The experts from the international freight forwarders association can assist their customers by helping with the three most important transportation documents for all international freight forwarding services we provide, including specialized transportation, small shipments, complete loads and all others – the bill of lading, the freight bill and the FOB terms of sale.
The Bill of Lading
This is the sole most important transport document for all international freight services provided for the forwarding of goods handled by the European logistics network.
Lading stands for a contract for the international freight forwarding of any kind of goods and cargo.
This essential document which the experts from the European network for transportation can help you prepare includes all of the information necessary for the European logistics companies to transport the goods. It contains the transportation contract terms, the shipment origin and is required before the forwarders throughout Europe can proceed with the shipment.
The bill of lading must include the name and address of the consignee and the consignor, and may contain routing instructions for the freight forwarders. It also includes a description of the items and goods being shipped, their exact quantity as well as the class and rate of the goods.
Since it is a contract between the consignor and the company from the International Forwarding Association, the bill of lading needs to include nine terms:
- Common carrier liability
- Delay of transit
- Freight not accepted
- Extraordinary value
- Explosives
- Recourse
- Substitute bill of lading
- Alterations
- Claims
The Freight Bill
This is the invoice issued by the international freight forwarders to the buyer for all charges incurred by the carrier. It includes the forwarding and shipment details, the goods being shipped, the consignee, their origin and the destination of the shipment and the total weight and charges incurred.
In some cases, the carrier may ask for an advance payment in the cases when the value of the goods being shipped is smaller than the total expected charges for the freight forwarding. In case they are not pre-paid, then the company from the freight transport association will present the freight bill or invoice upon collect, or in other words – on the day of the delivery of the goods.
FOB Terms of sale
FOB stands for Free on Board, and FOB terms of sale define which party will be liable for all the costs incurred or the costs for shipment incurred by the European logistics companies from the freight forwarders association, as well as which of the sides is in charge of the shipment of the goods, and at what point the control and title is passed on to the buyer of the goods.
In case the terms of sale are that the items are FOB Delivered, this means that the forwarder is responsible for all costs incurred by the carrier for forwarding the goods. If these terms of sale include a FOB Origin, this means that the buyer will take control over the goods as soon as they are shipped and that he will be responsible for all of the transportation costs.