Bill of Lading (B/L)

A document that establishes the terms of a contract between a shipper and a transportation company. It serves as a document of title, a contract of carriage and a receipt for goods.

• Amended B/L:B/L requiring updates that do not change financial status; this is slightly different from corrected B/L.
• B/L Terms & Conditions:the fine print on B/L; defines what the carrier can and cannot do, including the carrier’s liabilities and contractual agreements.
• B/L’s Status:represents whether the bill of lading has been input, rated, reconciled, printed, or released to the customer.
• B/L’s Type:refers to the type of B/L being issued. Some examples are: a Memo (ME), Original (OBL), Non-negotiable, Corrected (CBL) or Amended (AM) B/L.
• Canceled B/L:B/L status; used to cancel a processed B/L; usually per shipper’s request; different from voided B/L.
• Clean B/L:A B/L which bears no superimposed clause or notation which declares a defective condition of the goods and/or the packaging.
• Combined B/L:B/L that covers cargo moving over various transports.
• Consolidated B/L:B/L combined or consolidated from two or more B/L’s.
• Corrected B/L:B/L requiring any update which results in money or other financially related changes.
• Domestic B/L:Non-negotiable B/L primarily containing routing details; usually used by truckers and freight forwarders.
• Duplicate B/L:Another original Bill of Lading set if first set is lost. also known as reissued B/L.
• Express B/L:Non-negotiable B/L where there are no hard copies of originals printed.
• Freight B/L:A contract of carriage between a shipper and forwarder (who is usually a NVOCC); a non-negotiable document.
• Government B/L (GBL):A bill of lading issued by the U.S. government.
• Hitchment B/L:B/L covering parts of a shipment which are loaded at more than one location. Hitchment B/L usually consists of two parts, hitchment and hitchment memo. The hitchment portion usually covers the majority of a divided shipment and carries the entire revenue.
• House B/L:B/L issued by a freight forwarder or consolidator covering a single shipment containing the names, addresses and specific description of the goods shipped.
• Intermodal B/L:B/L covering cargo moving via multimodal means. Also known as Combined Transport B/L, or Multimodal B/L.
• Long Form B/L:B/L form with all Terms & Conditions written on it. Most B/L’s are short form which incorporate the long form clauses by reference.
• Memo B/L:Unfreighted B/L with no charges listed.
• Military B/L:B/L issued by the U.S. military; also known as GBL, or Form DD1252.
• B/L Numbers:S. Customs’ standardized B/L numbering format to facilitate electronic communications and to make each B/L number unique.
• Negotiable B/L:The B/L is a title document to the goods, issued “to the order of” a party, usually the shipper, whose endorsement is required to effect is negotiation. Thus, a shipper’s order (negotiable) B/L can be bought, sold, or traded while goods are in transit and is commonly used for letter-of-credit transactions. The buyer must submit the original B/L to the carrier in order to take possession of the goods.
• Non- Negotiable B/L:(See Straight B/L below). Sometimes means a file copy of a B/L.
• “Onboard” B/L:B/L validated at the time of loading to transport. Onboard Air, Boxcar, Container, Rail, Truck and Vessel are the most common types.