Overview
A bill of lading (BOL) is a document issued by a carrier or by a company’s shipping department, indicating the items being shipped and (if applicable) their distribution on pallets. The bill of lading also includes the classification numbers of the items to ensure proper rating. The bill of lading is accepted as a valid contract between the shipper and the carrier for the shipment of cargo to a named recipient; once the cargo is transferred from the shipper to the carrier’s vehicle, the carrier agent will sign the document, confirming whether goods matching the contract description have been received in good condition. The bill of lading can also be considered a receipt.
StarShip populates the bill of lading using item packing and classification information. StarShip settings provide flexibility as to how item packaging is converted to the bill of lading body. Typically, similar items with the same class are grouped under one general description.
There are two types of bills of lading: Straight and VICS. The Straight BOL is the most commonly used type and consists of all the details required to complete a contract with a freight shipper regarding transport of the items being shipped. The VICS BOL is in a standardized format and is usually required by larger retailers. The VICS BOL typically contains more detail than the Straight BOL, and you are therefore required to classify items (or group of items) by NMFC code, sub-code, and class.
In addition to the details contained in the Straight BOL, the VICS BOL contains information regarding the order being fulfilled, including details about the order(s) from which each item in the shipment originates.
Bill of Lading Setup
Bill of Lading Preferences, accessible from Setup > Preferences > Freight > Bill of Lading, allows you to set bill of lading options such as the default BOL type, grouping items on the BOL, etc. Field values can change depending on choices made in other fields.
Items are classified using
You can define the items that you ship with varying degrees of freight classification. This setting also affects the amount of classification information shown in the Packing Assistant.
- only the NMFC freight class: This choice is available when Bill of Lading Type is Straight. The NMFC class is a value assigned by the NMFTA and is based on various properties of the underlying item. These properties are the basic determining factors used by carriers in rating shipments.
- the NMFC Code, Subcode, and Class: This choice is available for both Bill of Lading Types: Straight or VICS. These values are also assigned by the NMFTA and provide more detail about the items being shipped. This level of detail is required when using a VICS BOL format.
Default Bill of Lading Type
The default type, Straight or VICS, will display in the Transportation section in the Shipment Editor. Choose from Straight or VICS, based upon the descriptions above.
In order to leave shipment items loose or loose on a pallet, this option must be set to Straight.
Packaging NMFC Classification
This setting determines what is shown on the package and pallet level for NMFC.
- Is controlled by content of packages and pallets: This means that you cannot manually change a Package or a Pallet NMFC Classification when that package/pallet has content. The NMFC Classification will be generated by StarShip automatically; it is taken from highest class Line Item for packages and highest class Package for pallets. This is the default value.
- Is manually entered by user on the highest level of packaging: This means that the Package NMFC Classification will be selected manually by the shipper. StarShip will ignore NMFC Classifications of the packed Line Items and palletized boxes and they will have no effect on the higher level packaging classifications and no effect on the resulting BOL.
Group Items on Bill of Lading
These settings affect how line items are grouped together on the BOL printout. Choices are:
- by NMFC class: When selected, line items will be grouped by the NMFC Class.
- by NMFC Code, Subcode, and Class: This option only appears when you have selected “the NMFC Code, Subcode, and Class” under the “Items are classified using” field.
- by Item Number: When selected, line items will be grouped by the Item Number. Note: This value is unavailable when “Packaging NMFC Classification” is set to “Is manually entered by user on the highest level of packaging”.
- by Group Name: When this option is selected, the “When generating the Bill of Lading” field will be disabled with the setting of ”Use group description as commodity description”. This setting also affects the Classification columns shown in the Packing Assistant.
When Generating the Bill of Lading
The choices available for this setting depend upon how you group items on the BOL. Some choices may be grayed out based on your selection above.
Manually enter commodity description(s)
When selected, the BOL info will not have a Group field and the Commodity Description field will be blank until filled in by the user.
Create new group name and commodity description(s) based on freight class
StarShip will automatically generate a group name and commodity description for items that are not already assigned to a group, based on the freight class. For example, if an item has a freight class of 92.5 and there is no group for that NMFC code, StarShip will create a group named “Group 92.5” and a commodity description of “Type description for Group 92.5”.
Use NMFC description as commodity description
When selected, StarShip will use the NMFC description to fill in the Commodity Description field on the BOL tab. This selection is only available when ”Group Items on Bill of Lading” is set to ”by NMFC Code, Subcode and Class”.
Use Line Item Description as commodity description
This selection is only available when ”Group Items on Bill of Lading” is set to ”by Item Number”.
Use Line Item Number plus Description as commodity description
This selection is only available when ”Group Items on Bill of Lading” is set to ”by Item Number”.
Use package content as commodity description
When this value is selected, StarShip will use Package Content instead of Group Name or NMFC Name explicitly. This value will only be available when Packaging NMFC Classification is set to “Is manually entered by user on the highest level of packaging”.
Automatically Generate BOL #
When this check box is checked, StarShip generates the BOL # and displays it in the Transportation section of the Shipment Editor. If this option is not unchecked, the BOL # Prefix, Rolling Number, Rolling Number Size, and Sample BOL # fields are no longer available. You would then enter the BOL # manually in the Transportation section.
BOL # Prefix
This information is used as part of the Sample BOL # field and the actual BOL # that StarShip generates. It is equal to your EAN / UPC bar code number. It is stored on the server and can only be changed by contacting V-Technologies.
Rolling Number Size
This number value determines the length of the generated BOL #. It is predefined by V-Technologies and cannot be altered.
Rolling Number
A rolling number is required when automatically generating the Bill of Lading number and the value entered will be used as the next BOL #. If the number entered is shorter than the length entered in Rolling Number Size, it will be padded with leading zeroes.
Sample BOL #
This field is for display only. The Sample BOL# that is displayed is the BOL# that will be assigned to the next shipment. It will contain the values from the BOL # Prefix, Rolling Number, and Rolling Number Size. This data displays in the Transportation section.
BOL Settings and Printout Examples
| Items are classified using | Group Items on Bill of Lading | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight | Only the NMFC Class | By NMFC Class | |
| Straight | Only the NMFC Class | By Item Number | |
| Straight | Only the NMFC Class | By Group Name | |
| Straight | NMFC Code, Subcode, Class | By Group Name | |
| VICS | NMFC Code, Subcode, Class | By Group Name | |
| VICS | NMFC Code, Subcode, Class | By NMFC Class |