Filing Out Your Bill of Lading

1. Date: Enter the pickup date of the shipment.
   
2. Pro Number Label: The driver will place a label here, assigning a unique number to the shipment at time of pickup.
   
3. From: Shipper: Enter the name, complete street address and ZIP code of your company as originator of the shipment. If the shipment is moving to Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, include your Federal ID number.
   
4. Shipper's Number: If you have a shipper's number, enter it here.
   
5. Customer P.O. Number: Enter the purchase order number for the shipment if available.
   
6. To: Consignee: Enter the name, complete street address, city, state and ZIP code of your customer receiving the freight. Double check to make sure this address is correct and is the delivery address, not just a mailing address.
   * If the shipment is being sent COD, the letters "COD" must appear before the consignee's name.
   
7. Bill To or Third Party Billing: Fill out this section if billing for your shipment should be directed to another "bill to" address or to a third party.
   
   
   Bill To: Indicate the name, mailing address, city, state, ZIP code and phone number where the billing is to be sent. This includes freight payment plans or audit agencies you have contracted with to process your billings.
   
   
   Third Party: A "third party" is a company other than the shipper or consignee that has agreed to pay the freight charges. Freight payment plans or audit agencies you have contracted with to process your billings are not considered third parties. In third party billing, the shipper must have established credit and must guarantee the charges by not signing the Section 7 "without recourse clause" of the BOL.
   
   
8. Pieces: Enter the number of pieces being shipped for each item. For palletized freight, enter the number of pallets.
   
9. Haz Mat: If the commodity being shipped is a hazardous material (as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation), mark an "X" in this block.
   
10. Kind of Packaging, Description of Articles, Special Marks and Exceptions (List Hazardous Materials First): Enter the name of the commodity and its description, including any identifying marks. This section is very to determine your correct rate. Describe your product using the NMFC. If you don't know the NMFC, a proper description would include commodity name, material, packaging, and product use. If the shipment requires any special handling or protective service (a freezable shipment, for example), provide the details here.
    
    
11. Weight Lbs. (Subject to correction): Enter the total weight for each item described.
    
12. COD: If the shipment is being sent COD, enter the dollar amount of the COD. Check the appropriate block to indicate whether accepting the consignee's company or personal check for the COD amount is acceptable. Check the COD Fee Prepaid box if you will pay the COD fee -otherwise the consignee will be billed for it. The COD fee is 5 percent of the COD amount but not less than $50.
    
13. Declared Value: High-value items may be declared in this block. The rates on certain commodities depend on their declared value.
    
14. Section 7: This block contains the "without recourse clause." By signing this block on a collect BOL, you're instructing the carrier to withhold delivery of goods until the consignee pays the freight charges.
    
15. Freight Charges: If this section is not marked, shipments are assumed to be prepaid with charges billed to the shipper. Check the Collect box if the freight charges should be collected from the consignee.
    
16. Shipper:  Enter your company name in the upper line of this block. The person preparing the BOL signs on the second line beside the word PER.
    
17. Carrier: Driver: The pickup driver will sign here, indicating number of pieces and date picked up and any payment collected at pickup.