Question for the legal beagles out there: BOL is supposed to be a legal document right? Contract or something similar. Many of the pre-printed ones you find in truckstops have some legalese that I never bothered to read on them but most shippers that generate their own BOL or shipping papers don't (or it's so completely different as to be unrecognizable) So first problem, we really don't understand what it is we're signing for. Second problem, I sometimes have a hard time getting shippers who DO generate their own paperwork to provide a 2nd copy for the receiver. They're often surprised when I ask them for an extra copy (which means 75% of the OTHER drivers never bring it up) isn't is expected that both the shipper AND receiver get a copy? (Along with a 3rd copy for the carrier) Half the time, maybe more, the guy loading me at the shipper never signs the #### thing! They want my sig, (of course) but a lot of times there's no sig on their side. It's even worse when it's multiple-non carbon copies. I sign all three copies often they'll only sign one. I won't harp on receivers to much because once they sign it's not my problem anymore. "Loaded by shipper" my favorite words, I put them on the BOL and nobody notices. So here's really my question, in the event that some load goes horribly wrong and the whole fiasco ends up in court would an improper BOL, or failure to sign it, end up putting fault on the shipper? If I have a BOL without a shipper's signature and I get DOT'd could I be charged with "theft"? What exactly is that legalize on the pre-printed BOL and could I get in trouble if I had a load with shipper printed bills w/out them? Curious thoughts as I wait for the #### receiver to show up.
I haul mostly hazmat so the shipper has to sign to certify thier part of the Hazmat regs were met. When I pulled a dry van I'd always try to make sure the bol was signed. Sometime they didn't. Never got hassled by DOT for it. A lot of places now have a signature saved in the computer and no one actually signs it anymore.
Receiver's signature is the final part of one type of contract which states "goods delivered in satisfactory condition". Without that, there is a breach UNLESS there is another and superseding contract between the broker and the carrier that the driver did not see, which does not require a receiver's signature on the BOL. Sure would be nice if dispatch told the drivers everything they need to know. Whether the BOL must be signed is definitely a NTK situation.
Bill of Lading is the receipt of goods or products from the shipper that the carrier accepts to provide proof of shipment. It is not a waybill which is different animal altogether. It is what is considered a negotiable vehicle, it has nothing to do with the consignee but everything to do with the agreement between the shipper and/or the paying party and the carrier. The driver signs it, not the shipper. A waybill is what is used to provide a means of instructions and contract for delivery. In hazmat shipments, it is where you put all of your hazmat info and have the shipper sign off on it. The waybill is what is presented to the consignee for a POD signature. With that said, there is a problem with most of the carriers, they never was explained the legal end of it nor care to follow any legalities. These all came out of maritime law by the way.
^^^This^^^ I'm a bit of a curious geek, but other than a brief lecture on it in CDL school (or was it orientation?) it's never come up in 9 years of driving. I used to do a non-CDL deliveries and all we used was a master manifest. And a lot of places were just "leave packages at door" places. No sig needed.
Me too, I had a master manifest with the delivery orders on it, and it was just for record keeping and to hand a cop when you got pulled over. That is a bit different than the BOL/Waybill thing. BOL/Waybills are not used in consumer deliveries but point to point commercial ones and I forgot to add this was all copied from maritime as part of the overall interstate commerce regulations that the feds were allowed to do.
I have a similar situation. Sometimes I drop and hook at an auto trim manufacturer it is scrap trim. The trailer is owned by the scrap company. The factory gives me a packing slip, which I do sign. But I have no actual bol. I do keep the generic ones with me just in case. This also occurs with other accounts for the scrap yard, but I have a scale on the return that is always open.
