The bill of lading (BOL) is the single most important document in surface freight. It serves simultaneously as a receipt for goods, a contract of carriage between shipper and carrier, and - in its negotiable form - a document of title. Yet despite its central role, improperly completed BOLs are one of the leading causes of freight claims, carrier disputes, and delivery failures in the US trucking industry.
This guide walks through every section of a standard BOL form, explains what carriers actually need to see, and covers the five most common errors that lead to disputes, reweighs, and reclassifications. Whether you're shipping LTL or FTL, the fundamentals are the same - getting the paperwork right before the truck rolls is far cheaper than fixing it after.
Related: If you need to understand the difference between a BOL, waybill, and cargo manifest, see our guide BOL vs Waybill vs Cargo Manifest - What's the Difference?
The shipper is the party tendering the freight to the carrier. This block must contain the full legal name of the entity shipping the goods - not a DBA or shortened name. Include the complete street address, city, state, and ZIP code. A PO Box is not acceptable here because the carrier needs a physical pickup location.
The shipper name on the BOL must match the name on the rate confirmation and, if applicable, the commercial invoice. Discrepancies between these documents are a common cause of customs holds on cross-border shipments and create complications if a freight claim is filed. Some carriers also use the shipper name to validate that the entity tendering goods matches the contractual party on their tariff.
Include a contact name and phone number. When a carrier driver arrives and has questions about freight count or loading requirements, the name in this block is who they will call. An unreachable contact causes detention charges and load delays.
The consignee is the party receiving the freight at the destination. The same rules apply - full legal name, complete physical address, and a contact phone number. A critical detail many shippers miss: if the delivery location is a distribution center or warehouse that requires an appointment or has restricted receiving hours, note those requirements in the Special Instructions field rather than in the consignee block itself.
For LTL shipments, the ZIP code in the consignee block directly affects the freight rate the carrier applies. An incorrect ZIP - even by one digit - can route the shipment to the wrong service center, adding days of transit time and triggering address correction fees that can run $75-150 per shipment depending on the carrier.
This is one of the most misunderstood sections on a BOL, and errors here directly cause billing disputes. You have three options:
The shipper pays all freight charges. This is the most common arrangement for outbound shipments where the seller controls logistics. When selecting prepaid, the carrier will invoice the party listed in the shipper block (or a designated third-party billing account if specified). The consignee has no financial obligation for the base freight charge.
The consignee pays all freight charges on delivery or after delivery. Carriers will attempt to collect from the receiver. If the consignee refuses to pay or disputes the charges, the carrier can legally pursue the shipper for payment under the shipper's liability provisions in 49 U.S.C. 13706 - so "collect" does not fully release the shipper from financial responsibility.
Charges are billed to a party other than the shipper or consignee - typically a freight broker or a corporate parent. When selecting third-party billing, you must provide the full name and address of the billing party. The carrier needs a valid billing account number or credit arrangement with the third party. Without that, many carriers will downgrade to collect billing at delivery.
Important: The freight charge terms on the BOL must match what is stated in the rate confirmation. Mismatches are a top-five source of freight invoice disputes. See our guide on rate confirmation best practices for how to keep these documents aligned.
This section is where most BOL errors occur, and it is the section carriers scrutinize most closely when processing shipments and evaluating claims. The commodity description must include four pieces of information to be considered complete:
State the quantity and type clearly: "4 pallets," "12 cartons," "1 crate." Do not write "1 skid of 12 cartons" - list the outermost handling unit that the carrier's driver will actually count and sign for. If the carrier counts 4 pallets at pickup and the BOL says 4 pallets, the count is confirmed. If the BOL is ambiguous, the driver may note a discrepancy that weakens your position in any subsequent shortage claim.
Write a specific, accurate description of the goods. "General merchandise," "parts," or "freight, all kinds" are not acceptable descriptions for most carriers and will be challenged. Instead, write something like "plastic injection-molded automotive brackets" or "corrugated cardboard display stands." The description should match the NMFC commodity it will be classed under. Vague descriptions give carriers grounds to reclassify freight at a higher class during transit, resulting in a higher invoice than quoted.
For instructions on how NMFC classifications work and how to look them up, see our related guide: How to Classify Freight Using NMFC Density Ratings.
State the actual gross weight of the shipment including packaging and pallet. Use pounds for domestic US shipments. If you are shipping under a class-based LTL rate, carriers have the right to weigh and inspect your freight. If the actual weight exceeds the BOL weight by more than the carrier's tolerance (typically 5-10%), a freight bill correction will be issued. Systematically understating weight is treated as fraud by most carriers and can result in account termination.
For LTL shipments, the freight class must be declared. The 18 NMFC freight classes run from class 50 (densest, cheapest) to class 500 (lightest, most expensive). The freight class is determined by a combination of density, stowability, handling difficulty, and liability. If you are unsure of the correct class, use a density-based calculation as a starting point: divide the weight by the cubic footage to get pounds per cubic foot, then reference the density thresholds for each class. Our guide How to Look Up NMFC Codes for Any Commodity walks through this calculation in detail.
If your shipment contains any material regulated by the US Department of Transportation under 49 CFR (hazardous materials regulations), the BOL must include a specific set of fields that are legally required. Omitting them is a federal violation with per-shipment fines that can exceed $80,000.
The required hazmat fields on a BOL are:
The hazmat description must appear before the commodity description on the BOL and must be highlighted or printed in a contrasting color. Carriers have the right to refuse hazmat freight that is not properly documented.
Most BOL forms include fields for the shipper's reference number, the customer's purchase order number, and sometimes a broker's reference number. These fields do not affect freight charges or routing - they exist for tracking and invoicing purposes. However, filling them in correctly is operationally important.
The shipper reference number appears on the carrier's delivery receipt (proof of delivery). When your accounting team goes to match the carrier invoice to a purchase order, this is the link. If you leave it blank or enter the wrong number, invoice reconciliation becomes a manual research task. High-volume shippers with clean reference data cut accounts-payable labor significantly.
The special instructions field is where you communicate anything the carrier needs to know that isn't captured in the standard fields. Common entries include:
Every item in the special instructions field that requires carrier action is a potential accessorial charge. If the rate confirmation does not already include those accessorials, the carrier can and will invoice for them separately. Make sure your rate confirmation matches what you write in this field.
Most BOL forms include a pre-printed terms and conditions section, typically on the reverse side or referenced by a statement like "Subject to the terms and conditions of the NMFTA Uniform Straight Bill of Lading." This section governs liability limits, claims procedures, and dispute resolution. Key provisions to understand:
If the value of your shipment exceeds the carrier's standard liability limit, declare the value in the designated field and pay the additional liability charge. This is not the same as cargo insurance - it is simply raising the carrier's contractual exposure on that shipment.
A BOL requires two signatures to be legally complete: the shipper's signature at pickup (certifying that the goods were tendered in the condition described) and the carrier's signature (the driver's acknowledgment of receipt). For hazmat shipments, the shipper must also sign the hazmat certification statement separately.
The driver's signature at pickup is your proof that the carrier accepted the freight. At delivery, the consignee signs the proof of delivery (POD). Both documents together form the evidentiary chain for any freight claim. Keep copies of both. If the driver notes exceptions - visible damage, short count, packaging issues - those notations appear on the signed BOL and affect your claim options later.
LTL carriers re-weigh and inspect freight at their terminals. If your declared class is lower than what the carrier's inspector assigns based on NMFC rules, you receive a freight bill correction - sometimes called an "upcharge" or "reweigh bill." These corrections are often 30-50% above the original quoted rate. Use a proper NMFC lookup before you print the BOL.
Descriptions like "machine parts," "retail merchandise," or "food products" give the carrier grounds to assign the highest applicable freight class for that commodity category. The NMFC has specific sub-items for nearly every product type. A specific, accurate description locks in the correct class and reduces your exposure to reclassification.
Whether intentional or a data entry error, understated weight is corrected at the carrier's scale. The correction adds both the additional freight charge (based on actual weight) and, in many cases, an inspection fee. High error rates on weight can result in the carrier requiring certified scale tickets for all your future shipments.
Marking a shipment "prepaid" on the BOL when the rate confirmation says the consignee pays - or vice versa - creates an immediate billing dispute. The carrier invoices based on the BOL. Reconciling the discrepancy requires back-and-forth between your billing team, the carrier, and sometimes the consignee.
A missing suite number, wrong ZIP code, or misspelled city name causes the shipment to arrive at the wrong service center. Re-routing fees, additional transit days, and sometimes a second delivery attempt charge all result. For LTL shipments, the consignee address is also the basis for the destination zone used in rate calculation - an incorrect ZIP can mean you were quoted one rate and billed another.
For companies shipping at any meaningful volume, manually filling out BOLs introduces consistent, predictable errors. The fields are the same for every shipment - what changes is the data. API-based BOL generation pulls shipper, consignee, commodity, and weight data from your order management system and produces a correctly formatted, compliant BOL without manual data entry.
For a technical walkthrough of how API-based BOL generation works, see our guide: How to Generate a BOL via API.
For LTL-specific documentation requirements beyond the BOL itself, see our LTL Shipment Documentation Checklist.
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