Reading a bill of lading, line by line
The bill of lading is the contract between shipper and carrier, the receipt for the goods, and the document of title. Every shipment has one, and errors on it are the most common cause of billing disputes.
The key fields are the shipper and consignee addresses, the piece count and packaging type, the weight, the commodity description with its freight class, and any special services such as liftgate delivery or inside delivery. Reference numbers such as the purchase order help the receiver match the delivery to an order.
At delivery, the consignee signs the bill of lading. Any visible damage or shortage should be written on it before signing, because a clean signature makes a later claim much harder to win.