DPU — Delivered at Place Unloaded
The only rule that requires the seller to unload. It replaced DAT in 2020 and is no longer limited to terminals.
- Group
- D — Arrival
- Transport mode
- Any mode, including multimodal.
- Named place
- The destination where the goods are unloaded and placed at the buyer's disposal.
- Main carriage paid by
- Seller
- Risk passes
- At destination, once unloaded
- Export clearance
- Seller
- Import clearance and duties
- Buyer
- Seller must insure
- No obligation on either party. Arrange your own cover.
- Unloading at destination
- Seller — the only rule that requires it.
DPU is DAP with unloading included. The seller delivers when the goods have been unloaded at the named place and put at the buyer's disposal. It is the only Incoterm that makes the seller responsible for unloading.
It replaced DAT (Delivered at Terminal) in the 2020 revision. The change was more than a new name. DAT required the destination to be a terminal. DPU allows any named place. So a delivery unloaded at the buyer's own warehouse is now covered by a standard rule, with no need to amend it.
Import clearance remains the buyer's, as under DAP.
Only agree DPU if you can actually unload at the named place. The seller takes on that job in a country and a site they may not know. If the unloading equipment does not turn up, the delay is the seller's, not the buyer's.
Always write the rule with its named place and the version — DPU [named place], Incoterms 2020. The rule says nothing about when ownership transfers; that is for your sales contract.