What is a bill of lading?

Last updated: July 16, 2026 · Written by the GET Express freight desk

A bill of lading, or BOL, is the document that makes a freight shipment legal, trackable, and insurable. It's a contract, a receipt, and proof of ownership, all at once, and it travels with your shipment from pickup to delivery. Get the details wrong and you risk a corrected bill after pickup or a denied claim if something goes wrong in transit.

What a bill of lading actually is

A bill of lading does three jobs at once. It's a contract of carriage between you and the carrier, setting the terms for what's being hauled, where it's going, and the conditions both sides agreed to. It's also a receipt: when the driver signs it at pickup, that signature confirms the carrier took possession of the freight described on the form, in the condition described on the form.

And for some shipments, it's a document of title: whoever legally holds it has the right to claim the freight. Most domestic LTL shipments use a straight bill of lading, made out to a specific consignee (the person or business receiving the freight), so this rarely comes into play day to day. That's why a BOL carries more legal weight than a packing slip or an invoice. If a shipment is lost, damaged, delayed, or billed differently than quoted, the BOL is the first document everyone pulls out.

What information goes on a bill of lading

A standard bill of lading includes: shipper and consignee (the name, address, and contact information for whoever ships the freight and whoever receives it); a freight description, in plain terms the carrier can use to identify it; the total weight, usually broken out by pallet or unit; freight class, the NMFC number that sets your price; any special instructions the carrier needs to complete the move; and accessorials, extra services beyond standard dock-to-dock pickup and delivery such as a liftgate, residential delivery, inside delivery, or a scheduled appointment.

Every field feeds directly into your price. Leave one blank, or guess at it, and the carrier fills in its own number later. That number is rarely lower than what you would have declared.

Who fills out the BOL, and when

The shipper fills out the bill of lading, or someone on the shipper's team does it, at pickup. They declare the freight description, the weight, and the freight class, and that's what goes on the form. Some shippers use their own BOL template. Others use one the carrier or broker provides. Either way, the numbers come from the shipper, not the carrier.

The driver isn't weighing or inspecting the freight in detail before signing. They're confirming that what's on the form roughly matches what's in front of them, enough to take possession of it. That's the part shippers underestimate. A BOL is only as accurate as what you put on it, and nobody checks your numbers before the freight leaves your dock.

Why accuracy matters, and what to do if something goes wrong

Carriers have the right to reweigh and reclass freight after pickup. Most run shipments across a certified scale at the terminal, and if the actual weight or class doesn't match what's on the BOL, they rebill the difference. It's the single most common source of a surprise invoice in LTL freight. Weigh and measure the shipment before it ships. If you're not confident on the class, request a quote and confirm it before you book, not after you get an invoice.

The BOL matters again if something goes wrong in transit. The delivery receipt is really just the BOL, signed a second time at delivery. If freight arrives short, damaged, or doesn't match what was shipped, that document is your evidence. Note the damage or shortage directly on it before you sign. A clean signature tells the carrier everything arrived fine, and carriers can point to that signature to deny a claim later.