Bill of Lading Template

Three layouts, one set of fields

The differences between BOL layouts are smaller than the number of templates online suggests. Almost all of them collect the same information; what changes is how much legal text is printed on the face and whether there is a block for purchase orders. Switch layouts with the selector at the top of the form and the data you have already typed carries across.

Standard short form

The default, and the right answer for most freight. A short-form BOL prints a condensed incorporation clause rather than the full conditions of carriage — the terms still apply, they just live in the carrier's tariff and the National Motor Freight Classification instead of on the back of your sheet. That is what "short form" means, and it is why the whole document fits on one page. Carriers read these all day.

Long form

The same shipment with the conditions of carriage spelled out on the document: the carrier's liability under the Carmack Amendment, the exceptions that release it, and the claim-filing windows. It also opens a hazardous materials block for the 24-hour emergency response number and the response registrant. Use it when a consignee's receiving department asks for full terms, or when you are moving regulated material and want the emergency contact printed where a first responder will find it. It runs to two pages.

VICS layout

Built for the retail supply chain. The distinguishing feature is a customer order block that sits above the freight description, listing each purchase order with its package count, weight and whether it moved on a pallet or a slip sheet. Retail distribution centers reconcile against purchase orders rather than against pallets, so a BOL that cannot show which PO is on which handling unit slows down receiving. If a retailer's routing guide names the VICS BOL, use this.

What each block on the template is for

Document block — BOL number, date, PRO

Leave the BOL number blank and one is generated for you in the form BOL-YYYYMMDD-XXXX. Type your own if you number shipments in sequence or want the purchase order to double as the reference. The PRO number belongs to the carrier and is usually added at pickup, so it is fine to leave empty and write in by hand when the driver applies the barcode label.

Ship from and ship to

Company name, street address, city, state and ZIP at both ends. City and state are required because a BOL without an origin and destination is not a contract of carriage, it is a note. The contact and phone lines earn their space: a driver who can call the receiver from twenty minutes out is a driver who does not sit through a two-hour detention because the dock closed at three.

The consignee's receiving hours and appointment requirement go here too. If the delivery needs an appointment and the BOL does not say so, the first anyone finds out is when the truck is parked outside a locked gate.

Bill freight charges to

Leave it empty and the charges follow the freight terms. Fill it in when a third party is paying — a broker, a customer's freight-payment company, a corporate AP address that is nowhere near the receiving dock. Getting this wrong is how invoices end up on the wrong desk for six weeks.

The freight description

One line per commodity, and this is the part carriers actually read. Each line takes:

Running totals sit under the freight lines as you type, so the handling unit count and the gross weight on the printed document match what you meant to send. If any line is hazardous, a flag appears reminding you that the shipping paper needs the full regulated description and a 24-hour emergency response number.

Declared value, COD and Section 7

Declared value is the most consequential empty box on a bill of lading. Leave it blank and the carrier's tariff limitation applies — a released value in dollars per pound that has nothing to do with what your freight cost. Fill it in and you are stating, in writing on the contract, what the goods are worth. Expect to pay a little more in freight for the privilege; expect to recover a great deal more when a forklift goes through a pallet.

Section 7 is the non-recourse clause. Sign it and the carrier agrees to look only to the consignee for the freight charges. Leave it unsigned on a collect shipment and, if the consignee does not pay, the carrier can come back to you. Small box, real money.

Special instructions and accessorials

Liftgate, inside delivery, residential, limited access, notify before delivery, do not double stack, appointment required. Anything the carrier must do beyond dock-to-dock goes here. An accessorial that was needed but never written down turns into a surprise on the invoice, and the argument that follows is one you will lose, because the BOL is the contract.

A workflow that survives a busy dock

The order that works: build the BOL before the truck arrives, print three copies, and leave the PRO number and seal number blank on the printed page. When the driver shows up, write the PRO from the carrier's label and the seal number by hand, then both parties sign. Trying to finalise a document while a driver waits is how the weight gets guessed and the class gets left off.

Give the driver a copy, send one with the freight for the consignee, and keep one. If a claim comes up later, your copy plus the signed delivery receipt is the whole case. Everything else is commentary.

Shipping to a single named consignee who cannot transfer the goods on? That is a straight BOL, and the non-negotiable straight BOL form is set up with that wording on the masthead. If you are not sure which type of bill of lading a lane calls for, start with what a bill of lading legally is — the distinction between straight and order bills is the one that matters most.

What happens to the document after you hand it over

Knowing where each field ends up is what makes the fussy ones worth the extra thirty seconds. A bill of lading does not stop at the dock; it becomes data in three separate systems before anyone gets paid.

At pickup the driver applies a PRO label and the shipment enters the carrier's system under that number. Your BOL number rides along as a reference, which is why it is worth making it something you can search for later. Overnight, the freight moves through a terminal, and on LTL that is usually where it crosses a forklift scale or a dimensioner. Weight and dimensions get compared against what you declared.

Then it gets rated. The NMFC item and class you wrote determine the tariff line the shipment is billed on. If the terminal's measurements disagree with your entries, the carrier issues a weight and inspection certificate, reclassifies, and the invoice that lands on the bill-to address is not the number you were quoted. That single sequence — declare, verify, rebill — is behind most freight invoice disputes, and it is decided entirely by three boxes on this form.

Delivery closes the loop. The consignee signs, the delivery receipt goes back into the carrier's imaging system, and that scanned signature is what any later claim is argued over.

Limitations, stated plainly

A generated document is a standard short-form bill of lading. It is not a carrier's branded form, and a few carriers insist on theirs — FedEx Freight is the usual example, and retail routing guides sometimes name a specific document. Ask before pickup.

The tool does not rate freight, look up NMFC item numbers, validate a freight class or check a hazardous materials description against the regulations. It prints what you type. For a shipment with regulated material on it, the shipping paper requirements in 49 CFR are the authority, not a web form, and getting the basic description sequence wrong is a fine rather than an inconvenience.

Used signed out, nothing is stored, and that cuts both ways: there is no history to go back to and no saved consignee list, so download the PDF when you make it. A company that wants those things can have them on the paid plan, where saved parties and document history are the whole point. If you want the whole picture before you print anything, the walkthrough of the mistakes that get claims denied is worth ten minutes, and the free bill of lading generator on the front page is the same engine with a simpler form if you only need the short version.