How to fill out a shipping instruction
A shipping instruction tells the carrier exactly how the bill of lading should read. That is its whole function, and it is why care here is cheap and care later is not: amending a bill before the vessel sails costs a fee, afterwards it is difficult, and once it has been surrendered to a bank it is a different problem entirely.
The 22 fields on a shipping instruction
Taken from the document itself, in the order it prints them.
- Document No.
- Date
- Reference
- Shipper / Exporter
As it will appear on the bill. Under a letter of credit this must match the credit exactly — a trading name where the credit says the registered name is a discrepancy.
- Consignee
The most consequential instruction you give. A named company makes the bill straight and deliverable only to them. \u201cTo order\u201d or \u201cto order of [bank]\u201d makes it negotiable and releasable only against an original. If you have not been paid, do not name the buyer.
- Notify Party
Who the carrier tells on arrival, usually the consignee's broker. Notifying somebody gives them no right to the goods, which is why a bank can hold the consignee box while the buyer sits here.
- Vessel / Voyage
- Voyage No.
- Carrier Name
The line or NVOCC issuing. On a house bill this is the forwarder, and the underlying master will name someone else.
- Place of Receipt
Where the carrier takes custody, which on a through movement is inland and earlier than the port. It is where carrier liability starts, so the distinction is not clerical.
- Port of Loading
Must agree with the vessel and voyage. Under a letter of credit a mismatch here is what makes a bill unbankable.
- Port of Discharge
- Place of Delivery
Where the carrier's responsibility ends — the port under merchant haulage, the door under carrier haulage.
- Incoterms
- Payment Terms
Freight prepaid or collect. It follows from the Incoterm, and contradicting the Incoterm here produces an argument at destination about who owes the line money.
- Marks & Numbers
As they will print on the bill. Copied from the packing list rather than reinvented, so the two documents agree.
- Special Instructions
Number of originals required, whether a telex release is wanted, any clause the letter of credit demands on the face of the bill. Anything not instructed will not appear.
- Name
- Title
- Company
- Place
- Date
The line-item columns
One row per product. Columns can be hidden, renamed or added in the generator.
- Container No.
Per container, with its seal. Physical facts, and they must match what was actually loaded.
- Description
Kept general and consistent with the invoice. The carrier signs \u201csaid to contain\u201d because it has not opened the boxes, and it will refuse to sign a description it cannot verify.
- HS Code
- Pkgs
- Pkg Type
- Gross Wt
What the carrier signs for, and it has to agree with the verified gross mass once the container tare is accounted for. Two weights in one file is a hold.
- Vol
A working shipping instruction, prefilled with a sample shipment. Every field above is editable here, and it downloads as a PDF.
| Container No. | Description | HS Code | Pkgs | Pkg Type | Gross Wt (KG) | Vol (CBM) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Your entries are kept as you move between documents: the parties, ports, container and line items all carry across.
Check the draft, properly
The carrier returns a draft bill before issuing. That is the moment to read every box against the letter of credit and the invoice, because corrections are free then and expensive afterwards. Most bills that turn out unbankable were approved by somebody skimming a draft.
Instruction against letter of instruction
A shipper's letter of instruction goes to your freight forwarder, covers the whole job, and authorises them to act as your agent for customs. A shipping instruction goes to the carrier and drafts one document. The forwarder usually produces the second from the first, which is why an ambiguity in one reappears in the other.
Say how many originals you want
A negotiable bill is issued in a set, conventionally three. If you need fewer, or need a telex release arranged, or want the bill issued at a place other than the load port, that is an instruction — it is not the carrier's default.
+Who issues the bill of lading?
The carrier or its agent, from this instruction. You do not issue it yourself; what you prepare is the draft that says how it should read.
+Can I change it after submitting?
Before the vessel sails, usually, for a fee. Afterwards it becomes difficult, and amending a bill already surrendered to a bank is a different matter entirely.
+What does 'to order' actually do?
It makes the bill negotiable, transferable by endorsement, and releasable only against an original. That is what lets a bank hold your cargo as security while a credit settles.
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 shipping instruction generator