How to fill out a CMR consignment note
The CMR note is the consignment note for international road transport under the CMR Convention. It evidences the contract of carriage, receipts the goods, and once signed on delivery serves as proof of delivery. Unlike a bill of lading it is not a document of title, so it does not control who gets the cargo.
The 19 fields on a cmr — consignment note (sender)
Taken from the document itself, in the order it prints them.
- Shipper / Exporter
Box 1, the sender. The party handing the goods to the carrier, which is usually the exporter. The Convention places specific duties on the sender, including the accuracy of what is declared here.
- Carrier
Box 16. The haulier actually performing the carriage, which on a subcontracted movement is not the company you booked with. Successive carriers are each liable under the Convention.
- Consignee
Box 2. Who receives the goods and signs on delivery. Their signature on the blue copy is what turns the note into proof of delivery.
- Freight Forwarder
- Place of Delivery
Box 3. Where the carrier's responsibility ends, and the address the driver is actually going to.
- Carrier's Reservations
Box 18, and the most important box on the document. If the driver notes damaged pallets, wet cartons or an unverifiable count here, the presumption that the goods were received in good order no longer applies. A note left blank is the carrier accepting them as apparently sound.
- Place of Loading
Box 4, with the date. Where the goods were taken over, which is when the carrier's liability begins.
- Declaration
Box 13, sender's instructions — customs formalities, and any declaration of value or special interest in delivery, which raises the carrier's liability above the Convention default of 8.33 SDR per kilogram.
- Reference
- Payment Terms
- Special Instructions
- Place of Issue
- Delivery Terms
- Vehicle Registration
The tractor unit. Together with the trailer plate it is how a specific movement is identified in a claim or a customs query.
- Trailer Registration
The trailer, which frequently changes en route on a trunked movement. Where it does, the note should reflect what actually crossed the border.
- Name
- Title
- Place
- Date
The line-item columns
One row per product. Columns can be hidden, renamed or added in the generator.
- Marks & Numbers
Box 6, what is on the outside of the packages, so a specific pallet can be identified without unloading the trailer.
- Pkgs
Box 7. What the driver counts and signs for. If they cannot verify the count because the trailer was loaded and sealed by you, that belongs in box 18 as a reservation.
- Pkg Type
- Description
- HS Code
- Gross Wt
Box 11. Reconciles with the invoice and packing list, and is the basis of the carrier's liability limit — 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight short or damaged.
- Vol
A working cmr — consignment note (sender), prefilled with a sample shipment. Every field above is editable here, and it downloads as a PDF.
Copy 1 — for the sender (red) — Issued subject to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR)
| 6 Marks and Nos | 7 No. of packages | 8 Method of packing | 9 Nature of the goods | 10 Statistical number | 11 Gross weight (KG) | 12 Volume (CBM) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Your entries are kept as you move between documents: the parties, ports, container and line items all carry across.
Three copies, and they are not interchangeable
Red goes to the sender, blue travels with the goods to the consignee, green stays with the carrier. All three carry identical content — the difference is who holds which and what it proves. The sender's copy evidences that the goods were handed over; the consignee's, signed, evidences delivery; the carrier's is its own record of the contract.
Box 18 is where claims are won and lost
The Convention presumes goods were received in apparent good order unless the carrier says otherwise on the note. So a driver who signs without reservation has accepted the packaging as sound. Conversely, a reservation written at collection — \u201ctwo cartons crushed\u201d, \u201cshrink wrap torn\u201d, \u201ccount unverified, loaded by sender\u201d — shifts the argument entirely. Read it before the driver leaves.
It is not a document of title
A CMR note does not control possession the way a negotiable bill of lading does. The consignee takes delivery on identification, not by surrendering paper. If you are using transport documents as security for payment, road freight under CMR does not give you that.
These carry the same fields as the one above and are filled in the same way.
+Which copy do I keep?
The sender keeps the red copy. Keep it: it is your evidence of what was handed over and in what condition, and it is the document a claim starts from.
+What is the carrier's liability limit?
8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight of the goods lost or damaged, unless a higher value or a special interest in delivery was declared on the note and the surcharge paid.
+How long do I have to claim?
Obvious damage must be notified at delivery; non-apparent damage within seven days excluding Sundays and holidays. Delay claims require notice within twenty-one days. Missing those windows does not always end a claim but it makes it considerably harder.
+Does the driver have to sign it?
Yes, at collection. An unsigned note is not evidence the carrier took the goods over, which is the whole purpose of the document.
Judge it by the document, not the feature list.
Everything above is already on the form. Fill it in and download the PDF — no account needed.
Open the cmr — consignment note (sender) generator