Professional Skills · Driver Training VideoBOLs & Paperwork Done Right

The bill of lading is a legal contract. It proves what was loaded, who's picking it up, and what condition it left in. When you sign it, you're not just doing paperwork — you're putting your name on a fact.

Before you sign anything, verify the count. If the trailer's sealed and you can't check the freight yourself, write "shipper load and count" — SLC — right next to your signature. That protects you if the pallet count comes up short at the dock. Never sign a blank bill.

If you're hauling hazmat, the rules get stricter. Your shipping papers have to be within immediate reach — in a pouch on the driver's door, or within reach with your seatbelt fastened — visible to anyone who opens that door.

Your company standard: check the load against the paperwork before you sign, note anything that doesn't match, and keep hazmat papers where an inspector — or a first responder — can find them without searching.

Hang onto your copies

Scale tickets, lumper receipts, delivery receipts, the signed bill — that paperwork is your proof. It's what gets you paid for detention, what backs you up if a shipper claims a shortage, and what protects you if a claim comes in months later.

At the receiver, get a signature and the time on your delivery receipt. That's your proof the load arrived, complete, on time. No signature, no proof it happened.