What is a consignor? Definition and responsibilities

The consignor (also called the sender or shipper) is the person or company that originates a shipment: it decides what is transported, from where, and to whom. In road freight, the consignor appears on the consignment note (CMR) as the party that hands the goods over to the carrier. The consignor is not always the manufacturer: a warehouse, a distribution centre or a logistics provider acting for the seller can also be the consignor.

In a carrier's daily work, the consignor is the pickup address on the transport order. Unless the contract of carriage says otherwise (depending on the agreed Incoterm), the consignor usually bears the freight cost.

Typical responsibilities of the consignor:

• Preparing the goods: packaging, labelling and handling instructions.
• Issuing the shipment documents: commercial invoice, consignment note (CMR), packing list and, where needed, customs paperwork.
• Providing accurate cargo details (weight, packages, dangerous goods) – the consignor is liable for errors or omissions in the consignment note.
• Agreeing who pays freight, insurance and charges under the contract of carriage.

Consignor, consignee and carrier: the consignor hands over the goods, the carrier moves them, and the consignee receives them. The seller and the consignor can be different companies in the same shipment.

For the carrier, the consignor's details are the starting point of every order: pickup address, time window and documents. In a TMS like IMPARGO, the consignor is stored once in master data and reused in every order and every consignment note generated from the Orders Module.