QUICK ANSWER A bill of lading form is the document you hand a carrier with a shipment: it names the shipper, consignee and notify party, describes the goods, packages and weights, carries the reference numbers the move runs on, and gets signed by the shipper and the driver or carrier. The shipper fills the form in, the carrier issues it. The template below covers the boxes on a standard form; which version you are filling depends on whether the leg is a US truck move or the ocean crossing.
A blank bill of lading form is easy to download; knowing what to put in each box is the part template sites skip. This page walks the form from the importer's side: what to enter, which boxes decide money, and which version your shipment actually uses.
Which form you are actually filling out
Two different documents share the name. On a US truck move, LTL or a full truckload, the form is the domestic bill of lading: one page, freight class and PRO number boxes, filled in for every pickup. On the ocean leg, the carrier builds the bill of lading from the shipping instructions you submit, and that document also controls who can collect the cargo, which is a legal weight the domestic form does not carry. The boxes below appear on both; the ocean-only and trucking-only ones are marked.
The bill of lading form, box by box
The boxes and what you enter
| Box | What you enter |
|---|---|
| Shipper | The party handing cargo to the carrier: legal name, address, phone |
| Consignee | Who receives the goods: on an import, usually the buyer, exactly as it should read at entry |
| Notify party (ocean) | Who the carrier alerts on arrival; often the consignee again or the US agent |
| Carrier name and SCAC | The carrier running the leg and its four-letter code |
| PRO number (trucking) | The carrier's tracking number for the move; assigned at booking or pickup |
| Booking or B/L number (ocean) | The carrier's reference for the sea leg |
| Container or trailer and seal number | The equipment and its seal on FCL and FTL legs; ties the form to one sealed unit |
| PO and reference numbers | The purchase order, and on Amazon-bound freight the FBA shipment ID |
| Origin and destination | Pickup address and final delivery address for the leg the form covers |
| Description of goods | Plain trade wording that matches the invoice and packing list |
| Packages and type | Count and unit: 26 cartons, 4 pallets, 1 container |
| Weight | Gross weight for the leg; the number the carrier plans and charges on |
| Freight class and NMFC (trucking) | The class that prices LTL freight and the item number behind it |
| Hazmat declaration | Checked and completed only if the cargo is regulated; never left ambiguous |
| Declared value | Only if you are buying carrier liability above the default; otherwise leave empty |
| Freight terms | Prepaid, collect or third party: who the carrier bills for this leg |
| Special instructions | Liftgate, appointment required, limited access, temperature range |
| Signatures and date | Shipper signs, driver or carrier signs at pickup; delivery signature closes it |
A blank template you can copy
The same boxes as a working sheet. Rows marked O apply to ocean instructions, T to trucking, OT to both.
Blank bill of lading template
| Box | Applies to | Your entry |
|---|---|---|
| Shipper name, address, phone | OT | |
| Consignee name, address, phone | OT | |
| Notify party | O | |
| Carrier and SCAC | OT | |
| PRO number | T | |
| Trailer number and seal | T | |
| Booking / B/L number | O | |
| Container and seal number | O | |
| PO / FBA shipment ID | OT | |
| Origin address | OT | |
| Destination address | OT | |
| Description of goods | OT | |
| Package count and type | OT | |
| Gross weight | OT | |
| Freight class / NMFC | T | |
| Hazmat: yes or no, UN number | OT | |
| Declared value | OT | |
| Freight terms: prepaid, collect or third party | OT | |
| Special instructions | OT | |
| Shipper signature and date | OT | |
| Carrier or driver signature and date | OT |
The boxes that cause problems
Freight class first. On LTL the class prices the move, and a class the carrier disagrees with comes back as a reclassification with a higher invoice; if you are unsure, weigh and measure rather than guess, and our LTL page covers how the pricing works. Weight is next: the carrier reweighs, and a form that understates gross weight buys you a correction fee, not a saving. Consignee and notify party get swapped on ocean instructions, which sends the arrival notice to the wrong inbox while free time runs. An unchecked hazmat box on regulated cargo is the expensive version of all of these, because it stops the freight rather than repricing it. And an unsigned form is not a contract; the signatures are the point of the document.
KEY TAKEAWAY Before the form is signed, read three documents next to each other: the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading. Same description, same counts, same gross weight. The carrier works from the form alone, and customs reads all three, so a number that differs across them will surface at the worst available moment.
Straight and short form versions
A straight bill of lading names one consignee and only that party takes delivery, which is how most import moves run. A short form prints without the carrier's full terms on the back, referencing them instead, and is common on routine domestic freight. Which version releases cargo, and how originals, telex release and seaway bills differ, is covered on the main bill of lading guide rather than here.
What Platton fills in for you
Ocean instructions built from the booking
The shipping instructions that become the ocean B/L are drawn from the booking itself, with shipper, consignee and notify party written the way the US entry expects to see them, so the document set does not need repair after the vessel sails.
Domestic legs with the references on the form
On drayage and LTL legs, the BOL carries the PO number, the delivery reference and the FBA shipment ID where Amazon is the destination, because a truck arriving with a bare form is how receiving appointments fall apart.
One story across the paperwork
The form is checked against the commercial invoice and the packing list before it is signed, so the three documents agree before anyone downstream compares them.
Common Questions About the Bill of Lading Form
Who fills out the bill of lading form?
The shipper fills in the shipment details, the goods, weights and references, because the shipper is the party that knows them, and the carrier issues the finished document and signs at pickup. On managed imports a forwarder prepares the form from the booking and the supplier's documents, and the shipper confirms and signs it.
What information goes in each box of a bill of lading?
Parties first: shipper, consignee, and on ocean moves a notify party. Then the freight: description matching the invoice, package count and type, gross weight, and on LTL the freight class. Then the references: PO number, PRO or booking number, and any FBA shipment ID. Freight terms, hazmat status and signatures close the form.
What is a straight bill of lading form?
A form made out to one named consignee, not negotiable, so only that party can take delivery. It is the standard choice when the goods are already sold to a known buyer, which is most import traffic. If the cargo has to stay tradeable while it sails, that is negotiable territory, which the main bill of lading guide covers.
What is the freight class box on a BOL?
The box takes an NMFC class between 50 and 500 plus the item code behind it, and the carrier rates the shipment against exactly what you enter. Take both from your LTL quote or from the carrier instead of estimating, because a class the freight cannot support comes back as a reclassification and a corrected, higher invoice.
How many copies of the bill of lading form do I need?
On a truck move, three signed copies cover it: one for the shipper, one for the driver, one travelling to the receiver. Ocean shipments traditionally run on three originals plus non-negotiable copies; some files release electronically instead, and which release type does what is covered on the main bill of lading guide.
Can the bill of lading form be signed electronically?
On the truck side, yes: domestic carriers take electronic signatures on the BOL as standard. On the ocean side fully electronic bills exist but most files still run on paper originals or a telex release, so confirm what your carrier issues before planning around it. Either way, both parties have to sign in some form; an unsigned bill is just a description of cargo.
Related Documentation Guides
Bill of lading: what the document is legally, the types, and how cargo actually releases.
Telex release: releasing cargo without couriering paper originals.
Import shipping documents: the whole set the form belongs to.
Commercial invoice: the document your description and values must agree with.
Get the form filled from your booking
Book the leg and the paperwork comes built from it: instructions on the ocean side, a complete BOL on the truck side, references included, checked against your invoice and packing list before anything is signed.
