Freight Documents & Forms

One of the many benefits of arranging your freight with FreightCenter.com is our free shipping documentation service. When you book a shipment with FreightCenter.com, we prepare all the necessary freight documents that are required by our carriers. There are two types of freight documents: booking papers and your bill of lading (BOL).

Your Booking Papers are the documents sent to you by your booking agent to set up a shipment. They are not your actual bill of lading, which is required by the carrier for pickup.

If your shipment details cannot be processed electronically, you will be faxed or emailed booking papers for your review and completion. This paperwork covers everything from the point of pickup and delivery to who will be responsible for paying for the shipment.

Could you provide the origination address, destination address, shipment description, and payment information? Once you complete the shipping contract, fax or e-mail the freight documents.

You must complete these forms and return them as soon as possible, as we can only lock in a rate for you once they have been returned, reviewed for accuracy, and approved by our processing department. Once this has been completed, your shipment can be manually scheduled.

From time to time, shippers confuse the “booking papers” with their shipping documents or BOL (bill of lading). The booking papers are for information gathering, invoicing, and shipment contracting. These types of freight documents are not to be given to the carrier.

After your booking papers have been returned, reviewed, processed, and approved, your booking agent will create your shipping documents.

This document will be sent to you by email as an attached PDF file, downloadable via your online account or by fax. This is only a BOL (bill of lading) for most shipments.

You must have a copy of your BOL at pickup. Print two copies of the BOL document. If you are away from the pickup point, you must forward (email, fax, mail) two copies to the pickup address.

The carrier’s driver signs both copies of the BOL. One copy will stay attached to the shipment, and the other is your receipt. Under no conditions should you alter or change the BOL?

Any change made to the BOL without approval from FreightCenter.com will void your discount and service agreement.

Get a free quote showing your shipping rates and estimated transit times from multiple carriers. Need help? Contact a FreightCenter shipping expert at 800.716.7608