1、 Port of Discharge - Discharge Port
It refers to the port at which the goods (usually referred to as containers) are unloaded from the ship (delivery may not be completed, and there may be an extension). Mainly used for sea transportation, or sea rail intermodal transportation, sea land intermodal transportation, sea air intermodal transportation. For example:
A 20GP container liner transportation from Yantian Port to Los Angeles Port. POL is YANTIAN, and POD is LOS ANGELES. If there is no renewal, the delivery will be completed after unloading in Los Angeles.
If there is a continuation, such as the final destination of Place of Delivery being Denver, inland in the United States, it is likely to be through sea rail intermodal transportation. After the containers are unloaded in Los Angeles, they are loaded onto container trains and continue to be transported to Denver. After unloading in Denver, the delivery is considered complete.
2、 Port of Delivery - Delivery Port
It refers to the port at which the goods (usually containers) are unloaded from the ship and delivered. Mainly used for sea transportation. The destination/delivery point for sea rail intermodal transportation, sea land intermodal transportation, and sea air intermodal transportation is usually not referred to as Port of Delivery, but rather as Place of Delivery.
3、 Place of Discharge - Place of Discharge
It is where the goods are unloaded (usually not at the port) (not necessarily to complete the delivery, there may be a continuation). Mainly used for land transportation, such as automobile transportation, railway transportation, etc. For example, when the international railway freight train from Wuhan to Hamburg arrives at the Alashankou railway port in Xinjiang, the container needs to be unloaded (because the railway gauges in China and Kazakhstan are different - China uses an international standard gauge of 1435mm, while Kazakhstan belongs to the former Soviet Union and uses a wide gauge of 1520mm, which must be replaced), and then loaded onto the Kazakhstan railway train to continue the next journey. This is the Alashan Pass, which can be said to be one of the Place of Discharge.
4、 Place of Delivery - Destination/Place of Delivery
Usually refers to the final destination, delivery point (final completion of delivery). Sometimes it's a port, sometimes it's not a port (such as inland).
If it is sea land intermodal transportation (especially multimodal transportation), the destination of sea freight is Port of Discharge, but the delivery has not been completed yet. It needs to be transferred to land transportation to continue the next journey until the final destination, Place of Delivery, is completed for delivery. So Place of Delivery is called the destination/place of delivery.
These four types are all abbreviated as POD, and it depends on the context and actual situation to determine which one they refer to.
