Bill of Lading Generator

Fill the form, print it or save it as a PDF. Every field tells you which regulation requires it and what a blank one costs you in a claim — which is the part a downloadable template cannot do.

Nothing you type into this form is uploaded or stored. It runs entirely in your browser, there is no account, and closing the tab discards it. The feedback box at the bottom is the one thing on this page that sends anything, and it sends only what you type into that box.

What this is. A straight (nonnegotiable) bill of lading for domestic interstate truckload and LTL. It is a template, not legal advice.

Whose duty this is. 49 CFR 373.100 scopes the requirement to "motor carriers subject to 49 U.S.C. subtitle IV, part B" — so the duty to issue belongs to the carrier, not to you as a broker. You are preparing a document a carrier issues. The defects still land on your desk, which is why the citations are here.

Not order bills. A negotiable (order) bill moves title to the goods and turns up in letters of credit. Generating one from a web form would be irresponsible, so this does not — see straight vs order.

Parties

Identifies who tendered the freight. Blank: Nobody can say who has title to a claim.

Locates the tendering party; 373.101(a) requires the name, not the address. Blank: Harder to tie the document to a specific facility in a dispute.

Identifies who is to receive the freight. Blank: Nobody can say who has title to a claim.

Where the freight is to be delivered. Blank: The driver has no delivery address on the document itself.

Movement

The movement being evidenced. Blank: Rating disputes; no proof of the lane billed.

The movement being evidenced. Blank: Rating disputes; no proof of the lane billed.

Freight

The count liability attaches to. Blank: Shortage claims become unprovable both ways.

What was received, in the carrier's own words. Blank: The misdescription defence in 49 U.S.C. 80113 has nothing to bite on.

The rating input. Blank: Reweigh charges you can't check.

Document type

Says the bill is not a title document. Blank: An unmarked straight bill invites an argument nobody needs.

Carrier

Ties the freight to the authority you vetted. Blank: You can't prove which carrier took the load in a double-brokering dispute.

The identifier the authority check was run against. Blank: You can't prove which carrier took the load in a double-brokering dispute.

The reference every later document quotes. Blank: The invoice packet has nothing to key on.

Times and custody

The clock detention is measured against. Blank: Detention becomes one word against another.

The clock detention is measured against. Blank: Detention becomes one word against another.

The clock detention is measured against. Blank: Detention becomes one word against another.

The clock detention is measured against. Blank: Detention becomes one word against another.

The chain-of-custody record. Blank: Concealed-shortage claims get much harder.

Evidence for the lumper reimbursement. Blank: The driver's cash advance has no paper behind it.

Delivery

Where damage is first recorded. Blank: A clean signed BOL is hard to argue against later.

What is still blank

Separated by how strong the requirement behind each one is, because treating practice as law would be its own kind of wrong.

Required by a regulation or statute

    Required only if it affects rating

      49 CFR 373.101(e) ends "(if applicable to the rating of the freight)". A blank here is not automatically an omission — the regulation itself makes it conditional.

      Not mandated, but a blank costs money

        Straight Bill of Lading — NONNEGOTIABLE

        BOL / PRO No.

        Consignor (shipper)

        Origin:

        Consignee

        Destination:

        Carrier

        MC / DOT:

        Seal / unloading

        Seal:

        Lumper:

        No. of packagesDescription of freightWeight / volume / measurement

        Pickup

        Date:

        Arrival / departure:

        Delivery

        Date:

        Arrival / departure:

        Exceptions noted at delivery

        Consignee signature

        Printed name

        Date / time

        Driver signature

        Printed name

        Date / time

        Prepared with quoteminute.com/tools/bill-of-lading-generator/ — a template, not legal advice. Required contents: 49 CFR 373.101. Marking duty: 49 U.S.C. 80103(b)(2).

        Why the citations are on the form

        The requirement is short and most templates never quote it. 49 CFR 373.101 says every motor carrier subject to § 373.100 "shall issue a receipt or bill of lading for property tendered for transportation in interstate or foreign commerce containing the following information," and lists five items: names of consignor and consignee; origin and destination points; number of packages; description of freight; and weight, volume, or measurement "if applicable to the rating of the freight."

        One more duty is statutory rather than regulatory. 49 U.S.C. 80103(b)(2): "A common carrier issuing a nonnegotiable bill of lading must put 'nonnegotiable' or 'not negotiable' on the bill. This paragraph does not apply to an informal memorandum or acknowledgment."

        Everything else on the form is there because leaving it off costs money, and the form says so rather than implying it is law. The full field-by-field treatment — including what "shipper's weight, load, and count" actually does, which is less than the stamp suggests — is on what is a bill of lading.

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