International organizations
International Maritime Organization Comité Maritime International London Maritime Arbitrators Association
v t e

A proof of delivery (POD) is a document that substantiates that a carrier has satisfied its terms of a contract of carriage for cargo by confirmation of the recipient or consignee.^[1] When the sender sends multiple documents through the mail, there is a possibility of some not reaching the intended recipient. Generally, post offices provide an additional service of guaranteed delivery, known as an avis de réception (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.

Proof of delivery becomes very important when legal and financial documents are to be exchanged between two parties. In the United States, DHL, UPS and FedEx as well as the US postal service (USPS) 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, businesses exchange millions^{[citation needed]} of electronic documents to track delivery information using computer to computer communication techniques like email, FTP 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.

Message-oriented middleware (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.