Straight Bill of Lading

A straight bill of lading is the most common type of BOL in domestic freight transportation. It names a specific consignee – the party authorized to receive the shipment – and is non-negotiable, meaning ownership of the goods cannot be transferred by endorsing or selling the document. The carrier's obligation is simple: deliver the freight to the named consignee and no one else. This contrasts with an order bill of lading, which is negotiable and can be endorsed to a third party, effectively transferring ownership of the goods while they're in transit.

In practice, the vast majority of domestic FTL and LTL shipments move under straight bills of lading. The shipper fills in the consignee's name and address, the freight details, and the delivery terms – and that's who gets the goods. There's no endorsement chain, no bank intermediary, and no document-of-title complexity. Straight BOLs are standard for routine domestic shipments where the buyer, seller, and payment terms are already established and there's no need for the BOL to serve as a financial instrument.

The distinction between straight and order bills of lading matters most in international trade and commodity transactions. Order bills of lading are used when goods are sold in transit, when letters of credit require a negotiable document, or when the ultimate buyer isn't known at the time of shipment. For most domestic shippers – especially those in food and beverage, CPG, and manufacturing – the straight BOL is the default, and the key concern isn't negotiability but accuracy: correct consignee information, correct freight descriptions, and correct reference numbers that match the purchase order and the receiver's expectations.

Errors on a straight BOL – a wrong delivery address, an incorrect consignee name, or a missing PO number – can result in refused deliveries, redelivery charges, and strained customer relationships. Generating BOLs directly from order data, rather than manually keying fields, is the most reliable way to keep straight BOLs clean and consistent.