To fill out a bill of lading, gather every detail about the shipper, consignee, cargo, and carrier before you open the template, choose the right form for how the goods will move, enter each field exactly as the carrier’s tariff and federal rules require, and have the driver sign it at pickup. The document is doing three jobs at once: it is the carrier’s receipt for your freight, the contract of carriage, and the document of title that controls who owns the cargo in transit.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S.C. Chapter 801 – Bills of Lading A single wrong number can trigger re-weigh charges, delay delivery, or sink a damage claim later.
What to Gather Before You Open the Template
Every field on the form maps to a piece of information you should already have in hand. Collecting it first means you aren’t guessing in the middle of the document.
Shipper, Consignee, and Payer
You need the full legal name and street address for both the shipper (party sending the goods) and the consignee (party receiving them). A P.O. box doesn’t work for freight — carriers need a physical location a truck can reach. If a logistics broker or any third party is paying the freight charges, that company’s name and contact information belong in the separate “bill to” or “third party” block, not in the shipper or consignee fields.
Cargo Description, Weight, and Dimensions
Describe the freight specifically. “42 corrugated cartons of ceramic tile” is useful; “freight” or “merchandise” is not. Enter the total piece count (pallets, crates, or cartons), gross weight in pounds, and the dimensions of each handling unit. Weight matters more than most shippers expect. Carriers routinely re-weigh LTL shipments, and if the actual weight is higher than what you wrote, you’ll see a bill for the difference plus a correction fee that can run a few hundred dollars.
Freight Classification
Every LTL commodity has a National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) number tied to a freight class between 50 and 500. Class 50 is the densest goods, at 50 or more pounds per cubic foot; class 500 is the lightest, under one pound per cubic foot.2National Motor Freight Traffic Association. National Motor Freight Classification The class reflects density, handling difficulty, stowability, and liability, and it drives your rate. Look up the NMFC number in the NMFTA database before you complete the form. Guessing almost guarantees a reclassification charge.
Carrier Identification
The carrier’s Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC), a four-letter identifier issued by the NMFTA, goes on the form so every party knows which company is hauling the load.3NMFTA. Standard Carrier Alpha Code The carrier also assigns a PRO number (progressive rotating order), typically seven to ten digits, which tracks the shipment from pickup through delivery. If the PRO hasn’t been issued yet, leave that field blank; the driver will add it at pickup.
Hazardous Materials
If any part of the shipment is regulated as hazardous (chemicals, lithium batteries, compressed gases, flammable liquids), the bill of lading must list the proper shipping name, hazard class, UN identification number, and packing group. Federal regulations also require an emergency response telephone number on any shipping paper describing hazardous materials.4eCFR. 49 CFR 172.201 – Shipping Papers Hazmat entries have to appear first on the document or be highlighted in a contrasting color so the carrier can spot them immediately. Failing to disclose hazardous contents can draw civil penalties up to $102,348 per violation, or $238,809 if someone is killed or seriously hurt.5Federal Register. Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts, 2025 The physical packages also need to meet DOT marking and labeling standards.6eCFR. 49 CFR Part 172 Subpart D – Marking
Pick the Right Form First
The type of bill of lading controls who can claim the goods at destination and whether the document itself can be transferred. Choose before you start filling anything in, because it changes how you complete the consignee block and the delivery instructions.
Straight Bill of Lading
A straight (nonnegotiable) bill names a specific consignee and cannot be transferred. The carrier delivers only to the named party. Endorsing the back doesn’t change that or give a new holder any additional rights.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S.C. 80103 – Negotiable and Nonnegotiable Bills This is the usual choice for domestic freight where buyer and seller have already settled payment.
Order Bill of Lading
An order (negotiable) bill states the goods are deliverable “to the order of” a consignee. The holder can transfer title by endorsing the bill (in blank or to a named party) and handing over the physical document.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S.C. 80104 – Negotiation of Bills International trade uses order bills heavily because ownership often changes while a vessel is still at sea, with the financing bank holding the original as security.
Through Bill and Mode-Specific Forms
If the shipment crosses multiple carriers or modes (truck to ocean to rail, for instance), a through bill of lading covers the whole journey under one document, with each carrier in the chain sharing liability.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 U.S.C. 14706 – Liability of Carriers Under Receipts and Bills of Lading Ocean shipments typically use a separate ocean bill of lading, and air cargo moves under an air waybill. Using the wrong form can stall payment under a letter of credit or leave you without a clean legal path if cargo goes missing.
Working Through the Fields
Most templates (paper or digital) share the same layout. Fill them in the order they appear, which generally follows the sequence below.
- Date: the date the carrier picks up the freight, not the date you prepared the document.
- Shipper block: legal name, street address, city, state, and ZIP of the party sending the goods.
- Consignee block: the same level of detail for the receiver.
- Bill-to or third-party block: the party paying the freight charges, if different from the shipper and consignee.
- Carrier name and SCAC: the trucking company’s name and its four-letter SCAC code.
- PRO number: the carrier’s tracking number, left blank if not yet assigned.
- Commodity table: one row per item type, with handling unit count, package type, weight, freight class, and NMFC number. Add dimensions if the carrier rates by cubic capacity.
- Hazmat column: mark an “X” (or “RQ” for reportable quantities) next to any line item that is a regulated hazardous material.4eCFR. 49 CFR 172.201 – Shipping Papers
- Special instructions: appointment times, liftgate, inside delivery, or temperature-control notes.
- Declared value: enter a value only if you want carrier liability above the standard tariff limit, and expect an added charge. Leaving it blank means the tariff caps any claim payout.
- Freight charges: mark prepaid (shipper pays) or collect (consignee pays).
Double-check every number before the driver arrives. Weight errors and freight-class mismatches are the two most common reasons shippers see billing adjustments after pickup.
Signing and Distributing Copies at Pickup
The bill of lading becomes a binding contract the moment the driver signs it at origin. Before signing, the driver should inspect the freight and confirm piece count, packaging condition, and any visible damage. If something is off (torn shrink-wrap, a dented crate), the driver notes it on the bill of lading before signing, which protects the carrier from claims for problems that existed before pickup.
Prepare at least three signed copies. The shipper keeps the original, the driver takes one that travels with the freight, and a third goes with the delivery paperwork for the consignee. Some carriers want a fourth for the broker or paying party. Everyone should walk away with a version signed at the time of pickup. A photocopy or scan made after the driver leaves isn’t a substitute.
What the Consignee Should Do at Delivery
The document you filled out so carefully is only as strong as the signature at the other end. The consignee signs the delivery receipt or the carrier’s copy of the bill of lading to confirm receipt, and that signature is the most consequential moment in the process. Signing without noting a problem creates a presumption that everything arrived in good condition, which makes a later damage claim much harder.
If cartons are crushed, pallets are broken, or anything looks wrong, the consignee should write a specific description directly on the delivery receipt before signing. “Three cartons on pallet two have visible crush damage, contents unknown” is useful. Vague phrases like “received subject to further inspection” add nothing, since every shipment is inherently open to later inspection anyway.
Damage hidden inside intact packaging isn’t always obvious at delivery. Industry practice gives the consignee roughly five days to notify the carrier after discovering concealed damage. Photograph the packaging and contents right away and keep the original packing materials; the carrier and any insurer will want to see them.
Paper or Electronic
Paper bills of lading are still common, but the LTL industry publishes an Electronic Bill of Lading API Standard that lets shippers and carriers create, transmit, and manage the document digitally.10Digital LTL Council. Electronic Bill of Lading API Standard An electronic bill carries the same legal weight as a paper one, and federal law generally prevents a contract or signature from being denied enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. Both parties have to agree to use it, though. You can’t force a carrier that runs on paper to accept an eBOL. Where carriers support the standard, going digital removes the copy-management problem and time-stamps every version.