What is a bill of lading?

• It is a receipt: the carrier has the goods.
• It is the contract of carriage between shipper and carrier, with its terms and conditions.
• An order or bearer bill is a document of title: the goods are delivered against surrender of the original.

The shipping line issues the master bill of lading (MBL) to the forwarder or NVOCC that booked the space. The forwarder then issues its own house bill of lading (HBL) to you, matching the master except for the shipper, consignee and notify details. On a consolidated container, US customs expects the house bill to name the real foreign vendor as shipper, not the forwarder. See freight forwarder.

Under US law, a bill is negotiable when it says the goods are to be delivered to the order of a consignee; it is then a document of title that can be endorsed to someone else. A straight bill names a consignee to whom the goods are delivered, must be marked non-negotiable, and is not made negotiable by endorsing it.

When no one needs to trade the goods in transit, a non-negotiable sea waybill, or a telex release of an original bill surrendered at origin, lets the consignee collect without paper. See telex release.

• Shipper, consignee and notify party are right, and the consignee matches the importer of record.
• Container and seal numbers, package count and weight match the cartons actually shipped.
• The port of loading and discharge, and the place of delivery if any.
• Whether it is an original order bill, a straight bill or a waybill, and who holds the originals.

The carrier that wins your shipment adds the bill of lading number on the shipment page with a link to the line’s tracking, and uploads the documents that are its to give.