The Importance of Bills of Lading - Help Us Help You

You may be wondering why you’ve heard so much from us lately about Bills of Lading, (aka BOL’s). Recently, a situation arose that further demonstrates why they are so important, so we are sharing this as an example. We were contacted by a member town telling us that their invoice did not match what they sent. We looked for a Bill of Lading, but we did not have one on file because the town had not sent one. We contacted the vendor who, in turn, sent us a copy of their slip that was signed by the town.  That slip had a detailed list of items that was being loaded. Without the Bill of Lading, we have nothing to compare to. Because the slip was signed by the town, and because we had no BOL on file, we had no way of disputing this on behalf of the member town. 

There are two important things we would like to communicate. 

1.  Please read what you are signing. If a vendor asks you to sign a slip, (which typically happens for propane tanks, freon recovery and tires), please read the slip carefully and make sure it is accurate. If it’s not, please make corrections before signing. Your signature indicates to us that you, the Member, have reviewed what was on the slip and agreed to what is being loaded. 

2. Please send documentation for every load to NRRA. It is extremely important to either fill out a Bill of Lading or get a copy of the slip that is being signed and email or fax it to us. We rely on your Bill of Lading to advocate on your behalf if there are any discrepancies after the load ships. If we don’t have anything on file, it is difficult for us to do this. We are here for you and work hard to ensure that your transactions are handled timely and accurately. Thank you for helping us to help you. 

Please visit our Bills of Lading (BOLs) page for more information or to obtain writeable BOL's.