Shipping and Freight Documents
The purpose of this publication is to give out a general vision about the shipping documents needed in order to send any type of merchandise by any mean of transportation.
1. CMR (Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road).
This document is used by land transport, to set up the rights and obligations on the parties. In other words, it is a merchandise land freight agreement. The exporter, or the one who sends the delivery, is the one who must fill in the document and it is responsible for the veracity on the information. The consignee will obtain the receipt for cargo at delivery and must be presented at the destination to accept in conformity or clarify if needed in the case the goods are damaged, incomplete if the merchandise is not the one requested or the one agreed on. This paper must be in the freight at all times, as it will be the authorisation to have possession of the goods; the CMR is not a proof of ownership (title) of the cargo therefore it is a non-negotiable form.
2. Bill of Landing (B/L)
This document is used by sea transport, it might be FCL (Full Container) or LCL (Pallets) and it must be handed out by the Freight Forwarder or by the Carrier.
The document should be signed by the ship captain as on board shipment reception evidence as well as the commitment to deliver the shipment in the specified port as settled. The Bill of Landing can be used as a negotiable instrument for payments between buyer and seller before delivery if needed. In other words, the shipment will not be delivered to destination until is freed by the sender, this could be to confirm the shipment is in port, or that the freight charge is divided in two payments or any other agreement the sender and receiver might have had. As this is a negotiable document, allows transferring the property according to the instructions settled on the shipper contract carriage of goods.
3. Air Waybill (AWB)
This document is used by air carrier of goods, and unlike a Bill of Landing, an AWB is a non negotiable instrument, so the property cannot be transferred as in the sea shipment case. In this document it is a receipt of goods by an airline carrier that defines flight information, airlines, when it was sent and when it will reach its destination and a description of goods. The first 3 digits of the AWB are the Airline Code for Cargo and the rest of the numbers are the tracking number to identify the flight where the Cargo is shipped. The dates usually are stated next to the commercial flight number and just the day of the departure and the day of arrival.
4. FIATA Bill of Landing (FBL)
This document is used when two means of transportation are combined or what is called
www.structuredfreight.com | April 2017 | USEFUL INFORMATION | 36-37