How to fill out a forwarding instruction
A forwarding instruction books a movement with a freight forwarder. It is the narrower cousin of the shipper's letter of instruction — it says what to move and where, without necessarily carrying the authority to act as your agent for customs.
The 18 fields on a forwarding instruction
Taken from the document itself, in the order it prints them.
- Document No.
- Date
- PO Reference
- Shipper / Exporter
- Consignee
- Freight Forwarder
The company being instructed. Name the legal entity, not the branch contact you email, because the booking is with the company.
- Mode of Transport
Sea, air, road, rail or multimodal. It decides the document set that follows — a bill of lading, an air waybill or a CMR note — and therefore what you will be asked for next.
- Place of Receipt
Where they collect, with the access constraints: tail lift, forklift, loading bay height, opening hours. A failed collection is charged for, and it is nearly always an access problem nobody mentioned.
- Place of Delivery
The destination address, which may be well inland of the discharge port. The distinction is what decides whether you are buying port-to-port or door delivery.
- Date of Departure
The sailing or flight you need to make, or the date the goods are ready. It is what the forwarder books against and it sets the VGM and documentation cut-offs.
- Estimated Arrival
What you are being promised, so a slipped schedule is visible rather than discovered. Worth having in writing when the buyer has a delivery window.
- Incoterms
Tells the forwarder which legs and charges are yours and which are the buyer's. Getting it wrong is how you end up paying destination charges you never agreed to.
- Special Instructions
Insurance and to what value, hazardous classification, temperature control, whether partial shipment is acceptable, who receives the documents. A forwarder will not arrange cover you did not ask for, and finding that out after a loss is the worst way to learn it.
- Name
- Title
- Company
- Place
- Date
The line-item columns
One row per product. Columns can be hidden, renamed or added in the generator.
- Item #
- Description
- Pkgs
Physical pieces. What the driver counts at collection and signs for.
- Pkg Type
- Gross Wt
What the booking is priced on. It should agree with the packing list and, for sea freight, with the verified gross mass you will separately certify.
- Dims
Per package. Used to work out whether the consignment fits and to calculate volumetric weight on air freight.
- Vol
Decides whether you are charged by weight or by measure, and therefore what the freight actually costs on LCL.
A working forwarding instruction, prefilled with a sample shipment. Every field above is editable here, and it downloads as a PDF.
| Item # | Description | Pkgs | Pkg Type | Gross Wt (KG) | Dims (CM) | Vol (CBM) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Your entries are kept as you move between documents: the parties, ports, container and line items all carry across.
Instruction, not authority
A forwarding instruction books a movement. A shipper's letter of instruction additionally authorises the forwarder to complete customs formalities in your name, which is a materially different thing — a declaration filed by your agent is treated as filed by you. Where customs work is involved, send the letter of instruction rather than assuming this covers it.
Insurance is the omission that hurts
Freight forwarders arrange cover when asked and not otherwise, and carrier liability is limited by convention to sums far below cargo value — 8.33 SDR per kilogram under CMR, and comparable limits at sea. Assuming the goods are insured because they are in a professional's hands is a common and expensive mistake.
Volume decides the price on LCL
Less-than-container freight is charged on weight or measure, whichever is greater, so dimensions are commercial information rather than logistics detail. An understated volume produces a quote that is revised upward after the goods are already at the freight station.
+Is this the same as a shipper's letter of instruction?
No. This books the movement; the letter of instruction also appoints the forwarder as your agent for customs. Many forwarders use one form for both, in which case read the authority clause before signing.
+Do I need to state the HS code?
Not for the booking itself, but the forwarder will need it for any customs declaration. Providing it early keeps control of a classification you remain answerable for.
+Who arranges the export declaration?
The forwarder, usually, and on your behalf — which is why the authority in a letter of instruction matters. Confirm explicitly rather than assuming.
Judge it by the document, not the feature list.
Everything above is already on the form. Fill it in and download the PDF — no account needed.
Open the forwarding instruction generator