How to complete a Bill of Lading for cross-border shipments between the US and Canada
- Check the Collect box if the shipment is not prepaid.
- Enter the complete Shipper Information.
- Enter the Consignee information.
- Enter the Bill-to information (if it is different than the Shipper information).
- Enter the Customs Broker information (note that Name is a required field).
- Check the Guaranteed box if you want to ship using Guaranteed Service.
- Enter complete Commodity information. See below for examples of acceptable commodity descriptions.
- When entering the number of shipping units, the piece counts should be entered as the lowest external packaging unit.
Example: a container containing 10 skids with 200 cartons should be manifested as 200 cartons- Check the HM box if the shipment contains Hazardous Materials.
- Enter the kind of packaging and description of the articles.
- Include a clear and concise description of the items you are shipping.
- Use plain language to describe the characteristics of the commodity.
- Include only information related to the actual item; do not include the type of packaging.
- Part numbers, abbreviations or vague descriptions are not acceptable.
- Enter the NMFC number.
- Enter the shipment class.
- Enter the weight of the shipment.
How to write the description of articles
| NOT Acceptable | Acceptable |
| Appliances |
Kitchen Appliances Industrial Appliances Heat Pump |
| Caps |
Baseball caps Blasting caps Bottle caps Hub caps |
| Flooring |
Wood flooring Plastic flooring Carpet Ceramic tile |
- In NO CASE are the following descriptions acceptable:
- Blank Description
- Freight All Kinds (FAK)
- General Merchandise
- "26 pallets"
- Various Retail Merchandise
- Consolidated Cargo
For more information on commodity descriptions, go to:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2015-title19-vol1/pdf/CFR-2015-title19-vol1-sec123-92.pdf
Contact our Customs Resource Center for assistance by email at LTLCustomsResourceCenter@xpo.com or by calling 866-431-0777.
How to add XPO Customs Broker Services to your shipment
- Set-up an XPO Brokerage account
- Call the XPO Customs Resource Center (800) 342-7618 or email us and ask to be setup for customs brokerage service.
- We'll email the required forms; once they are completed and returned, your account will be set-up.
- If you have an XPO Brokerage account:
- Schedule your pickup online or by calling your local service center.
- Complete the Bill of Lading and write XPO CB in the remarks section.