What a delivery note actually is
A delivery note is the document that travels with the goods and comes back to you signed. You issue it, not the carrier. It says what left your premises, when, in what condition, to whom it was handed, and — once countersigned — that somebody accepted it. It carries no prices, no payment terms and no bank details, because the people who sign it are a driver and a storeman, and neither of them is a party to your commercial terms.
Its entire value is evidentiary. On the day everything goes right, nobody reads it. On the day a pallet is missing, a carton is crushed or the buyer says the goods never arrived, it is the only piece of paper that fixes what was handed over and when. That is why this template prints two separate signature blocks rather than one: the carrier takes the goods into charge at origin, and the consignee acknowledges receipt at destination. Those are two different events, in two different countries, months apart in a dispute — and collapsing them into a single scrawl at the bottom of the page destroys the only thing the document was for.
The vocabulary on it is borrowed deliberately. "Place of taking-over" and "place of delivery" are the terms the CMR Convention uses for the particulars of a consignment note in international road carriage, and the wording under the carrier block — receipt of the goods "in apparent good order and condition" — is the check the carrier makes on taking over. A delivery note is not a CMR consignment note, and it does not become one. But it borrows the structure because that structure is what a court, a claims adjuster and a P&I club already know how to read.
What has to be on it
A number, and an order reference. The delivery note number is what a claim, a short-landing report or a credit note is filed against; the order reference is what ties this handover to the deal it belongs to. Both print in bold at the top of this template for that reason. A delivery note that references nothing is a piece of paper you cannot retrieve six months later, which is precisely when you will need it.
The goods, described the way the packing list describes them, with the same HS codes. Not your internal SKU vocabulary — "Model A-3" tells a receiving storeman nothing and tells a customs officer less. If the delivery note, the packing list and the commercial invoice describe the same cartons in three different registers, every downstream reconciliation becomes manual, and the one that matters — did we get what was sent? — becomes a judgement call.
Quantities and weights, net and gross, with the totals footed. Note the semantics this form enforces: the weights you enter are per unit, and the document multiplies by the quantity. Gross weight is the number the carrier cares about and the number that must be consistent with what you later declare — under SOLAS chapter VI, a packed container cannot be loaded onto a ship without a verified gross mass, and a delivery note whose gross weights contradict the VGM you submit is a contradiction sitting in your own file.
The route, stated as the two places the goods actually pass between: where the carrier takes them over, and where the consignee receives them. Your gate is not a port of loading; the buyer's coldstore is not a port of discharge — so this document asks for the places, not the ports, and a port never stands in for a place of delivery here. Leave a place blank and the line prints a dash rather than a guess. That matters most on the rules people get backwards: under EXW or an F-rule you frequently do not know the final destination, and having the document assert one you neither made nor control is the dangerous error, not the safe one.
The shipping marks, exactly as stencilled, and the vehicle identity. The marks are what the receiving storeman counts against; if they read differently here than on the cartons, the count fails before it starts. The truck or trailer number is the least glamorous field on the page and the most useful one when cargo disappears between your gate and the terminal.
How it relates to the other documents
It is not the bill of lading, and confusing the two is expensive. The carrier issues the bill of lading; you issue the delivery note. The B/L is a contract of carriage, a receipt, and — when made to order — a document of title that controls who may take the cargo at destination. The delivery note is none of those things. Handing a buyer a signed delivery note releases nothing and secures nothing; it merely records that a handover happened.
It is not the packing list either, though they overlap almost completely. The packing list answers "what is inside each package?" and is a customs and reconciliation document. The delivery note answers "who took custody of these packages, where and when?" and is an evidence document. The practical rule: the packing list travels in the document pack and goes to the bank and to customs; the delivery note travels with the truck and comes back to your file.
It is not a transport document under UCP 600 either, and you should not let a buyer's bank believe otherwise. Articles 19 to 25 define what banks will accept as transport documents — multimodal, bills of lading, sea waybills, charter party, air, road/rail/inland waterway, courier and post — and a seller's own delivery note is not among them. If a credit does call for a delivery note as an additional document without stipulating who issues it or what it must say, UCP 600 sub-article 14(f) is the rule that applies: the bank accepts it as presented, provided its content appears to fulfil the function of the document called for. That is a low bar, and it is also the reason you should read the credit before assuming this document satisfies it.
Where it fits is the seam between your warehouse and everyone else. The proforma commits to the deal, the commercial invoice demands payment, the packing list describes the cargo, the bill of lading contracts the carriage — and the delivery note is the one document that proves the physical thing actually changed hands. Under an Incoterms 2020 F-rule, the countersigned delivery note is often the cleanest evidence you have that you delivered at all; under a D-rule, the consignee's signature at destination is the evidence that your obligation ended.
How delivery notes fail
The copy never comes back. This is the most common failure by a wide margin, and it is a process failure, not a document failure. An unsigned delivery note in your file proves nothing at all — it proves you printed something. Decide before dispatch who chases the signed copy and by when, and treat a missing POD the way you treat a missing invoice.
The driver signs a clean note over cargo that is not clean. "Apparent good order and condition" is a statement about what was visible at handover, and it is the sentence the carrier's defence will be built on. If three cartons are dented, the note must say so before it is signed. A clean signature over damaged goods transfers the argument from the carrier to you, and it does it in your own handwriting.
Prices on it. A delivery note carrying unit prices circulates through a warehouse, a haulier's office and a receiving bay — none of which have any business knowing your margins, and any of which may be the buyer's competitor's supplier next quarter. This tool does not collect prices for that reason. If a value is genuinely needed for insurance or transit formalities, that belongs on the document that is supposed to state value, not on the one the driver keeps in the cab.
It disagrees with the packing list. Same cartons, different counts, different weights, different marks. The consignee reconciles against whichever document reached them first, and the discrepancy becomes a claim you have to disprove with your own contradictory paperwork. Generate both from the same line data and the problem cannot arise.
It is treated as a receipt for payment. It is not one, it creates no receivable, and it is not a customs document — the delivery note does not clear anything anywhere. A signed delivery note is evidence of physical receipt. What the buyer owes you, and when, is a question the commercial invoice and the contract answer, and the two documents should never be asked to do each other's job.
Common questions
What is the difference between a delivery note and a bill of lading?
You issue the delivery note; the carrier issues the bill of lading. The B/L is a contract of carriage and a receipt, and when it is made out to order it is also a document of title — whoever holds the original controls the cargo at destination. The delivery note controls nothing. It records that goods physically changed hands, who took them, and in what apparent condition. You need both, and neither substitutes for the other.
Why are there no prices on the delivery note?
Because of who handles it. A delivery note passes through your yard, a haulier's cab and the consignee's receiving bay — people who need to count cartons and check condition, not people entitled to your commercial terms. Leaving prices off is standard practice, not a limitation of this tool. Value belongs on the commercial invoice, which goes to the bank and to customs.
Can I use a delivery note as proof of delivery in a dispute?
Only if it comes back signed, and only for what it actually says. An unsigned copy in your file proves nothing. A signed one is strong evidence of what was handed over, to whom, and when — which is why this template separates the carrier's acceptance at origin from the consignee's acknowledgment at destination. If the goods were visibly damaged at handover, that has to be written on the note before anyone signs it; a clean signature over damaged cargo works against you, not for you.
Is this delivery note generator free?
Yes — free, and there is no account to create. Fill the form, watch the delivery note build as you type, and we email you the PDF. We ask for an email address only because that is how the document reaches you.
Do you store the data I type?
We keep your submission so we can generate and email the document, and we delete it on a fixed retention schedule. The live preview stores nothing at all — it runs before we ask you for anything. Your logo is read in the browser and never uploaded. See our privacy policy for the detail.