The port of loading, POL, is where cargo is loaded aboard the ocean vessel; the port of discharge, POD, is where it is discharged. On multi-leg journeys they differ from the place of receipt and place of delivery, which bracket any inland or feeder legs.
The four location boxes on a bill of lading, place of receipt, POL, POD, place of delivery, encode the routing and the liability structure: the ocean leg runs POL to POD, while through carriage extends responsibility across the inland ends. With transshipment, intermediate hubs are neither POL nor POD; they are transit calls.
Confusing POD with final destination causes real planning errors: a box discharged at the POD may still have a rail or feeder leg ahead before anyone can collect it.
Tracking timelines are organised around these anchors: load at POL, discharge at POD, with ports identified by UN/LOCODE in the event data. TrackingMCP links each shipment’s POL and POD to its port pages, so Ho Chi Minh City as POL or Savannah as POD carry live context next to your container’s events.
The port of loading, POL, is where cargo is loaded aboard the ocean vessel; the port of discharge, POD, is where it is discharged. On multi-leg journeys they differ from the place of receipt and place of delivery, which bracket any inland or feeder legs.
Yes: port omissions, congestion diversions, or cargo re-routing can move the discharge port, with the carrier arranging onward carriage per the bill’s terms. Tracking shows the change as an updated discharge plan.
Only for port-delivered cargo. If the bill covers on-carriage to an inland place of delivery, pick-up happens there after a rail or truck leg beyond the POD.
Port pages by UN/LOCODE →
Track POL-to-POD journeys →
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