PRACTICE AREA

Logistics

Logistics in a foreign-trade transaction is not only carriage. The actual route, the timing, the transport documents and the delivery terms need to line up with the contract and the rest of the pack.

When this is relevant

The route has been chosen, but it is unclear which documents should evidence it

Carriage is being planned, and the link between the delivery basis, the transport and the pack has not yet been checked.

The delivery terms and the actual carriage describe different obligations

Who is responsible for a leg of the journey, insurance, handing over documents or the risk of loss does not match on paper and in practice.

The delivery timetable is tightening, and the transport documents are not yet aligned with the contract

It is necessary to see which gap creates delay risk, and which can be closed by a clarification.

The goods are already in transit, and a question has appeared about documents, the route or handing over the goods

The situation is moving, and it is important to see which fact is not currently evidenced by the documents.

What we look at

We match the actual route, timing and transport documents to the contract terms. We look at whether they evidence the same shipment as the contract and the invoice.

Logistics here is not the organisation of carriage. It is a check on whether the movement of the goods diverges from the documents and the parties’ obligations.

Typical questions

A failure more often appears at the join between carriage and the pack than in the fact of dispatch itself.

  • Whether the route and delivery basis match how the goods actually move.
  • Whether the transport documents evidence the same transaction as the contract and invoice.
  • Which gap in timing or documents can stop the shipment.

How this helps

You receive a reading of logistics as part of the transaction, not as a separate carriage service.

  • Where the route, timing and documents already line up.
  • Where the carriage describes a different operation from the contract.
  • Which question to close before the next stage of the shipment.

The route needs to line up with the transaction documents.
Check the carriage together with the contract and the invoice.