Explanations of Various Bill of Lading Terms

The Bill of Lading (B/L) is the core document in maritime cargo transport, combining the three major functions of evidence of the contract of carriage, receipt of goods, and document of title. The following categorizes common Bill of Lading terms by usage for quick reference by foreign trade practitioners.

For basic concepts of Bills of Lading, see What is an Ocean Bill of Lading? Detailed Explanation of Core Functions; for classification of Bills of Lading, see Types of Ocean Bills of Lading; for clean and unclean Bills of Lading, see Definition and Operational Points of Clean Bills of Lading and Causes and Handling of Unclean Bills of Lading; for straight Bills of Lading, see Characteristics and Risk Control of Straight Bills of Lading; for endorsement and transfer, see Types and Implications of Bill of Lading Endorsements; for loss remediation, see How to Remedy a Lost Bill of Lading.

Basic Types of Bills of Lading

1. Bill of Lading: a document evidencing the contract of carriage by sea and the taking over or loading of the goods by the carrier, and by which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods at the port of destination.
2. House B/L: issued by a freight forwarder, used when goods are transported from inland points and delivered to inland points; international freight forwarders usually use this type of bill; it is also used when the forwarder needs to meet customer requirements such as backdating that the ship owner cannot satisfy.
3. Master B/L: a bill of lading issued by the ship owner.
4. Shipped on Board B/L: a bill of lading issued by the carrier to the shipper confirming that the goods have been loaded on board the vessel.
5. Received for Shipment B/L: a bill of lading issued when the carrier has received the goods but before they are loaded on board.
6. Direct B/L: a bill of lading issued for goods that, after being loaded at the port of loading, are carried directly to the port of discharge without transshipment.
7. Through B/L: a bill of lading issued by the carrier at the port of loading covering carriage to the port of destination with transshipment en route.
8. MT B/L: a bill of lading applicable to the entire carriage where goods are transported by two or more modes of transport such as sea, inland waterway, rail, road, and air.
9. Liner B/L: a bill of lading used when a liner continuously carries cargo on a fixed route, according to a published schedule, between specified ports; it can be divided into fixed route with fixed schedule and fixed route with non-fixed schedule.
10. Charter Party B/L: a bill of lading issued by the ship owner to the charterer when a chartered vessel carries all of the charterer's cargo; or a bill of lading issued by the ship owner or the charterer when the vessel does not carry all of the charterer's cargo.
11. Straight B/L: a bill of lading under which only the consignee named on the bill may take delivery of the goods; it is generally non-negotiable.
12. Order B/L: usually has either an unnamed endorsement (marked only "ORDER") or a named endorsement ("ORDER OF SHIPPER", "ORDER OF CONSIGNEE" or "ORDER OF ××BANK"), and can be transferred after endorsement by the indicated party.
13. Blank B/L / Open B/L: a bill of lading that contains no consignee or the word "ORDER"; any holder has the right to take delivery of the goods.

Quality and Condition of Bills of Lading

1. Clean Bill of Lading (Clean B/L): When the goods are delivered for shipment, their apparent condition is good, and the carrier issues the bill of lading without any remarks concerning cargo damage, defective packing, or other annotations that may impede negotiation of payment.
2. Unclean Bill of Lading (Foul B/L): When the goods are delivered for shipment, if their packing and surface condition appear unsound or incomplete, the carrier may add remarks, resulting in an unclean bill of lading.
3. Stale Bill of Lading (Stale B/L): When the date on which the exporter presents documents to the bank for negotiation is so far from the date of loading and departure that the bill of lading cannot reach the consignee at the port of destination before the vessel arrives, banks generally do not accept it.

Special Purpose Bills of Lading

1. Parcel Receipt / Non-negotiable Receipt: Applicable to small quantities of goods, baggage, or samples, etc.
2. Minimum B/L: When the freight does not reach the minimum amount specified in the tariff, it is charged at the prescribed minimum freight.
3. Omnibus B/L / Combined B/L: When goods of different batches are combined into one bill of lading, or when the same liquid cargo of different batches is loaded into one tank and several bills of lading are issued, the former is called an omnibus B/L and the latter is called a consolidated B/L.
4. Separate B/L: Goods under the same shipping order may, at the shipper's request, be split into two or more sets of bills of lading.

Non-conventional Bills of Lading and Their Risks

1. Switch B/L: A set of bills of lading re-issued at an intermediate port after the bill was issued at the port of loading, representing that the cargo was shipped from the intermediate or transshipment point.
2. Anti-dated B/L: At the shipper's request, the carrier issues a bill of lading after the cargo has been loaded with a date earlier than the actual completion date of loading; this carries legal risks.
3. Advanced B/L: When the shipment period and settlement period stipulated by the letter of credit are expiring and the cargo has not been loaded in time, but is already under the carrier's control or has begun loading, the shipper provides a letter of indemnity to request the carrier to issue an advanced bill of lading.
4. On Deck B/L: A bill of lading for cargo loaded on the open deck of a ship, bearing the words "on deck".

Bill of Lading Terminology FAQ

Q: How to choose between a forwarder's bill of lading (House B/L) and a carrier's bill of lading (Master B/L)?

A: The forwarder's bill of lading is issued by the freight forwarder, while the master bill of lading is issued by the shipowner. Foreign trade settlement and bank negotiation usually require the master bill of lading, or a combination of the house bill of lading and the master bill of lading, depending on the letter of credit terms and foreign exchange collection requirements.

Q: What are the risks of backdated bills of lading and advanced bills of lading?

A: Both are bills of lading issued by the carrier when the actual loading situation of the goods does not match the documents. They do not comply with the letter of credit requirements and may involve fraud, posing a high risk of the consignee refusing payment. Both the carrier and the shipper may bear legal liability, so they should be avoided.

Disclaimer: This article was compiled by the Bofeng Logistics team, and the content was verified in August 2026. Bill of lading formats, terms, and operational practices may change due to adjustments by shipping companies, regulations, and international conventions. Please refer to the actual booking confirmation and document information at the time of issuance.