Importing · July 9, 2026
Two documents that decide whether your container can actually be picked up. Miss one and the truck waits.
Two pieces of paper — well, two emails these days — control whether your container can leave the terminal: the arrival notice and the delivery order. They sound similar and they're easy to mix up, but they do different jobs, and a container isn't going anywhere until both are sorted.
The arrival notice comes from the ocean carrier or your forwarder. It's the heads-up that your container has landed (or is about to), and it lists the vitals: container number, bill of lading, vessel, the terminal, and any charges due. Think of it as "your box is here, here's what you owe and where it is." It's information, not permission.
The delivery order (DO) is the permission. It's the instruction — usually from the forwarder or customs broker once customs is cleared and freight is paid — that authorizes the terminal to release the container to your trucker. No valid DO, no pickup, no matter how ready the truck is.
A container can be physically on the ground, customs-cleared, and still stuck because the delivery order hasn't been issued or the line hasn't released it in the terminal's system. Meanwhile the terminal's free time is ticking toward demurrage. Dispatching a truck before the box is actually released just burns a trip and risks a dry run fee.
We track the arrival notice and the release status in the terminal system, confirm the delivery order and that all holds are cleared, and only then send the truck. Running the paperwork and the drayage together is how a container gets picked up the day it's ready instead of the day after demurrage starts.
The arrival notice (from the carrier/forwarder) tells you the container has landed and what's owed. The delivery order authorizes the terminal to release the container to your trucker. One is information; the other is permission.
Usually the freight forwarder or customs broker, once customs is cleared and freight charges are paid. The terminal won't release the container without it.
No. Even a customs-cleared container on the ground can't be released without a valid delivery order and the line's release in the terminal system.
Often the delivery order hasn't been issued or the ocean line hasn't posted its release in the terminal's system. We track both so the truck only rolls when the box is truly free.