Your shop-fitting supplier has finished the display brackets, but your installer needs a small quantity before the planned sea shipment will arrive. The salesperson offers to send those brackets by air and leave the rest for the vessel. Finance still has one purchase balance to pay. Before authorising the change, agree which goods travel on each route and how the two releases affect that balance.
The brackets, lot references and split arrangement below are fictional illustrations, not customer transactions or standard payment terms. This article is general information, not transport, engineering, legal, tax or investment advice. The parties must agree changes under their contract. Splitting cargo does not create a right to withhold a payment already due or guarantee either arrival date.
Identify the urgent quantity before paying for air freight
Your installer should identify the brackets needed for the first stage, including their variants and any fittings required to use them. Purchasing can then ask the supplier to allocate those goods to an air lot and the remainder to a sea lot. Shipping the wrong variant faster would leave the installation waiting.
Give each lot a reference linked to the original order. Ask the supplier to show the ordered quantity, air allocation, sea allocation and any shortage or approved extra units by item. The warehouse or inspector needs to verify those counts before packing, rather than relying on two messages that both describe "the order".
In this fictional purchase, BRACKET-AIR and BRACKET-SEA can identify the two allocations. Those are record labels, not carrier references. Retain the connection when the supplier or forwarder assigns actual shipment numbers.
Compare two packed quotes with the original plan
Ask the forwarder to quote the actual packages for each route, with dimensions, weights, origin and destination. Include repacking and extra pickup or handling charges, plus the destination costs for two arrivals. Your logistics colleague should establish the cargo and document deadlines, acceptance conditions and expected delivery for both services.
Use the landed-budget guide to compare the whole split with the original sea plan. The urgent goods may arrive earlier, but your company still pays to move the rest and handle the second shipment. Obtain purchasing approval for the additional cost and identify which charges the seller has already included in its price.
For battery products or other restricted cargo, a mode change requires the responsible specialist's assessment. The battery-route guide explains the information needed for that discussion. A supplier's air quote does not establish airline acceptance for the proposed goods and packaging.
Amend the releases and the payment schedule together
The seller may expect the original full balance before releasing any goods. Your buyer may prefer one payment for the air allocation and another for the sea allocation. Resolve that difference before instructing dispatch. An internal payment split cannot amend the supplier's existing entitlement.
Agree the revised scope, charges and payment events with the seller through the required contract process. The CISG text, Article 29 addresses modification by agreement and provisions requiring written modification. Have counsel check applicability, declarations and the form your actual agreement requires. The example here proposes commercial terms, not a legal conclusion about an email amendment.
Purchasing and finance could use this agreed record:
| Order detail | Agreement for the split |
|---|---|
| Goods | Item quantities and variants assigned to each identifiable lot |
| Charges | Goods price, approved extra packaging and transport charges, prior credits |
| Air release | Inspection or other agreed evidence, amount due and dispatch authority |
| Sea release | Separate evidence and amount due for the remaining goods |
| Payment allocation | Existing deposit, new instalments and resulting balance in the invoice currency |
| Goods still at the supplier | Custodian, location, storage terms and sea dispatch deadline |
| Change or delay | Named contacts and the process for agreeing a replacement plan |
This is an editorial negotiation record. Your parties can choose different milestones. Do not assume that an air waybill proves the sea goods are ready or permits finance to release their payment.
Give each shipment its own cargo records
Ask the supplier and forwarder to prepare the shipment-specific commercial and packing records required for each route, linked to the common order. Your broker should advise how to declare partial shipments and reference the commercial documents. Do not create two invoices for the full goods value or reduce a declaration to the instalment amount without the broker's proper valuation review.
ITA's Common Export Documents guide describes packing-list fields including quantities, package counts, weights and marks. It also distinguishes a non-negotiable air waybill from ocean bill-of-lading forms. This is U.S. exporter guidance, not a complete China export or destination import checklist. Have the responsible providers establish the documents and release procedure for each actual consignment.
Use the shipment-proof guide to connect carrier acceptance to the identified lot. The air pickup leaves the sea allocation with its own custody and dispatch questions. Obtain the seller's confirmation of the remaining stock and agreed storage responsibility while it waits.
Close each arrival against the same order balance
The destination team should record the quantity and condition received for each lot. Finance records each supplier acknowledgement and agreed invoice credit against the common payable. The partial-payment guide covers the running balance and the difference between stablecoin funding and invoice credit.
If the sea lot is late or short, preserve the discrepancy and use the agreed amendment or claim process. Do not erase the first shipment's payment or treat an unresolved deduction as a confirmed credit. Your accountant needs to explain what your business received and what remains due.
Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about an agreed instalment before funding. The supplier and transport providers arrange the two cargo releases. Payment handling does not book freight, verify either lot or revise your purchase obligations.