The Usage of A Bill of Lading Form
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A bill of lading form is a document which is issued to a shipper from a carrier and acknowledges the specific goods which have been received and put on board as cargo on a ship or plane to be sent to the destination named by the consignee. The term bill of lading is actually derived from the verb which means “to lade” referring to the cargo which is loaded on to an airplane or ship or any other form of transportation.
A bill of lading can be considered an agreement between the shipper and the transportation company to transport the goods based on the consignee’s information. The bill of lading lays out the terms of transportation either overland or via sea to the company responsible for its transportation. However if the consignment is going to be transported over the ocean the document acts as a binding document between both parties that agree upon the terms as well as the international carrier which is responsible for shipping the goods to the location abroad.
Now many people use the terms airway bill and the bill of lading as if they meant the same thing which is incorrect. The biggest difference between the two is that an airway bill contains details between the air freight company and the airline for the transportation of goods either domestically or internationally. The airway bill is also used as a receipt for the person who is shipping the merchandize that proves the carrier has accepted the goods and agrees to carry it over to the location listed by the shipper.
The bill of lading form makes it easy for either party to fill in the details of the shipment, consignment and other legal details by providing a frame work where details can be entered. This can be a big time saver as people no longer have to draft out each bill of lading separately. Since many of the details are going to be similar regardless of what type of consignment is going to be shipped over the template can be used multiple times or many forms can be used depending on the type of carrier and consignment being sent. However before either party can fill out the bill of lading form care needs to be taken that everything should be correctly stated in the form. If this is your first time using the form it should be compared with other past forms to make sure that it’s accurate.
The bill of lading is a very important document especially to businesses in the export industry and import industry. Having a framework from where it can then be filled in and sent over can certainly speeds up the process of getting a bill of lading signed and ready. However care should be taken that the form is accurate and all details are mentioned correctly so that any one of the parties don’t have an issue if something goes wrong and each knows their rights in the event things do go wrong.
