Consignment note: what it is and what it is for

In brief

The consignment note is the document that records information about the carriage and can play an important role in proving instructions, the carrier’s receipt of the goods and the terms of the operation. There is not, however, one universal consignment note that is valid in the same way for every type of carriage.

In international road carriage subject to the CMR Convention, the consignment note is regulated in detail by the Convention. In domestic Italian carriage, the Civil Code contains references to the consignment note and to the documents that the sender must provide to the carrier.

What is meant by a consignment note

In operational terms, a consignment note connects at least:

• the party entrusting the goods;
• the party carrying them;
• the party that is to receive them;
• the place of departure and destination;
• the description and quantity of the goods;
• instructions useful for the carriage;
• any observations or reservations.

Its function is not merely logistical. A correctly completed document can help reconstruct what was entrusted to the carrier and on what terms, without automatically replacing every contractual clause or other required documents.

The Civil Code reference

In the Italian Civil Code, the rules on contracts for carriage of goods provide that, at the carrier’s request, the sender issues a consignment note containing specified particulars and that, at the sender’s request, the carrier issues a signed duplicate. The civil-law provisions also govern the sender’s obligations, necessary documents and liability in carriage.

The content and practical effect must be read together with the other applicable rules, including Legislative Decree 286/2005 on carriage of goods by road for third parties and any special regimes.

In international carriage: the CMR

Where international carriage falls within the CMR Convention, the framework is more specific. The Convention provides that the contract is evidenced by a consignment note and defines its content, signatures, reservations and evidential value.

The CMR is therefore a particularly important form of international consignment note. Since 2024, Italy has also been party to the Additional Protocol on e-CMR, which permits electronic management of the note where the required conditions are met.

What it can prove

In the CMR context, the consignment note constitutes, until proven otherwise, evidence of the terms of the contract and of the carrier’s receipt of the goods as provided by the Convention. If the carrier does not enter reasoned reservations, specific presumptions apply to the apparent condition of the goods and packaging and to the accuracy of certain particulars.

This is why collection should not be treated as a bureaucratic step. If the number of packages or the packaging shows visible anomalies, the driver and the company need to know which procedure to follow in order to report them correctly.

What to check at collection

Without demanding impossible checks, a company procedure may include checking:

• consistency between the order and the collection point;
• the number of packages, where verifiable;
• the main marks and references;
• the apparent condition of the packaging;
• any evident discrepancies from the documents;
• the presence of necessary instructions;
• special documents for the goods, where required.

If a check is not reasonably possible, the CMR rules allow reasoned reservations to be entered under the conditions provided.

The order and the consignment note

The transport order is normally the tool a company uses to plan: “this truck, this driver, this collection, this delivery”. The consignment note, on the other hand, documents the carriage and the goods information within the relevant legal framework.

It is useful to link the two documents with the same internal reference. That way, the transport planner can see the plan, while administration and the claims office can quickly trace the actual documents for the shipment.

A practical example

An SME carries goods from Verona to Vienna. The internal order contains times, the warehouse contact, vehicle and driver. The CMR consignment note contains the parties and information required by the Convention. At collection, the driver notices that two packages have crushed packaging: the procedure should not be limited to “taking a photo”, but should assess the reservation to be entered on the document under the applicable rules.

Checklist

• Which rules apply to the carriage?
• Does the note show the correct sender, carrier and consignee?
• Do the goods and packages match what was collected, within what can be checked?
• Are there apparent anomalies?
• Are any reservations worded correctly?
• Does the internal order and the note share a reference?
• Is the documentation archived and easy to find?