What’s in this Freight Paper?

1. Why it’s important to use the FreightPros BOL
2. Instructions for correcting an incorrect BOL
3. Learn LOA and other LTL billing terms

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All BOLs are not created equal. If you remember anything about your LTL shipping, remember that. We’ve talked about the importance of the Bill of Lading in LTL shipping before, but one cannot understate how much valuable information is present on a good BOL. In this Freight Paper, we’re going to discuss the importance of using the correct, FreightPros-generated BOL at the time of pickup for LTL shipments. Disclaimer: THIS FREIGHT PAPER APPLIES TO LTL SHIPPING, NOT FULL TRUCKLOAD SHIPPING.

Why can’t I use my own BOL?

This is the most common question we get concerning BOLs: “Why can’t I, the customer, use my own BOL?” We understand that using your own BOL can be more convenient at the time of pickup, but that convenience goes out the window once the freight is billed and in transit. Apart from the expected information such as shipping addresses, weight, and freight class, the BOL also contains the billing information for the shipment. Because most freight brokers have negotiated rates with the freight carriers, if this billing information is incorrect things will go awry. The freight charges and invoices might be incorrect, or go to the wrong party. There can be additional charges levied to fix the billing of an LTL shipment as well.

What do I do if I use the wrong BOL?

If the shipper uses the wrong BOL at the time of pickup, don’t panic, there are steps that we can take to solve the problem. You need to contact your freight broker, and they’ll be able to get in touch with the freight carrier, find out who the shipment is billed to, and if a charge will be levied to update the BOL. More often than not there WILL be a BOL Correction Fee in addition to the original freight charges.

What is an LOA?

LOA is an acronym that stands for LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION. This is a document prepared by the current billing party on a shipment, stating that they authorize any and all charges associated with the freight’s PRO number. An LOA will ALWAYS be required for BOL correction. This LOA will need some sort of identification or letterhead from the billing party, and as your freight broker will be the billing party, the LOA will need to come directly from them.

Download this Freight Paper