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US domestic inland LTL Bill of Lading in international Sea Freight from the USA

Choosing a pickup or line-haul option in the online freight calculator means that the shipping goods require delivery to a sea freight carrier's terminals for further shipping from the USA overseas using LCL freight.

Such sea freight terminals are called CFS - Container Freight Station.

Typically, cargo deliveries to CFSs are handled by U.S. domestic trucking companies that specialize in LTL freight.

In US domestic cargo transportation, an LTL Bill of Lading (BOL or B/L) acts as a title for such cargo deliveries.

Do not confuse LTL and LCL:

• LTL is an abbreviation for Less Than Truckload. A US domestic ground transportation service designed to deliver consolidated cargo within the USA.
   
• LCL is an abbreviation for Less than Container Load. An international sea freight service designed for shipping consolidated cargo out of the US.

Do not confuse an LTL US domestic inland bill of lading with an LCL sea freight bill of lading. Below is an example of a US domestic bill of lading.

In respect of international cargo transportation from the USA overseas, a US LTL domestic inland bill of lading (unlike LCL BOL) is an intermediate document. LTL BOL is not a final document in international shipping from the US. It acts as a US private carriage contract for cargo transporting from the cargo location to a CFS for further international transportation out of the US using LCL freight. Both terminals are located within US territory.

In respect of international cargo transportation from the USA LCL, besides other purposes, the LTL bill of lading may verify details of goods delivered to a CFS, such as:

• Kind of commodity,
• Quantity of shipping units and their packing,
• The weight and dimensions.

After the cargo is delivered for shipping overseas at a CFS, the information in the LTL BOL should be verified by the CFS's cargo recipient. The weight/measurements information in the LTL BOL can be used to match w/m in the ocean freight carrier's warehouse receipt till the cargo is palletized at the CFS.

To remind you that, unlike LTL BOL, in ocean freight, an LCL sea freight bill of lading is the final document on an international shipment. This is the title for shipping your goods from the USA.

Please note that when transporting goods from the US overseas, a discrepancy between cargo details in the LTL BOL and LCL BOL may occur. That's normal. There are different reasons for this. It is often due to palletizing or re-palletizing of cargo delivered by an LTL carrier at CFS.

In international cargo transportation from the USA, at the time of cargo recovery at the destination, consignees should rely on and work with the information stated in the sea freight bill of lading, but in a US domestic inland bill of lading. Besides discrepancies that occurred at a CFS, destination courtier attorneys may not consider a foreign inland bill of lading to prove an international shipment. They will work with a sea freight bill of lading only, which is the standard and mandatory document in the global cargo transportation industry. Particularly when shipping goods from the USA by sea.