Category: Documents
Bill of Lading (B/L)
Also known as: B/L, BOL
Definition
The carrier’s document that acts as a receipt for cargo, a contract of carriage, and a document of title.
A Bill of Lading does three jobs at once: it acknowledges the carrier received the goods, sets the terms of carriage, and (for a negotiable original B/L) represents title to the cargo, so whoever holds it can claim the goods.
Variants include the straight B/L, the negotiable “to order” B/L, and the electronic/telex-release seawaybill. The air-freight equivalent is the Air Waybill, which is not a document of title.
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