Transport document.

Goods are carried from the Exporter (seller) to Importer (buyer) through various modes of transport, viz: Truck, Rail, Air, Ship etc. All these modes are separately at a glance is called Transport document. Transport documents issued by the freight forwarders. Unless otherwise authorized in the credit, banks will only accept a transport document issued by a freight forwarder if it appears on its face to indicate the name of the carrier duly authenticated by the freight forwarder.

Types of Transport document

(i)    Marine/Ocean bill of lading or simply Bill of Lading (BL) in case of goods delivered to a ship for carriage by sea.
(ii)    Air transport document/Airway bill (AWB) in case of air shipment of goods.
(iii)    Road, Rail or Inland Waterway Transport Document/Truck receipt (TR) in case of goods carried by Truck, Railway Receipt (RR) in case of goods carried by Rail and so on.
(iv)    Courier receipt and Postal receipt in case of shipment of goods by courier and by post respectively.

Contents of Transport document:

According to Guide to Documentary Credit Operations, an ICC publication, the transport document should contain the following information:

(i)    It must be issued by a named carrier or his agent.
(ii)    Description of goods consistent with that in the credit.
(iii)    Identifying shipping marks.
(iv)    The name of the carrying vessel ( in case of marine B/L) or the intended carrying vessel ( in case of multimodal transport document including sea transport)
(v)    An indication of dispatch or taking in charge or loading on board as the case may be.
(vi)    An indication of place of such dispatch or taking in charge or loading on board and the place of final destination.
(vii)    The name of shipper, consignee (if not made out ‘to order’) and the name & address of the notify party.
(viii)    Whether freight has been paid or still to be paid.
(ix)    Date of issuing the document
(x)    The number of originals if issued in more than one original.