I have been getting myDEBUG log files for a long long time with the following errors:

Inside is this message
PHP Code:
PHP Warning:  Creating default object from empty value in ....../includes/modules/shipping_estimator.php on line 235 
Line 235:
PHP Code:
      $order->delivery = array(//'postcode' => '', 
Not sure why that is commented out..

Sometimes the error changes to:
PHP Code:
PHP Warning:  Creating default object from empty value in ..../includes/modules/shipping_estimator.php on line 183 
Line 183
PHP Code:
      $order->delivery = array('postcode' => $zip_code, 
I don't see any evidence that the file has been altered. I have a backup from 2011 and the file matches.
I don't have the original source packet to compare against and the link to old Zen Cart versions on the zen-cart site is not working

Anyone have an idea as to what might be the source of this error?