Bill of lading field
What does shipper load and count mean?
Shipper load and count means you loaded the trailer and counted the pieces, and the driver did not verify either. The two boxes on the document record who loaded and who counted, and together they decide who has to prove what when something is missing.
Why it matters
It moves the burden of proof. If the driver counted the freight onto the truck, the carrier's receipt says how many pieces they took. If you loaded and sealed a trailer they never looked inside, they have a much narrower window to dispute what was in it — and you have a much harder time proving a shortage happened in transit.
The mistake that costs money
Letting "driver — pallets said to contain" go onto a shipment you later need to claim on. That phrase means the driver never verified the count inside the wrap, and a shortage claim against the carrier gets very hard to win from there.
Worth knowing
- "Said to contain" or STC means the count was not verified by the carrier.
- It cuts both ways: a shipper-loaded sealed trailer also narrows what the carrier can dispute about condition.
- A seal number recorded on the document is what proves the trailer was not opened in transit.
- For high-value freight, having the driver count the pieces is worth the extra few minutes at the dock.