General
Door-to-Door
A service where the provider manages the entire journey from the shipper's premises to the consignee's premises, including all legs and formalities.
In depth
Door-to-door means one provider handles collection, export formalities, main carriage, import clearance, and final delivery, giving the customer a single point of contact and one invoice. It is not the same as DDP: door-to-door describes the operational scope of the service, while DDP is a contractual Incoterm allocating cost and risk, and in particular deciding who pays import duty. A door-to-door quote may or may not include duties and taxes, so that question should always be asked explicitly.
Key points
- One provider manages every leg from origin premises to destination premises
- Describes service scope, not the contractual Incoterm
- Not automatically the same as DDP
- Always confirm whether duties and taxes are included