Bill of lading generator: fill it in, watch it build, print it

This bill of lading generator builds a clean, original straight BOL from what you type. The document preview updates with every keystroke, the totals add themselves up, and the print button sends only the BOL to your printer, or to a PDF if you pick Save as PDF in the print dialog. Nothing is uploaded: the form lives in your browser.

What each part of the BOL records

How the generator works

1. Fill the parties. Shipper, consignee and carrier, with the trailer and seal numbers if you have them.
2. Add freight lines. Handling units (pallets, crates, drums), the pieces inside them, a plain description, weight and, for LTL, the class.
3. Pick freight charge terms. Prepaid, collect, or third party with the name of whoever is paying.
4. Check the totals. Units, pieces and weight add up across the lines, shown on the document and above it.
5. Print or save. The print button hides the rest of this page, so only the BOL comes out.

The class field is optional because full truckloads aren't priced by class. On LTL it's the shipper's estimate until the carrier applies its tariff.

Hazardous materials lines

Tick hazardous material on a line and the generator asks for the basic description in the order the rule sets: identification number, proper shipping name, hazard class or division, packing group. It formats the entry, marks the line with an X in the HM column, and adds an emergency contact line. That phone number has to be monitored at all times the material is in transportation; an answering machine doesn't qualify.

Sources: 49 CFR 172.202(a)-(b), checked October 2026; 49 CFR 172.604(a), checked October 2026 The shipper is responsible for these entries. This tool formats them; it doesn't check them.

A worked example

These are the generator's EXAMPLE defaults. Replace them with your shipment.

Straight, master and other kinds of BOL

A straight bill of lading, the kind this tool makes, names the consignee and can't be transferred to anyone else by signing it over. That covers nearly all domestic truck freight. A negotiable or order bill of lading, used mostly in ocean shipping and trade finance, works like a title document, and this template isn't one. A master BOL groups several shipments under one document, usually for consolidated LTL. If a shipper hands you any of those, use theirs.

Freight bill of lading template tips

• One BOL per stop. A multi-stop load usually needs a BOL, or at least a separate signed delivery receipt, for each consignee.
• Keep descriptions plain. Paper products on pallets beats a SKU code nobody at the dock can read.
• Leave room for notes. The receiver's exceptions are what a claim gets decided on.

Before the driver signs

The bill of lading is the receipt for the freight, so it matters most when something goes wrong. If the count is short, write the real count. If a pallet is damaged or the load was sealed before you could see it, write that too, for example shipper load and count. A clean signature on a bad count is hard to argue with later.

The signed delivery copy becomes your proof of delivery, and the invoice goes nowhere without it. Turn the delivered load into a bill with the trucking invoice generator, read what a freight invoice needs to get paid on time, and how a load reaches you in the first place in our guide to the freight tender. To see what dispatch support costs on that load, try the dispatcher fee calculator.

Pulling preloaded trailers, where the shipper wrote the BOL before you arrived? Our power only dispatch desk checks the paperwork with you before an offer is final, and you approve every load. Send an application.