Shipper's letter of instruction against shipping instruction
The names are close enough that the documents get used interchangeably, and they are addressed to different people for different purposes. One appoints an agent; the other drafts a transport document.
Send a shipper's letter of instruction to your freight forwarder — it covers the whole job and authorises them to complete customs formalities in your name. Send a shipping instruction to the carrier, or let your forwarder produce one, to say exactly how the bill of lading should read.
| Shipper's Letter of Instruction | Shipping Instruction | |
|---|---|---|
| Addressed to | Your freight forwarder. | The carrier or its agent. |
| Covers | The whole movement. | The transport document only. |
| Authority | Authorises the forwarder to act as your agent. | Confers no authority. |
| Produces | A booking, and a customs declaration. | The bill of lading. |
| Signed by | Someone able to appoint an agent. | Shipping desk. |
The authority clause is the real difference
A letter of instruction lets your forwarder sign customs declarations in your name. That convenience is exactly why the details have to be right: a wrong classification or value filed by your agent is treated as filed by you, and penalties follow the exporter rather than the forwarder. It is worth reading what you are authorising before signing it, once, properly.
Ambiguity travels downstream
The forwarder usually produces the shipping instruction from your letter of instruction. Anything vague in the first reappears in the second, and from there on the bill of lading — where amending it costs money before the vessel sails and considerably more afterwards. If the consignee box should read “to order of” rather than a named company, that decision belongs in the letter of instruction, not in a follow-up email.
The exporter's instructions to their freight forwarder, including the authority to act as agent for customs purposes.
Tells the carrier exactly how the bill of lading should read: parties, routing, cargo description and freight terms.
+Do I need both?
If you are using a forwarder, in practice you send the letter of instruction and they handle the shipping instruction. Booking directly with a carrier, you send the shipping instruction yourself and there is no agent to appoint.
+Is a new one needed for every shipment?
The shipment details, yes. The authority to act is often held separately as a standing power of attorney, so the per-shipment document is instructions rather than appointment.
Judge it by the document, not the feature list.
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