Reconsignment
Also: Diversion · Redelivery
Reconsignment is a change to a shipment's destination or consignee after the carrier has taken possession of the freight; carriers charge a fee for it plus the cost of the additional miles, and it must be requested in writing by the party that controls the freight.
The freight is on the truck and the customer calls: deliver it to the other warehouse instead. That is a reconsignment. The carrier will do it, for a fee (often $50 to $150 in LTL, negotiated in truckload) and the extra mileage, once it has the instruction in writing from the shipper or the broker acting for the shipper, because the carrier’s contract is to deliver to the consignee on the bill of lading and a driver who delivers elsewhere on a phone call has a problem if the freight goes to the wrong place.
The paperwork consequence is a bill of lading that no longer describes where the freight went. The POD will show the new consignee, the carrier’s invoice will show a reconsignment line, and the shipper’s freight bill audit will flag both unless the load record was updated when the change was made. Reconsignments that are not written down at the moment they happen become disputes weeks later, when nobody remembers who authorized what.
Updated September 11, 2026 · All terms