What is bill of lading?

The bill of lading is one of the most important legal documents in the shipping chain. It is a document that contains the shipment details between the carrier and the shipper. The carrier of the cargo issues the document. It is also given to the recipient of the shipped goods as a receipt. It contains the following:

1. The name of the buyer and seller
2. Information of port of departure
3. Vessel’s name
4. Departure and arrival dates
5. The details of the content in the cargo.
6. The designation and origin of the shipment.
7. The transport route the cargo will go through.
8. The special handling request of the cargo.

The Bill of lading can either be negotiable or non-negotiable form. It also serves as the proof of ownership of the cargo and the carriage of goods.

What is BOL

The BOL plays an important role in the claim of compensation in case of any damage, delay, loss or any other situation that may arise during the shipping process. The terms of the agreement are agreed upon by both the carrier and the shipper to deliver number of packages in a good condition. The recipient is issued a document of title upon arrival of the goods. Then both the carrier agent and the representative of the receiver sign the document issued.

BOL Shipping

For example, an electronic producing company contracted a logistic company or a freight forwarder. Their job is to deliver goods from its office at Texas to a retail company in California. A representative of the electronic producing company and the driver will sign the bill of lading. The contract of carriage is signed after loading the goods on the truck. A representative of the retail company signs the bol shipping document. This document is issued by a carrier when the gift is delivered to the retail company. The bol shipping confirmation is then used by the carrier to invoice the customer.

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Bill of Lading form

Many documents issued are crucial to a successful purchasing process to prevent asset theft.

Imagine an electronic retail store receive a shipment of electronics every week. The manager of the electronic retail store determines what the company needs to order and fills the Purchase order (PO) through a letter of credit. The owner of the electronic store reviews the details before it is forwarded to the wholesaler. The wholesaler sends the goods through a carrier, and he and the driver check the PO against the loaded goods and number of packages before signing the BOL form. The carrier deliver the goods to the retail store, and the manager checks the PO against the bill of lading. The manager then sends the PO and the document of title to the owner who reviews before writing the wholesaler a payable check. This process helps prevent theft and also promote orderliness.

This process limits over-dependency on a particular employee. It also prevents theft and errors that might occur during shipping. For example, the owner of the retail store will not issue a check if the details on the Purchase Order and the BL are contradictory. This ensures that the owner pays for exactly what he ordered. If there is any discrepancy, the buyer will inquire from the seller about the omissions and errors.

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Bill of Lading Definition

The bill of lading is categorized based on different criteria. Some of these criteria include “the location where the carriers assume the responsibility of the cargo” or if the goods can be sold before it gets to its intended recipient (Negotiable or non-negotiable BL.” For a non-negotiable BOL meaning, the cargo must get to its intended recipient whereas, for a Negotiable BOL, the cargo can be sold and transferred to another party before it reaches.

Straight bill of lading form

For this type of BOL, the carrier only needs to deliver the cargo to a specified party and title of the bill of lading cannot be transferred to anyone else. It is usually used for orders that have been paid for.

Order bill of lading form

It is used when payment has not been made for the goods. The name of the consignee on the BL will be the owner of the goods. The Order bill of lading allows for the transfer of ownership. Thus it is a negotiable BOL.

Switch bill of lading form

The Switch bill of lading is a replica of an original which has already been issued. Document issued when the consignee which to keep the identity of the cargo shipper from the new buyer of the cargo.

Bearer bill of lading template

The Bearer bill of lading has only the name of the owner of the cargo, but the name of the consignee is not stated. This type of lading is a legally document, but is not common because of the high risk attached.

Multimodal Bill of Lading Template

This allows the use of more than one mode of transport; ocean shipments or land transportation.

Through bill of lading:

This allows for passage of cargo through different legs (inland and sea waterways) of the same mode of transportation unlike different modes of transport as found in the Multimodal ship freight and LTL Freight.

Ocean bill of lading pdf

the responsibility of the carrier of the cargo starts and stops at the two ends of the ports within a ship freight. Ocean BL is usually issued by NOVCC.

Do you need to create Export Forms for any Transportation mode such as Air, Ocean, or Ground?

Linbis Logistics Software offer multiple cloud application to help business work better and efficient. We focus on logistics solutions for the transportation industry, forms such as:

Air waybills, cargo manifest, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, dock receipt, IMO Dangerous Goods Declaration, Packing List, Proforma Invoice  and much more can be created with any of the apps at linbis.

We have what your company needs to manage your logistics operation.

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