The Importance of a Bill of Lading

The Bill of Lading is probably the most important piece of paperwork when shipping a vehicle. It’s not only your receipt, but it also indicates vehicle damage.

You don’t want any surprises as part of the shipping experience, and understanding the terms and conditions is key to that. Of course, this article is an overview. Individual carries will have a variety of formats and details on their Bill of Ladings, but these are the standard elements.

Vehicle Condition
The vehicle condition section is where any current damages will be marked when the driver picks-up the vehicle. When there are dents and dings each one should be marked, as well as notes about broken windows or other items. When the car has sustained major damage and the individual items are too numerous to list, a driver may just circle a section of the car where there’s damage.

Terms and Conditions
You don’t want to just skim over these. Carriers have different T&Cs, so even if you’ve shipped before, you’ll want to read the T&Cs for your current carrier. This is where expectations are set. You don’t want to be in a situation where things didn’t go the way you expected because you didn’t read the terms and conditions. These situations do happen in the car shipping industry, as they do in many other industries, so please make sure that you pay attention to all the legalities regarding your carrier.

Signatures
When your vehicle arrives, you and the driver will both sign the Bill of Lading. Before you sign it, you’ll want to do a visual inspection and compare that will what is indicated in the Vehicle Condition section. If you don’t agree with what is on the document, don’t sign it. This is a legal document and once you sign it then it’s binding. Your signature releases the carrier and it indicates they have completed their part of the transaction to your satisfaction.

Understanding your Bill of Lading will help minimize any stress you may feel about shipping a vehicle. We know that people want to have something in their presence once they’ve paid for it, especially when it costs as much as a car. But when that something requires shipping, we at EasyHaul do everything possible to make sure your experience is smooth and worry free.