What is Release?
The release is an endorsement or acknowledgment of a delivery order by a freight forwarder. It orders the handling party to transfer the liability of a shipment to the following freight forwarder or a courier for further delivery. There are different types of releases, such as a telex release or a freight release.
Significance of Release in an E-commerce Shipping and Delivery
A release is essential for forwarding the shipment for the rest of the shipping cycle. A delay in issuing a release might increase the turnaround time of a shipping cycle resulting in a high transit time.
- Turnaround time: A shipping lifecycle is subdivided into several segments, where products are handed over multiple times. A faster release from one entity to another allows a company to decrease the turnaround time, further allowing a shipping company to reduce the transit time.
- Verification: A release is preceded by confirmation of the future freight forwarder through the release orders. It allows one to ensure that the shipment is being handed over to the right party, decreasing the chances of theft.
Prerequisites of Release and How It Works
Release by a specific handler is carried out after the freight forwarder issues a release order or a delivery order (D/O). The inspection of goods and verification of the next freight forwarder follows it.
- Release order: A freight forwarder issues a delivery order, which contains details about the next handling party. This order is to be acknowledged.
- Inspection and handover: The current handler must inspect the product for damages before handing it over to the concerned party.
Use Case with Release
A freight forwarder shipped containers A and B, each containing 10,000 units of makeup kits from two different sellers. After docking, the freight captain received two delivery orders assigning container A to truck carrier X and container B to carrier Y. Subsequently, after inspection and identity verification, the freight captain gave the containers accordingly.