Behind the unusual word “bill of lading” is a very important document for those who are going to use the transportation of some kind of cargo by water. And it doesn’t matter if we talk about transportation by sea or river, and sometimes the same applies to combined delivery, which is carried out by the same person.
Bill of Lading – under what circumstances, to whom and who needs to receive it?
How prepare bill lading? If we explain the essence of the document, then it is nothing more than confirmation that a certain cargo belongs to a specific person. The consignor is supposed to receive the bill of lading from the carrier as soon as the latter took it to his ship. At the same time, the paper makes the carrier responsible for the safety of the cargo at the time of transportation. Now it is the company that bears financial responsibility for the personal property entrusted to it during the transportation.
As soon as the cargo enters the port – the destination, the paper goes into the hands of the consignee, who now takes responsibility for the cargo received: he can use it or transfer it to other people.
The recipient does not have to be the one who originally executed the bill of lading. It can be a third-party person (private or legal), whose data were previously entered in the reporting document on the transportation and ownership of the cargo.
Varieties of bill of lading and its rules for drawing up
Under the big concept of a bill of lading, several types of papers are hidden at once, which are usually used in various situations. They are always united by one thing – the filling rule. Let’s try to indicate what you need to know about the compilation, and what data must be entered.
How read bill lading? Remember that corrections in a bill of lading, as in any official document, take a lot of time and effort. It will be necessary to notify the consignor of the goods and ask him to give confirmation of the corrections, even if we are talking about one letter. To avoid this, you should immediately enter the verified data, doing this very carefully and carefully.
Among the data necessarily related to the bill of lading, the following are noted:
- information about the vessel that is engaged in transportation – name;
- information about the shipping company – full name, legal address;
- information about the sender – name for a legal entity, address for a physical person;
- information about the recipient – name for companies, address for citizens;
- port – loading/unloading;
- terms – loading/unloading;
- detailed data on the cargo – dimensions and weight, characteristics, container, etc.;
- the appearance of the cargo – packaging and its integrity, as well as information about the integrity of the cargo;
- payment for logistics fees and duties;
- information on the date of drawing up the bill of lading and its transfer;
- copies – quantity;
- signatures – certified by the carrier (or a person representing him), as well as by the ship’s captain.
A document is drawn up on letterhead, which large logistics companies always have their own – special ones. Usually three copies are made: for the carrier, the sender, the recipient. The first two copies become invalid as soon as the third party, the recipient, picks up the cargo at the port.
A bill of lading is an important document, but far from being the only one in water transportation. There are other accompanying papers, to which no less attention is paid.