Why is important to provide a bill of lading to customer?

If you want your customers to be well prepared and to have some of the best moving experiences using our moving company, you need to give them the best possible solutions and great reasons to hire you. One of the things you must provide your clients with is the bill of lading. Why is it important to provide a bill of lading to customer will be fully explained in this Master Moving Guide. Make your customer hire you with no second thoughts. And make them recommend you to others.

What is the bill of lading?

It represents one of the most important documents that you will give to your customers. It is legally binding that will provide your driver and the carrier with all the details that are necessary to continue the freight shipment. A Bill of lading needs to be provided to the shipper when the items are ready to be collected. It will also represent you as reliable movers. Customers that know that their items will be fully secured and safe during the transportation will make them hire you.

Which information you need to include?

When giving a bill of lading to your customers, it needs to have the following information:

1. The name and the complete address of the shipper and the receiver.
2. Some special instructions for the carrier if they exist.
3. Date of the shipment,
4. Number of shipping units,
5. What kind types of packaging, such as cartons, pallets, skids, etc.
6. A description of items that are about to be shipped.
7. The exact weight of those items, and
8. The value of the items that are being shipped.

How important is it to provide a bill of lading to customer?

As we have said before it is a legal document. That is why you as a company and someone as a customer must understand it well. If you want to assure the customers that they should hire movers without getting scammed, the explanation of the importance of the bill of lading must be clear. 

A bill of lading has 3 big roles in relocation. The first one is that it is evidence of the contract of carriage. It is an indicator that the contract between two people, in this case, the moving company and its customer has been signed. The second one is that it is a receipt of goods. Explain to the customers that this represents proof that customers’ items are picked up and going to the right person. And the last role is that it represents the document of title. This means that whoever is the holder of the bill of lading has the right to claim the items.

Inform your customers about the types of bills of lading

Many of your customers may experience moving for the first time. In order to make them hire you, you need to give them all the information they need. Sometimes it might seem unnecessary to you. But for someone who is about to relocate for the first time, this information is important. You need to make your customer believe that you will give what it takes to make them hire you.

Speaking of that, you need to inform your customers that there are three types of bill of lading:

• Ocean bill of lading, known as OBL. Use this bill of lading for people moving across the ocean.
• Airway bill of lading, and
• ProBill – usually used for ground transportation services or truck shipments.

Explain to your customers that you will be using the last one for ground shipments. While the customer is moving interstate, you would like to offer them the other two.

What are the consequences if you do not provide a bill of lading to customer?

If you have followed moving tips from this guide, you will see how important is that the customers feel safe and that your company turns out to be reputable. The biggest consequence of this is exposure to claims. To get it closer to you, we will give you a simple example. If the bill of lading has a piece of information that the items are loaded in the moving truck or anywhere else but are damaged, it is most likely that you as a company will have to pay for the damage. This might not be suitable for you as a company. But think a little further. If the customer that has hired you says that you have been completely following and respecting the contract, more people will hire you.

Make your customers trust you!

If you are too afraid that people will take advantage of your services, you can always have a third-party logistic provider.  In addition to this, you will be able to have all the data entered correctly and maybe double-checked. In this case, you will not have to worry if you have missed some spots when offering a bill of lading.

Tell your customers that you are using the consistent and standard bill of lading. If some of your customers have some kind of experience, they will certainly know what is it all about. As a result, you will have satisfied customers and the customers will gain a nice moving experience.

*additional tip to provide a bill of lading to customer

You can always tell your customer to double-check, even triple-check the document before signing it. Finally, it will make them believe in your reputation and your desire to relocate them in the perfect way possible.

To provide a bill of lading to customer means that you are thinking of the benefits to your customers. This is a great sign that you are a reputable, trustworthy moving company that most of your customers will recommend. Take our advice. If you and your company want to be the best ones in the area, you will represent the importance of the bill of lading to every customer.