U.S. domestic LTL Bill of Lading in Multimodal International Deliveries from the USA

How LTL Freight Helps with International Shipping from the USA

If you ship boxes, crates, or pallets internationally using LCL freight, your load needs to be delivered to a sea freight carrier's warehouse called a Container Freight Station, or CFS, for further shipping from the USA overseas.

This is where LTL comes in. It stands for Less Than Truckload. It's a way to move smaller shipments within the United States without paying for a full truck. It’s an affordable and reliable way to send goods from your business or home to the CFS.

Once your shipment arrives at the CFS, an international shipping company will combine it with other shipments to the same country and ship it internationally using a Less-than-Container Load service (LCL).

Popular trucking companies, such as ABF, SAIA, etc., can help move your cargo from anywhere in the United States to the CFS.

By integrating ground and ocean conveyance services, shippers can efficiently manage both legs of the journey: the inland transportation and the overseas export. This two-step method benefits those seeking affordable international shipping without needing a full container. With coordination between the shipping companies specializing in different modes of transportation, goods can be securely delivered to the port of departure and continue their route to the destination country.

LTL Bill of Lading in LCL Sea Freight

Suppose you ship goods from the USA overseas with LCL service, but you are far away from a sea carrier's terminal (CFS). In that case, you can deliver your load to the nearest LTL carrier's terminal for the U.S. domestic ground transportation (line haul or LH) to the sea carrier's terminal. Our online price calculator lists such terminals in lowercase, with an asterisk (*). For example, Orlando, FL*.

You can also select a pickup (collect) option to pick up your items "at your door" in the USA for further transportation overseas.

For U.S. local deliveries (line hauls and pickups), Less-than-Container Load international shipping is typically supported by domestic trucking companies acting under U.S. domestic bills of lading. You may consider an LTL Bill of Lading (BOL or B/L) a U.S. domestic cargo transportation title.

Do not confuse LTL and LCL:

• LTL is an abbreviation for Less than Truck Load - a U.S. domestic ground transportation service designed to deliver consolidated cargo within the USA.
   
• LCL is an abbreviation for Less than Container Load - an international transportation service designed for transporting consolidated cargo out of the U.S. by sea.

Please do not confuse a domestic inland bill of lading with an LCL bill of lading. Below is an example of a U.S. domestic B/L.

A domestic inland BOL (unlike LCL BOL) is an intermediate document. It is NOT a final document for your international shipment. It acts as a U.S. private carriage contract for carriage goods from their location to a CFS for further exporting from the United States.

In respect of international cargo transportation from the USA, besides other purposes, it verifies details of transporting goods, such as:

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

After it is delivered to an ocean carrier, the CFS employee should verify the information in the LTL BOL. The number of pieces and their weight/measurements information on the document can be used to verify the number of pieces and w/m submitted by the shipper to the shipment until everything is palletized.

Unlike the LCL bill of lading, which is the final document in global cargo transportation, the LTL bill of lading is an intermediate document when shipping goods from the U.S. overseas.

Discrepancies in Bills of Lading 

Please keep in mind that it’s normal to see differences in the number of boxes, pallets, or weight listed on different documents during the transportation process. This can happen between the Proof of Delivery (POD) and the inland and ocean consignments. There are a few reasons for this, but it often occurs when the loose items are palletized or re-palletized at freight terminals.

These changes in packaging or handling can affect how the cargo is counted or measured at each step. However, you don’t need to worry if the numbers don’t match exactly across the paperwork, PODs, or warehouse receipts from the carriers' terminals. What really matters is the final LCL BOL, which is the official document used for international shipping.

If you're the consignee (the person receiving the goods overseas), always refer to the LCL BOL for your shipment's final and accurate details. This document should be used when working with customs or recovering your import at the destination.