A bill of lading, filled in

Every template site will hand you a blank form. None of them will show you a finished one. So here is a complete straight bill of lading for one ordinary LTL shipment — two pallets of packaged steel brackets moving from a Cincinnati warehouse to a Nashville distributor — with the reasoning behind every entry.

The shipment

Ridgeline Supply is sending 48 cartons of packaged steel shelving brackets, stacked on two stretch-wrapped pallets, to Cumberland Distributing. Gross weight 1,240 lb. Ridgeline is paying the freight, the destination needs a liftgate, and Ridgeline's own crew loaded and counted the pallets.

That paragraph is the whole job. Everything on the sheet is one of those facts, written where a carrier will look for it.

Shipment & carrier

BOL number: BOL-24081
Ship date: 2026-07-14
Carrier name: Midwest Freight Lines
SCAC: MWFL
PO / order numbers: PO-99310, PO-99311

Ship from (shipper)

Company: Ridgeline Supply Co.
Phone: (513) 555-0114
Street address: 1820 Kemper Meadow Dr, Dock 4
City: Cincinnati
State: OH
ZIP: 45240

Ship to (consignee)

Company: Cumberland Distributing LLC
Phone: (615) 555-0177
Street address: 455 Centerline Ct, Receiving
City: Nashville
State: TN
ZIP: 37210

Freight charges

Freight charge terms: Prepaid

Freight description

Handling units: 2
Handling unit type: Pallet
Packages: 48
Package type: Carton
Weight (lb): 1240
Freight class: 70
Commodity description: Packaged steel shelving brackets, palletized and stretch-wrapped

Instructions & signatures

Special instructions: Liftgate required at delivery. Call receiving 24h ahead.
Trailer loaded by: Shipper
Freight counted by: Shipper
Shipper signature (name): D. Alvarez

Left blank on purpose

An empty box is not an unfinished box. These are the ones that should be empty on a shipment like this one — and knowing which is which is most of the skill.

PRO number: The carrier's own tracking number. Usually blank when you print — the driver writes it in, or the carrier applies a PRO sticker at pickup.
Trailer / car number: Which trailer the freight went into. Normally filled in by the driver at the dock, so leave it empty unless you already know it.
Seal number(s): If the trailer is sealed, the seal number recorded here is what proves nobody opened it in transit. An intact seal that matches this number is your defence against a claim of tampering.
Bill to (third party): The company that gets the freight invoice when neither the shipper nor the consignee is paying — typically a broker or the buyer's logistics arm.
Bill to address: Where to send that invoice. An accounts-payable address, not a warehouse.
COD amount (USD): Collect on delivery: the driver will not release the freight until this amount is handed over. Leave it blank unless you have genuinely agreed a COD shipment with the carrier — it is not a payment-terms note.
Declared value (USD): Only fill this in where the rate depends on the value of the goods. Declaring a value is not the same as insuring the shipment — carrier liability is usually capped per pound by the tariff, and a high declared value can cost you more without covering you.
NMFC item number: The item number that maps your specific commodity to its class. It comes from the NMFTA's classification (ClassIT) or from your carrier — it is licensed data, so we do not reproduce the lookup here. Blank is fine on most domestic LTL shipments; the class number is what the carrier rates on.
Hazardous materials: Tick only if the shipment is regulated under 49 CFR. If it is, this form is not enough on its own — hazmat needs a proper shipping description, packing group, UN number and emergency contact, and the penalties for getting it wrong are severe.
Carrier signature (name): Left blank on purpose. The driver signs at pickup, and that signature is the carrier's receipt for the freight — the moment the document becomes a contract of carriage. Keep your signed copy; it is the evidence in any claim.

The finished bill of lading

This is what those facts look like once they are on the document — and what comes out of the printer.

Straight Bill of Lading

Short form · Original · Not negotiable

BOL #: BOL-24081
Date: 07/14/2026

Ship from — shipper

Ridgeline Supply Co.

1820 Kemper Meadow Dr, Dock 4

Cincinnati, OH 45240

(513) 555-0114

Ship to — consignee

Cumberland Distributing LLC

455 Centerline Ct, Receiving

Nashville, TN 37210

(615) 555-0177

Carrier

Midwest Freight Lines

SCAC: MWFL
PRO #
Trailer
Seal

Freight charge terms

Prepaid

PO / order #: PO-99310, PO-99311
COD
Declared value

Carrier information — freight

Handling	Packages	Weight (lb)	H.M.	Commodity description	NMFC #	Class
2 Pallet	48 Carton	1240	—	Packaged steel shelving brackets, palletized and stretch-wrapped		70

Special instructions

Liftgate required at delivery. Call receiving 24h ahead.

Shipper certification. The goods described above are properly classified, described, packaged, marked and labelled, and are in proper condition for transportation according to the applicable regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Shipper signature / date

D. Alvarez

Sign the printed copy

Trailer loaded / freight counted

Loaded by Shipper

Counted by Shipper

Carrier signature / pickup date

Driver signs at pickup

Generated with bolmaker.com · Keep the signed copy — it is your receipt

Make this one yours

The generator opens pre-filled with exactly this shipment. Type over the parts that differ and print — you never start from an empty page.

Open the generator